Money, cards and ATMs in Latvia

The currency

• Latvia uses the euro and has since 2014. The lats is long gone.

Cards and cash

• Cards work nearly everywhere and contactless is standard.
• Carry a card specifically for the airport bus - see the airport section, where cash is refused.
• Some cash is still worth having for markets, small rural shops and the occasional bus outside Riga.

The bar bill problem

• Riga has a persistent problem with inflated bills in old town bars, aimed at stag groups and tourists. It is the single most common complaint from visitors.
• Read the menu prices before ordering, and be wary of anywhere that promotes itself with a person on the street.
• Never leave a card behind a bar to run a tab.
• Check the bill line by line. Disputing it politely at the table works far better than after paying.

ATMs

• Always refuse the machine's offer to charge you in your own currency. Dynamic currency conversion costs several per cent every time.
• Use bank ATMs - Swedbank, SEB, Citadele - rather than independent machines in tourist areas.

Tipping

• Around ten per cent in a restaurant for good service; rounding up elsewhere. Service is not usually added.