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 LVL and 2 LVL (about 3 Euro). Paper currency denominations go from 5 LVL, 10 LVL, 50 LVL, 100 LVL and up.

Hotels, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes and shops in Latvia will usually not accept any currency besides LVL so you will need to exchange your Euros, Pounds, Dollars, Rubles etc. Always exchange your money at established banks like Parex Banka, Unibanka, Hansabanka, Nordea Bank, etc.! Do NOT use the currency exchange booths (valūtas maiņa) which are all over Latvia!!! The rates given at the currency exchange windows are always very bad. The rates they post on their ads 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, Rubles etc. into LVL before you go out for the night as you will get a VERY bad exchange rate when you try to change your money at 2AM after some drinks!

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