Photoplaces: nature

Articles by "nature"

Rāda ziņas ar etiķeti nature. Rādīt visas ziņas

Baltic sea bluff (Baltijas jūras stāvkrasts)

plkst. jūnijs 20, 2025 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

West coast of Latvia boasts with beautiful seashore bluff which stretches for several tens of kilometers. The sandy coasts have made bluffs up to 20 metres high, and they are constantly washed out by sea which occupies more and more of land every year. This is ideal area for hiking, as well as calmful relaxation at the sea (in contrary to popular beaches of Jurmala, Liepaja, Saulkrasti, etc., these areas are usually empty of people).

Europe Lithuania Lithuania nature nature Northern Europe

Devil's pit (Velnio duobė)

plkst. novembris 22, 2024 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

One of the most unusual geological formations in Lithuania is the so-called "Devil's Pit" - a substantial

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Lithuania, Trakai district
DEPTH	40 metres
DIAMETER	200 M
RATING (8,53/10)

crater approximately 200 meters in diameter and 40 meters deep, whose origins remain a mystery to scientists. Some theories link its formation to the melting processes of Ice Age glaciers, while another hypothesis suggests it was caused by a meteorite impact. Regardless of its origin, this is a fascinating and distinctive site to visit—arguably even more visually impressive than the famous and much more tourist-visited Kaali meteorite crater in Saaremaa.

BUY PHOTOS OF DEVIL'S PIT, LITHUANIA

boulder Estonia Estonia nature nature Northern Europe

Majakivi boulder, Estonia

plkst. novembris 21, 2024 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Estonia's natural charm rests primarily on three pillars – cliffs, waterfalls, and giant boulders. Lahemaa National Park is particularly rich in giant boulders. The Majakivi boulder site is reached by a

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Lahemaa National park, Estonia
HEIGHT	7 metres
VOLUME	584 M3
PERIMETER	32 M
RATING (8,47/10)

forest trail approximately one and a half kilometers long. At the trail's start, seemingly designed to "tease" those accustomed to much smaller boulders, stands another rock, Elu Kivil. One might think they've already arrived at the main attraction. However, the true colossus lies much deeper in the forest, and the moment its mighty silhouette begins to emerge between the tree trunks is mesmerizing.

It's the third largest boulder in Estonia and all of the Baltic states. "Majakivi" doesn't translate to an Indonesian native or an exotic fruit but rather to "home stone," and it is indeed the size of a respectable two-story house. Specially constructed stairs lead to the top of the boulder, and standing on the giant’s back, you're already midway up the height of the surrounding pines, which here, due to the partially marshy soil, are smaller than usual.

BUY PHOTOS OF MAJAKIVI BOULDER, ESTONIA

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe trees

Rietekla juniper tree (Rietekļa kadiķis)

plkst. februāris 04, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

According to enthusiasts collected data (there is no official statistics) Rietekla juniper tree is the thickest juniper tree in Europe (girth more than 3 metres). It's 200 years old but hard to say how long it will grow, because the tree has tilted to one side.

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe parks and gardens

Rundale palace garden (Rundāles pils dārzs)

plkst. janvāris 29, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Rundale palace French style Baroque garden is the largest and most important royal garden in the Baltic states. Regular, ornamentally shaped pathways and alleys, various colorful rose breeds, Green Theatre, fountain and many other attractions and romantic hideouts waits a visitor here.

bog Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe

Great Kemeri bog (Lielais Ķemeru tīrelis)

plkst. janvāris 29, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

One of the most popular places in Latvia to hike out in nature and not without a reason - Great Kemeri bog landscape which consists of countless ponds is unusual and amazing. The small lakes here are concentrated in especially great density which looks even more amazing from above.

In the bogs northern side there is a more than 3 km long nature trail with a small observation tower leading through this scenic area. In other, more wilder parts of the bog different types of sceneries can be observed - overflooded areas, also kind of small hills or just forest chunks in between the forest.

Great Kemeri bog is a very enjoyable place in different kinds of seasons and times of days. Photographers usually arrives here early to catch a morning fog rising; in winters this is the place where to hope to see the crystal frost more often than in most other areas.

lake Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe

Lubans lake (Lubāna ezers)

plkst. janvāris 24, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Latvia's largest lake is important not only because of the fact it's largest but also because it's a notable monument of engineering - there is created a complex system of canals, dams and sluices to redirect rivers around the lake (because of the great floods Lubans created in past). It has also created an interesting landscape sceneries and environment around the lake.

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe waterfall

Zartapu waterfall (Zārtapu ūdenskritums)

plkst. janvāris 18, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

One of best kept semi-secrets in Latvia's nature - unusual and very beautiful waterfall. It's not between the widest or highest waterfalls in Latvia but this one is especially scenic because of the red dolomite as it's base cliff.

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Slitere National park
HEIGHT	2,2 metres
WIDTH	0,6 metres
RATING (8,4/10)

Zartapu waterfall is chaning quite dynamically because the red dolomite is soft and the water washes it out rather fast. Thus it has already created interesting canyon around the waterfall. The best time to visit waterfall is in high water season (spring, autumn, after heavy rainfalls) - in other times the water flor can be dried out.

