When I first heard that my university was planning a study trip to Latvia I was immediately excited. As a 22-year-old Finn who has never visited the country, I’m really looking forward to learn more about rural tourism in Latvia, and luckily the departure is just around the corner.
A little bit about me
Hi, I’m Juulia, a 4th year tourism student from Lapland. It feels absurd to be so close to finishing my studies and still being able to go on a mobility exchange. My dream already in upper secondary school was to go on an exchange period. In 2020 when I started university that dream was pushed aside due to the pandemic. For the past years I’ve seen some exchange students at our school and though that it’s too late, I mean I was already on my 3rd year. But little did I know that during my final autumn semester I would be able to go for an exchange. Albeit being only 5 days long, it still counts for me!
The Latvia pre-experience
I’m not quite sure why I have never visited Latvia despite it being located so close to Finland. I guess I found other destinations more attractive. I have always admired the architecture when I travel so finding out that Riga, the capital of Latvia, has an old town piqued my interest. Expect lots of pictures from there in the upcoming post.
Tukums as a rural tourism destination
As part of our course, we have to research the Tukums municipality as a tourism destination. I decided to join the group that focuses on rural tourism since I wanted to learn more about it. I have heard of the term before but never really looked into the definition of it. What comes to Tukums, I’ve never even heard the name. Good start right?
It came as a surprise that the municipality of Tukums has quite a lot to offer for a rural tourist. Through my research I found that there are many farms, workshops, historical building and nature trails available for visitor (Visit Tukums 2023). They even have a snail farm that provides tours and snail tasting. I found this extremely unique and was over the moon when I heard that during our company visits we will stop by at the snail farm too.
I’m excited to get more familiar with rural tourism in Latvia, especially within the Tukums region. If you want to check out my peers’ thoughts, you can read more from our blog: IDEP students blog about Tukums, Latvia.
What are your favourite places to visit in Tukums? Let me know in the comments!
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