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Ogre is located 36 km from Riga on the banks of the Ogre River where it meets the Daugava. In addition to the Daugava and the Ogre several rivulets such as Urga, Norupite, and Lebina traverse the town. This water abundance renders Ogre one of the greenest towns in Latvia. Parks and woods cover more than half of the city. Pine-trees and fir-trees are the prevailing types of trees growing in the area. The town was first mentioned as Ogre castle in the Livonian order chronicles in 1225-1227. It appears that at the time the area was inhabited by Livonian tribes. Following the crusaders’ invasion in the 13thcentury the area fell under the Riga episcopacy; later it was ruled by the Russians, the Poles and the Swedes. Due to the mild climate and proximity to Riga Ogre has always been a holiday resort for metropolitan residents. The Ogre knitting factory is well known both in Latvia and abroad.
Lielvarde is the second largest town of the Ogrian region. It is located 55 km from Riga on the right bank of the Daugava River. Both the Riga-Daugavpils highway and the Riga-Moscow railway run through this town.
How to get there
You can reach Ogre and Lielvarde by taking an electric train to Aizkraule. The timetable is available on the Latvian Railways website.
Alternatively, you can take a bus from Riga. Please check out the timetable on the Bus staion website.
Tourist Information
Tourist Information Center
Ogre - Ausekla prospekts 7, Tel/Fax: +371 507 18 83, ogrestic@oic.lv