The waterfall is easily accesible from road - there are a wide pathway leading to the waterfall which is just a few hundred meters inside the forest. However, bear in mind that waterfall is located in nature protection area, so please be especially cautious and responsible when visiting the place.

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe seaside

Vidzeme Stony coast (Vidzemes akmeņainā piekraste)

plkst. janvāris 15, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Vidzeme Stony Coast is a wonderful seaside area where to take hikes and observe sunsets. The beaches here for kilometers are covered with larger and smaller boulders, making the unusual and interesting scenery, supplemented also by several nice cliff outcrops along the coastline.

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe seaside

Cape Kolka (Kolkas rags)

plkst. janvāris 15, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Cape Kolka is one of Latvia's most intriguing nature pearls - northernmost tip of Western Latvia (Kurzeme) region, the meeting place of two seas - Baltic sea from the left and Riga Sea Gulf from the right. Kolka cape is dynamically changing it's shape,

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Kolka
RATING (8,6/10)

currently the sea has "eaten off" it's spike, but sometimes, when the waters step back, the cape can become much larger, revealing a part of the hidden underwater sandbank which stretches into the sea for several kilometres, until the artificial island of Kolka lighthouse (built in 1884) - you can see it the photo as a small dot in the sea, left part of the photo. This has been historically dangerous place for sailors, many ships have crashed on the sandbank, becoming an easy targets for pirates who misled ships by lighting up fires on the coast and then looted them. Kolka cape is also not the place to swim - the collision of waters from Riga Sea Gulf and Baltic sea creates dangerous whirlwinds of streams here.

cave Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe

Gutman's cave (Gūtmaņa ala)

plkst. janvāris 14, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Gutmana cave is the largest and undoubtedly the most popular cave in Latvia, with a long history. It's located in the tourist hotspot Sigulda (there are many other natural jewels in the area), and there were times (1970ies) when the cave had 1,5 million tourists per year which made it one of the most visited caves in the world!

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Sigulda
LENGTH	18 metres
HEIGHT	10 metres
AGE	10 000 years
RATING (7,7/10)

Gutmana cave is the highest and widest cave not only in Latvia, but whole Baltic states. It started forming more than 10 000 years ago when meltwater eroded the sandstone rock after the Ice Age (it was more than thousand years long process of interaction between the river and an underground spring). The walls of the cave holds many inscriptions and the oldest of them dates back to 17th century.

cliff Latvia Latvia cliff Latvia nature nature Northern Europe seaside

Veczemju cliffs (Veczemju klintis)

plkst. janvāris 13, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

One of most beautiful cliffs in Latvia is located on sea side, Vidzeme stony coast. It's Veczemju sandstone cliffs, almost half kilometer long rocks which is even more unusual due to the various caves and niches in them which offers unique photo opportunities.

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Limbazi parish
CLIFF TYPE	Sandstone
HEIGHT	6 metres
LENGTH	450 metres
RATING (7,6/10)

It's interesting that before the strong storm in January 2005, the length of the cliffs was much smaller - just 160 metres. Also the birch tree (in the first photo) has became iconic - it stands on the edge of the cliff already at least 10 years, just the angle has became much slopier - from some 10 degrees back in 2008 to about 45 degrees in 2018.

cliff Latvia Latvia cliff Latvia nature nature Northern Europe

Devil's Oven (Lielā Ellīte)

plkst. maijs 01, 2019 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

These unusual sandstone archs are the only such formations in Latvia (the other ones have collapsed during time), they're presumably more than 6000 years old. Next to the arcade there is also a 23 metres long cave and a natural spring.

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Liepa village
CLIFF TYPE	Sandstone
AGE	6500-7000 YEARS
RATING (8,5/10)

Lielā Ellīte could be formed around 6,5-7 thousand years ago. The cave and the spring were once an important holy places. Spring has created unique rock formation. Groundwater is collected over a watertight, flat clay basin, and then flows through layers of sandstone that filters and purifies water.

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe waterfall

Great Inkulu waterfall (Lielais Inkuļu ūdenskritums)

plkst. janvāris 01, 2019 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

This beautiful and unusual (for Latvia) waterfall close to Cesis town has became a very popular local tourism place in recent years. The waterfall is of partially natural, partially artificial origins - formed in previous quarry.

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Cesis parish
HEIGHT	7,5 metres
WIDTH	2,8 metres
RATING (8,1/10)

If it were completely natural waterfall, it would be regarded as the highest one in Latvia - it's height reaches 7,7 metres. The waterfall is very scenic because of it's combination of water, green moss and rocks.

Latvia Latvia nature nature Northern Europe parks and gardens

National Botanical garden (Nacionālais botāniskais dārzs)

plkst. janvāris 01, 2019 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

National Botanical garden with it's 136 hectares area and more than 14 000 breeds of plants, flowers, trees, bushes is the largest botanical garden in Baltic states. It's a well landscaped area where to enjoy nature at it's beautiful diversity. One can take a long walks through various sectors of the garden, each to devoted to different types of plants and trees. There is also a brand new greenhouse orangerie (built in 2015) which houses more exotic plants in several large rooms, each with it's own specific microclimate.