Pirts Nr.1, Riga: Latvia's Wood-Fired Pirts Guide

What Pirts Nr.1 is

The venue sits east of the centre in Vidzemes priekšpilsēta, a residential district rather than the Old Town tourist core. The operator describes it as the largest wood-fired pirts in the Baltics, with separate sections for men and women.

That framing matters: this is not a spa with a sauna tucked into a wellness centre, but a working pirts where the wood-fired heat, the washing and the table afterwards belong to the same evening. If you want the broader picture of where this venue sits among the city's bathhouses, start with our guide to the best saunas in Riga.

Why the Latvian pirts differs from the Finnish sauna

The Latvian pirts and the Finnish sauna share the same basic architecture: a hot wooden room, water on stones, and a cool-down. The difference is in the rhythm and the props. A pirts session traditionally builds in rounds with a birch or oak whisk, called a slota in Latvian, used to beat the skin and move the heat around the body.

If your reference point is the Finnish sauna, expect a more ritualised, social session here, with the whisking and the rest periods treated as part of the procedure rather than an optional extra. Our guide to the Latvian pirts explains the wider tradition, including the countryside versions.

The building: separate men's and women's sections

This is the single most important thing to know before you plan a visit. Pirts Nr.1 has a men's department and a women's department, and the two run on different timetables. If you are coming as a mixed group or a couple expecting to sit together, that plan does not work here.

In practice, the venue suits same-sex pairs, friends arriving in a single group, or solo bathers who are comfortable in a shared department. The upside is that the atmosphere is unselfconscious and local, closer to a neighbourhood bathhouse than a tourist attraction.

How a pirts session works

A visit follows the standard Northern European round pattern: heat, then a cool-down, then rest, repeated as long as you are comfortable. In a Latvian pirts the whisking usually happens inside the hot room, often with one person being worked on while others sit around, and the rest period afterwards is taken seriously.

Stay hydrated, skip alcohol before bathing, and leave the hot room if you feel unwell; anyone with a heart condition or who is pregnant should ask a doctor before bathing. Bring your own towel and flip-flops, and expect to shower before entering the hot room and between rounds.

Whisks are traditionally soaked before use to soften the leaves, and it is worth asking at reception on arrival whether they are sold or lent on site so you are not caught out. If you have never been whisked before, tell the person working with you so they can start gently.

Clothing and mixing rules

Because the departments are single-sex, the clothing question is simpler than at mixed saunas: follow what other bathers do in your department and keep a towel or seat cover under you in the hot room. Latvian pirts etiquette in single-sex departments tends to be relaxed about nudity and strict about hygiene and seat covers.

Swimwear is generally not worn inside the hot room in this tradition, but the practical rule is to read the room and the signs. If you are unsure, arrive with a towel and ask at reception what the department expects.

Opening hours by department

The hours are not uniform, and the women's department in particular has a distinctive pattern. Men's department: Monday 09:00–22:00, Tuesday 09:00–20:30, Wednesday through Sunday 09:00–22:00. Women's department: Monday 09:00–22:00, Tuesday closed, Wednesday and Thursday 09:00–22:00, Friday through Sunday 09:00–14:00.

The short weekend afternoons in the women's section are the easy thing to miss: a late Saturday pirts is not on the menu, and Tuesday is out entirely. Plan the day around the department you are visiting rather than the venue as a whole.

Food and drink on site

The kitchen, Šašliks Nr.1, runs alongside the bathhouse and serves the kind of food that makes sense after heat: grilled meat, pickles, fried potatoes and beer. The Pirts Nr.1 plate is listed on the venue's own menu at 10,00 €, and it arrives loaded with squid rings, onion rings, croutons, crisps, speck, cheese, chips and sauce.

There is also a beer plate built around garlic croutons, squid and drinking snacks, priced in the same modest range as the pirts plate. Think of the meal as the closing round of the session rather than a separate restaurant booking.

Prices

The pirts publishes its services, prices and opening times on its own site, and entry is settled at reception. The price level reads as accessible rather than premium, in line with a Riga neighbourhood pirts and well below what a hotel spa or a city-centre sauna charges.

The food gives the clearest signal: a substantial plate at 10,00 € tells you this is a place where a full evening of heat and eating does not run into serious money. For comparison across the city, our saunas in Riga guide covers the range from public swimming halls to floating saunas.

Getting there

The address is Ulbrokas iela 26a, Rīga, LV-1021, in Vidzemes priekšpilsēta east of the centre. This is not a walk from the Old Town, so budget for a tram or bus ride or a taxi, and expect a walk from the stop to the door.

The out-of-centre location is a trade-off: you lose the convenience of a central sauna but gain a local, less touristed crowd. If you want a floating sauna or a harbour-side plunge instead, try our floating saunas in Riga guide.

Who Pirts Nr.1 suits, and the trade-offs

This is the right venue for a group of friends who want a proper Latvian pirts evening with food and beer afterwards, and for anyone curious about the whisking tradition. It is the wrong venue for a couple who want to sauna together, for travellers based entirely on foot in the Old Town, and for anyone expecting a sea or lake plunge on the doorstep.

Other trade-offs are simple: the gendered departments limit who you can go with, the short women's weekend hours rule out a late Saturday, and the location makes a taxi or public transport leg unavoidable. The payoff is a genuine local bathhouse rather than a polished spa.

Other saunas in Riga worth pairing with it

If you want variety across a trip, Riga's public swimming halls give you the same wood-heated rooms in a more municipal setting, and the floating saunas along the river offer a cold-water swim that Pirts Nr.1 does not. Our saunas in Latvia guide widens the frame to the countryside, including the Gauja National Park area, where the pirts tradition is strongest.

If your reference point is Finnish rather than Latvian, our guide to Kotiharjun sauna in Helsinki shows the public-sauna model in its purest form.

Plan Your Visit

Pin down the department you are visiting and its hours first, then build the rest of the evening around it: heat, cool-down, rest, and a plate of food at Šašliks Nr.1. That is the shape of a Latvian pirts evening, and Pirts Nr.1 is built to deliver it.

Bring a towel, flip-flops and a card, arrive early enough to shower and settle in, and go with someone from your own department. The rest is heat, wood smoke and cold water.