Photo: Arian Zwegers · CC BY 2.0Zemgale Palaces & Castles Loop
Join Jelgava, Rundāle Palace, Bauska Castle and Tērvete on a two- or three-day circuit south of Riga.
- Allow
- 2–3 days
- Route
- 227 km
- Drive time
- 3 hr 36 min
- Stops
- 5
Zemgale’s flat horizon makes its architecture feel especially deliberate. Jelgava introduces the former ducal world, Rundāle expands it into Latvia’s most theatrical palace ensemble, and Bauska places medieval and later fortifications between two rivers. Tērvete brings forest and family time before the route closes.
Distances are short, but opening times matter. Book Rundāle’s interior calmly, check the castle and nature-park calendars and never build the day around a wine or beer tasting unless a sober driver has been decided in advance.
The road, in one glance
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Drawing the route…
The route earns
its distance
Each pin is selected as a place to do something—not merely proof that you passed through.
Photo: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain · CC BY 2.0Riga
A late pickup after the Riga stay turns the short southern drive into a clean break.
Riga ( REE-gə), officially Riga State City (Latvian: Rīgas valstspilsēta), is the capital, primate, and largest city of Latvia and the second largest in the Baltics. Home to 588,911 inhabitants (as of 2026), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 847,162 (as of 2025).
Photo: Ivarsveilins · CC0Jelgava
A Rastrelli palace, church-tower view and river setting introduce historic ducal Courland.
Jelgava is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about 41 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia.
Photo: Arian Zwegers · CC BY 2.0Rundāle Palace
Baroque and Rococo state rooms open onto a formal garden of unusually grand scale.
Rundāle Palace (Latvian: Rundāles pils; German: Schloss Ruhental, formerly Ruhenthal or Ruhendahl) is one of the two major baroque palaces built for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia, the other being Jelgava Palace. The palace was built in two periods, from 1736 until 1740 and from 1764 until 1768. It is situated at Pilsrundāle, in Rundāle Parish, Bauska Municipality in the Semigallia region, 12 km west of Bauska.
Photo: Lavinsh · CC BY-SA 4.0Bauska Castle
Fortifications stand where the Mūsa and Mēmele rivers meet to form the Lielupe.
Bauska Castle (Latvian: Bauskas pils; German: Schloss Bauske) is a complex consisting of the ruins of an earlier castle and a later palace on the outskirts of the Latvian city of Bauska. While originally a hill fort, the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights built the castle in the fifteenth century, the palace was added in the sixteenth century, and restoration began in the nineteenth century.
Photo: Rimantas Lazdynas · CC BY-SA 3.0Tērvete
Forest trails and a long cultural memory create a gentler final day in western Zemgale.
Tērvete (liv. Terwenden, German: Hofzumberge) is a village in Tērvete Parish, Dobele Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia. It is famous for the historic hillfort built for the kings of Western Semigallia (Zemgale) in the Middle Ages.
Drive the conditions,
not the itinerary.
Check attraction hours before departure, use signed parking and appoint a sober driver for any tasting. Expect agricultural vehicles on rural roads.
Checked against
the people who run it
Distances and driving times are planning estimates. Conditions, closures, ferries, permits and park rules can change, so check the linked official guidance before setting out.