My opinion might be different than yours.
But I was not particularly happy with my experience at Cesis castle. The castle was being renovated when I went, and it wasn’t mentioned on the website or at the counter (just like when the garden was almost closed in Rundale Palace, I was not told). That feeling is like you planned you trip to Disneyland only to find out the fireworks and parades are cancelled and half the rides are under maintenance (so check out the souvenir shop, won’t you?) The museum was closed too because we went on a Monday (again, I was not told in emails, and ironically the castle staff asked me to ‘make reservation’ for my visit to Cesis which I was to provide him my nationality and number of guest… what???)
Entrance Ticket: 3 euros (student was 1 euro I think….)
After you pay your ticket you’d see this beautiful castle. It’s incredible that it’s still here, after all it was built in 13th century. Well, this is what you’d see first (from the back). You can go inside the tower and you’d find an entrance to a basement cell.
To the right you’d see the shell of this castle. Some parts were renovated.
And the foundation of the castle (still there). But you cannot go down.
I was greatly confused that I could not find an entrance to go inside the castle. All I saw was a shell (and construction).
So I thought it must be on the other side. But…. it was also closed….
Then I realized I wasn’t given a lamp at the entrance, like other people. I also wasn’t told the tower was closed too. So I didn’t see the dungeon, nor the nice view. All I saw was the ruins (being renovated). And all of this was not mentioned on the website, during the correspondent emails (when I was asked to make reservation) and at the time of purchasing the ticket.
The feeling was not nice. I don’t live next to Cesis castle. We drove 2 hours up here from Riga just to see this castle. I could have spent this day else where, let’s say, in Iceland or Stockholm.
There’s a nice little herb garden next to the castle.
But if you are lucky, you’d probably get to go inside like others. If you happen to be in Cesis, go to its castle park for free first, and decide whether it’s worthwhile to go to Cesis castle. If you cannot go inside, I think the ruins looks the same from the park or from the compound.
So check out TripAdvisor before you go 🙂
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God was good. My mom needed a dentist on that day, and we found a dental clinic there with a doctor who had no patient that afternoon. She spent almost two hours on my mom. Our trip would have been horribly difficult for my mom if the doctor wasn’t there or if we weren’t in Cesis.
Traveling Mega
