The currency used in Latvia is the Lat. It can be written as Lats, LVL or Ls. The currency comes in coins of 1 Santims (about 1.4 Euro Cents), 2 Santimi, 5 Santimi, 10 Santimi, 20 Santimi, 50 Santimi, 1 Ls and 2 Ls (about 3 Euro). Paper currency denominations go from 5 Ls, 10 Ls, 50 Ls, 100 Ls and up.

Hotels, clubs, restaurants and stores in Riga will usually not accept any currency besides Lats so you will need to exchange your Euros, Pounds, Dollars, etc. Always exchange your money at a bank like Parex Banka, Hansabanka, Nordea Bank, etc.! Do NOT use the small currency exchange booths (valÅ«tas maiņa) which are all over Riga!!! The rates given at the small currency exchange windows are always very bad. The rates they post on their signs are the rates they will sell the given currency for…… not what they will buy it for! Be very careful about this as this is one of the ways to lose a large amount of money in Latvia! Make sure you have exchanged all your Euros, Pounds, Dollars, etc. into Ls before you go out for the night as you will get a VERY bad exchange rate when you try to change your currency at 3AM after some drinks!

Never exchange currency with anyone you meet off the street! That is a good way to get robbed or end up with some very low value currency like Russian Rubles or Estonian Kroons. Also if you try to exchange your money in a bar or club you are likely to get a very bad exchange rate as well. Make sure you exchange all of your money at established banks!