Nobody in Riga walks over. So you write.

Riga is small, the night is long

In Riga everyone knows everyone through a friend or two, and yet nobody in a bar makes the first move. Each group stays at its own table, someone glances across the room a couple of times, and that is where it ends. Evenings often start in the Old Town, but locals increasingly head elsewhere: the cafés and small bars of Miera iela, the courtyard of the Tallinas kvartāls, Berga bazārs, or across the river to Kalnciema kvartāls and Āgenskalns.

In winter it gets dark in the afternoon, and staying home under a blanket with a series is tempting. That is when a reason to go out helps: a hockey game in a bar, where nobody is a stranger after the first goal, a concert, or mulled wine at the Christmas market on Dome Square. Summer is the opposite: light nights, full terraces, Jomas iela in Jūrmala busy until late, and around Midsummer half of Riga heads to the countryside. Liepāja, the city of wind, lives to the rhythm of concerts and the sea in summer, while evenings in Daugavpils are calmer and everything happens in the centre.

YesTonite is there so a glance across the room ends in a conversation. Switch on "out tonight", see who else nearby is out, and send one message. Your name stays hidden until you share it in the chat, and in a city where every other person is someone's acquaintance, that is worth a lot.

The biggest nights are Friday and Saturday, and in Riga Thursday too. Many people only head into town after ten, the light summer nights stretch the evening even further, and around Midsummer, 23 and 24 June, Riga is half empty for a couple of days.

Where Riga goes out

• Vecrīga (Old Town)Cobblestones, squares and a bar on every corner. The busiest part of town at weekends, with plenty of tourists.
• Miera ielaCafés and small bars along one street; evenings start slowly here and without the crowds.
• Tallinas kvartālsA creative quarter on Tallinas iela: courtyard, bars and concerts, especially in the warmer months.
• SpīķeriRed brick warehouses by the Central Market, with terraces and open-air events in summer.
• Kalnciema kvartālsWooden houses across the river: a market on Saturdays and courtyard concerts in summer.
• Jomas iela, JūrmalaThe pedestrian street of Majori, where terraces fill up before sunset in summer and the sea is a few minutes away.