If you want to get closer to the heart of Latvia, take a walk through the jungle. Forests cover about 45 percent of the country and protect a wide variety of creatures, including populations of lynx, beavers and birds of prey. The best places to stroll on the tree-lined trails are Ķemeri National Park, a large stretch of forest and swamp near Jūrmala, and Gauja National Park, northeast of Rīga. From Sigulda, the entrance to Gauja, a leafy road leads between the ruins of three palaces and along the Gauja River.