Do you actually need a VPN in Latvia, and what is blocked?
VPNs are legal in Latvia with no restriction, registration or licensing, and as an EU member state the country sits under EU net neutrality rules. The blocking that does exist is specific. Under amendments passed in March 2022, NEPLP can order internet providers to block sites spreading Russian war propaganda or disinformation; it blocked 71 in its first decision that month and had reached 413 by August 2025, with 169 in the first year of the invasion, 137 in 2024 and 88 in the first seven months of 2025. Separately, the gambling regulator IAUI has kept a blacklist of unlicensed gambling sites since 2014. Using a VPN to read a blocked news site is not an offence for an individual; the orders bind the providers, not readers.
Nothing else is filtered. WhatsApp and FaceTime calls, social media, messaging and streaming all work on LMT, Tele2 and Bite, and Freedom House records no shutdowns. What a traveller runs into is the ordinary geo-blocking: a UK bank that challenges a Latvian login, BBC iPlayer that stops working, and a Netflix library that changes at the border.
The everyday reason is Wi-Fi. Riga's cafes, coworking spaces and hotels are full of remote workers on shared networks, and work and banking logins should not cross any of them unencrypted. When the app misbehaves, 24/7 live chat from NordVPN or Surfshark is the part of the service you will actually use.
What a VPN does and does not do in Latvia
A VPN encrypts the link between your device and the VPN server, so the hotel network, the cafe router and the mobile carrier see only scrambled traffic. It also lets you choose where you appear to be. A UK server keeps your bank, iPlayer and Netflix behaving as they do at home; a Latvian server gives you a local IP address for Latvian banking portals and services when you are elsewhere in Europe. Because NEPLP's orders are applied by Latvian providers, a connection to a server outside Latvia routes around them.
It will not change Latvian law or EU roaming rules, it cannot speed up a shared hotel connection, and some streaming services block known VPN ranges whichever provider you use. Both picks come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so test your real use case first: NordVPN for a shorter trip, Surfshark if you are staying longer.
Recommended VPNs for Latvia
NordVPN, best for short trips and month-by-month plans
It is the one for you if you are covering yourself, or you and a partner, and want something simple to run and easy to forget about. One plan covers 10 devices, and the apps are quick to install and easy to switch off and on as you need. Plans run by the month, the year or over two years, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Surfshark, best for long stays and unlimited devices
It is the one for you if one subscription needs to cover everyone. Connections are unlimited, so every phone, laptop and tablet you travel with, and anyone you share a place with, runs on the same plan at once. That suits a stay that stretches to months rather than weeks. It sells the same three terms and adds bonus months on the longer two, with the same 30-day money-back guarantee.
Server networks and speeds in Latvia
Both of our picks list servers in Latvia, so a Latvian IP address is a one-tap choice in either app. The Baltic region is well served: Estonia and Lithuania are listed by both providers too, and Helsinki, Stockholm and Warsaw are close enough that a neighbouring server adds only a few milliseconds if the Latvian location is busy. For UK banking and iPlayer you route to London either way, which from Riga is comfortably fast for HD video.
The local networks are quick. MedUX's crowdsourced measurements for April to June 2026 put average mobile downloads at 135 Mbps on Bite, 123 Mbps on Tele2 and 104 Mbps on LMT across all technologies, and fibre is common in Riga's apartment blocks. Rural Latgale and the coast are slower but 4G is near universal.
How to choose between them
The differences that matter fit in one table, and the last two rows are there to name two promises you should not believe from anyone, us included.
| Feature | NordVPN | Surfshark |
|---|
| 1 month | $14.99 | $16.45 |
| 1 year plan, total upfront | $65.88 (12 months billed) | $50.85 (15 months billed) |
| 2 year plan, total upfront | $94.23 (27 months billed) | $67.23 (27 months billed) |
| Devices per plan | 10 | Unlimited |
| Kill switch and auto-connect | Yes | Yes |
| Independently audited no-log policy | Yes (2025) | Yes (2025) |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Guarantees access to any blocked site, anywhere | No | No |
| Makes slow Wi-Fi faster | No | No |
On a single month NordVPN is cheaper. Over a year or two Surfshark is. On everything else the choice is about shape rather than money: 10 devices and a simple setup on one side, unlimited devices on the other.
Setting up before you travel
Do the setup at home, on Wi-Fi you trust, before the airport. Install NordVPN or Surfshark on each device, sign in, and connect once to confirm everything works. Then turn on two settings both apps include: the kill switch, which stops your traffic travelling unprotected if the VPN drops, and auto-connect, which brings the VPN back up when your connection returns.
Nothing you need is blocked in Latvia unless you read Russian news sites, so set-up is simple: log in before you fly, turn on the kill switch so a dropped connection on hotel or cafe Wi-Fi does not expose traffic, and save a UK server as a favourite for banking and iPlayer. If you want to follow Russian-language sources that NEPLP has blocked, any server outside Latvia will do. Our Best eSIMs for Latvia guide covers getting online the moment you land; both apps work on an eSIM data plan as well as Wi-Fi.
Final recommendation
Latvia is a simple country for VPN use: legal, fast and open, with a public blocklist aimed squarely at Russian propaganda. For a Riga city break, a business trip or a summer at the coast, NordVPN is the pick. It has servers in Latvia and both other Baltic states, fast London servers for UK banking and streaming, and ten device connections cover a family's phones and laptops.
If you are relocating for work, studying in Riga or staying a season, Surfshark is the better value. Unlimited devices covers every phone, laptop and TV box in the flat, and its Latvian and Baltic servers give you a local IP for Latvian banking and services on the days you are elsewhere in Europe.
