Riga Tourist Tax 2027: €2 per Night, What Changes

1. What changes on 1 January 2027

Riga: from €1 to €2 per person per night

€2 VAT included (€1.78 excl. VAT) From 1 January 2027 10-night cap

Riga’s city council approved the increase on Wednesday 8 July 2026. The city’s official page sets the new rate at €1.78 excluding VAT, or €2 including VAT, per person per night. Today the rate is €1 including VAT, or €0.89 excluding VAT. The city’s official tourist tax page remains the reference for the amounts.

The rules at a glance

• The tax is calculated per person, per night.
• It is capped at 10 nights of continuous stay in the same accommodation.
• The accommodation provider collects it and passes it on to the city every quarter.
• According to the city, business travellers fall within scope from 2027.

Pixidia tip: when you book, check whether the displayed price includes the tax. It is not always included in the room rate: at the Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, it is added to the final bill, payable at check-out.

Riga Old Town walking tour €17 to €19 per adult (based on 2 people) · ★ 4.7 (385 reviews)

Book my walking tour

For your first day, a walking tour of the Old Town gives you useful bearings before you choose a neighbourhood or an accommodation. The tour is listed at €17 to €19 per adult (based on 2 people). Availability checked on 25 October 2026: it runs on 30 days out of 30, from 16 November to 15 December 2026.

2. What it really costs: the VAT-excluded and VAT-included maths

The city gives two figures for the same tax: €1.78 excluding VAT and €2 including VAT. The VAT-included amount is the one that matters for your budget. To estimate a bill, multiply the number of people by the number of nights, stopping at 10 nights per person.

Worked example: two people staying three nights in Riga in 2027 make six person-nights. Before VAT, the calculation base is 6 × €1.78 = €10.68. The city quotes the VAT-included rate, so 6 × €2 = €12 for this stay. At today’s €1 rate, the same stay would cost €6.

Source: pip.riga.lv, the city’s official tourist tax page, checked on 25 October 2026.

For a stay of ten nights or more, the cap comes to €17.80 per person (10 × €1.78, base excluding VAT; the city does not state explicitly whether this cap is excluding VAT). The safest step is to ask your accommodation for the amount that will appear on your bill.

Source: calculation based on the rates published by pip.riga.lv and the Latvian press (LSM, 8 July 2026), checked on 25 October 2026.

3. Who pays the tax, to whom and when

The tax is paid to your accommodation, not to the city hall

You don’t pay the tax directly to the city of Riga. You pay it to your accommodation, which collects it on the municipality’s behalf. At the Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, the hotel says the tax is added to the final bill, paid at check-out, and that it applies to the first ten nights of a long stay. The hotel’s practical information describes how this works.

The payment calendar

• Quarterly payment to the city, on 30 April, 30 July, 30 October and 30 January.
• Monthly report from the accommodation provider, due before the 20th of the month.
• Source: pip.riga.lv, checked on 25 October 2026.

Pixidia tip: keep the receipt for your stay. It should itemise the tax in principle; to back up the expense, ask your accommodation for a detailed invoice.

This collection method has a practical consequence: before comparing two offers, check whether the tax is included. If it is missing from the displayed price, add it yourself: €2 per person per night from 2027, €1 until 31 December 2026.

4. Who is affected, and who isn’t

Tourist accommodation. The tax targets commercial accommodation, where the provider is the collector. We found no confirmation, in the sources we checked, that Airbnb or Booking.com collects the tax in Riga. For a private rental, ask the host whether the tax is included or payable on site.

Business travellers. According to the city’s official page, they fall within scope from 1 January 2027. The Latvian press we checked does not mention this point, so we present it as the city’s position.

Staff working on site. The city sets this exemption until 31 December 2026; the version we checked does not say whether it continues into 2027. Ask your employer or your accommodation.

Minors. A tourism source published in 2024 says under-18s are exempt. We could not read the official legal text, so this exemption is not confirmed for 2027.

Long stays. Our sources mention no exemption for long stays. Only the 10-night cap applies, per establishment and without interruption.

