Riga: Rundale Palace, Hill of Crosses & Bauska Castle Day Trip

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/18

Duration8h

GroupUp to 8

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Three Centuries of Faith, Royalty & Stone in One Day from Riga

You visit the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, explore Rundale Palace's French gardens and grand halls for two hours, and climb Bauska Castle's tower for countryside views. Transport, entrance fees, and a multilingual guide are included. The full day takes around eight hours, and you return to Riga in the evening without arranging your own logistics.

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Hill of Crosses, Rundale Palace, Bauska Castle

Drive 90 minutes from Riga
Explore Hill of Crosses for 40 minutes
Visit Rundale Palace and gardens for 2 hours
See Bauska Castle exterior and views for 30 minutes

The Experience

"So we're driving into Lithuania first?" That's usually the question when the minivan pulls out of Riga heading south. Yes — the Hill of Crosses sits just 90 minutes away, and it's the kind of place that stops conversation. Thousands of crosses planted into the earth over centuries, left by pilgrims and families as acts of faith. You spend an hour there, walking among them, reading the inscriptions, feeling the weight of what the site means to the people who built it. The Pope blessed Lithuania from this hill in 1993. It's not a tourist attraction dressed up as one; it's a working pilgrimage site that happens to be open to visitors.

After that, the day shifts toward palaces and fortifications. Rundale Palace comes next — the one they call Latvia's Little Versailles, and once you see the French gardens and the Baroque façade, you understand why. You get two hours here, which is enough to walk the main rooms without rushing, see the period furniture and the scale of the place, and actually spend time in the gardens instead of just photographing them. The guide travels with you the whole time, pointing out details in whatever language works for your group — English, German, Russian, Latvian. It's live commentary on the minivan too, so the drive between stops isn't dead time.

Bauska Castle is the third stop, and it's different again — medieval stone walls with a Renaissance wing added later, sitting on a strip of land between two rivers. You get an hour there. The entrance fee covers the tower, and from the top the views open out across the countryside. If you want to visit the castle museum, that's an extra 4 euros, but the exterior and the grounds are worth the stop even if you skip it. By the time you head back to Riga, you've crossed into Lithuania and back, seen three completely different kinds of architecture, and covered a lot of ground without having to drive yourself or figure out which bus goes where.

The whole day runs about eight hours door to door. The minivan is air-conditioned, and if you need a vegetarian meal or have other dietary needs, you let them know when you book. Groups have to be at least three people — if fewer book, you either get a refund or can upgrade to a private tour instead. It's the kind of day that works because you're not trying to do everything; you're doing three specific things well, and the transport and timing are already sorted.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup from Riga, transport by air-conditioned minivan with a multilingual driver-guide, entrance fees to Rundale Palace and Bauska Castle's tower, live commentary during the drive, and visits to the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania.
Vegetarian meals can be arranged with advance notice.
The tour returns to Riga in the evening.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Allure Tours Riga

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see three distinct landmarks — a pilgrimage site, a royal palace, and a medieval fortress — without renting a car or planning the route yourself. The fixed schedule and included transport are what make it possible to cover this much ground in one day.