Digital nomads. We found no exemption for digital nomads in our sources, but no positive confirmation either: ask your accommodation.

5. Riga compared with Vilnius and Tallinn

Riga is not the only Baltic capital asking this question. Vilnius has charged the tax since 1 January 2024, while Tallinn is opposed to one. The table compares the situations as of 25 October 2026, for one night and one person. For other European destinations, see the tourist tax in Amsterdam in 2027 and the tourist tax in Poland in 2027.

Sources: pip.riga.lv (Riga), govilnius.lt (Vilnius), ERR (Tallinn), checked on 25 October 2026.

In the region, Kuldīga, in Latvia, put forward a draft tax of €1.50 per night in June 2026. According to the Latvian public broadcaster LSM, business travellers and minors would be exempt there, and no tax would apply after the tenth night. In Riga, the official page does not exempt business travellers. For a route linking all three capitals, see the 9-day Baltic itinerary.

6. What the tax changes for your profile

The cases below apply €2 VAT included per person per night (€1.78 excl. VAT), with a cap of 10 nights per person.

• The short stay (one to three nights). One person staying two nights pays €4 in 2027, against €2 at today’s rate. For a weekend for two over three nights, the tax goes from €6 to €12. The 10-night cap does not come into play.
• The week for two (seven nights). A couple staying seven nights totals 14 person-nights, so €28 in 2027 (7 × 2 × €2). Each traveller stays under the 10-night cap, which does not apply here.
• The long stay (more than ten nights). For one person staying fourteen nights in the same establishment, the tax stops at ten nights, so €17.80 (10 × €1.78, base excluding VAT; the city does not state explicitly whether this cap is excluding VAT). If you change accommodation along the way, ask your provider how the nights are counted, since the cap applies to a continuous stay in the same establishment.
• The family trip. According to a 2024 source, under-18s are exempt, but we could not read the official text. Until this is confirmed, calculate for the whole group: two adults and two children for three nights make 12 person-nights, so €24 in 2027 if no child is exempt. For family outings beyond the city, see the 8 day trips from Riga.
• The business trip. According to the city’s official page, business travellers are covered from 2027. If your employer reimburses your expenses, include the tax in the expense claim at the VAT-included amount, to avoid a gap at reimbursement time.

7. Mistakes to avoid

The errors we found during the investigation came from figures read too quickly. Some pages and online answers repeat false information; four traps come up again and again in the pages and answers we read.

• Applying €2 to a 2026 stay. The €2 rate only applies from 1 January 2027. A stay that ends in 2026 stays at the €1 VAT-included rate.
• Reading the €17.80 cap as a VAT-included amount. This cap is ten times €1.78: €17.80 (10 × €1.78, base excluding VAT; the city does not state explicitly whether this cap is excluding VAT). Taking it as your total bill can understate the invoice if VAT is added on top.
• Assuming the platform collects the tax. An AI-generated answer claims that Airbnb collects the tax in Riga, with no source. We found no confirmation; the obligation falls on the accommodation provider, so check your rental’s bill.
• Relying on an exemption without checking it. The only source for the minors’ exemption dates from 2024 and does not cover 2027. Ask for confirmation before you leave, rather than finding out at check-out.

What other guides don’t tell you

Two of the four pages read for this investigation still give the old €1 rate; those that quote €2 do not state the base excluding VAT. Four points missing from the pages checked for this investigation change the calculation or the way you pay.

• The €2 figure includes VAT. The city sets €1.78 excluding VAT. The €2 figure is therefore the VAT-included total, not a pre-tax amount. pip.riga.lv (checked on 25 October 2026).
• The accommodation passes the tax on, on fixed dates. Quarterly payments fall on 30 April, 30 July, 30 October and 30 January, and the monthly report is due before the 20th. pip.riga.lv (checked on 25 October 2026).
• Staff working on site are exempt until 31 December 2026. pip.riga.lv (checked on 25 October 2026).
• Business travellers fall within scope in Riga, not in Kuldīga. According to the city’s official page, the tax applies to them from 2027. The Kuldīga draft exempts them, according to LSM. LSM (3 June 2026, checked on 25 October 2026).