Where Is Everyone?

On Russian drones and a visit to Cēsis, Latvia

Hello friend,

In the three hours I spent at Cēsis castle, a 13th century ruin and the largest remaining castle in Latvia, I did not see a single tourist.

A young woman in period costume, a brown dress matched with a loose white hat, handed me a lantern to explore the castle’s West Tower. From then on, I was alone. No costumes or tour groups in sight. For an afternoon, I had my own private castle, intimate and a bit eerie.

The castle sits in the center of Cēsis, one of the best preserved medieval cities in the Baltic. Beyond the castle’s jagged stone walls lies Rozu Square, home to a church with a bell tower and sidewalk cafes with requisite umbrellas and outdoor seating. A bakery, Cēsu Maize, supplies most of the town’s restaurants and cafes, filling the center of town with the smell of rupjmaize, Latvia’s traditionally protected dark rye bread.

The infrastructure for tourism is here, but not the tourists are not.

A barista etches foam animals atop cappuccinos at the Black Swan, named for two resident black swans that swim around Maija Park, a historical gift from their sister city of Lisbon. A contemporary art museum with exhibits on Latvian displacement and the diaspora, completes the square. Walking a few blocks out of the town center, I stumble into Latvia’s oldest brewery, now a trendy vegan restaurant / art and music space. Hip, tattooed local teenagers lounge everywhere.

For three days, I expect to turn a corner and find hordes of other tourists. And I do see a few, walking off buses to take a few pictures of city center before heading out again. But in the evenings, the city is quiet.

One evening at Voku, a local cocktail bar, I ask the owner, Peter, where everyone is. Tourism is down 40% due to escalating Russian drone activity in Eastern Latvia, he says. Frequent cell phone pings notify Latvians of drone activity nearby.

In early June, NATO forces shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle that entered the country’s airspace.¹ According to a recent report from the International Institute of Strategic Studies, there have been 144 suspicious drone incidents in over a dozen European countries since August 2024.² Ukrainian drones have fallen in every Baltic state, suspected targets of Russian jamming.

Plus, sitting outside of Europe’s heat dome, Latvia’s summer so far has been unusually wet and cold. This combination of drone activity and rain is keeping tourists home. Peter says the area’s business owners have a meeting upcoming to discuss what to do.

On my last day in Cēsis, I pop into Peter’s bar to say goodbye and wish him sunny days ahead. I find another American, from Arizona, solo drinking at the bar.

“Isn’t it a lovely town? But so quiet.”

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Welcome to An Adventurous Life, I’m Julia Atkinson.

I left San Diego in May 2026 to chase my dream of becoming a travel writer. I write about life on the road and share stories, tips and tricks, and interviews for readers looking for more adventure in their lives.

I wrote about road tripping 4,000 miles solo across the United States for Business Insider and about National Park Cities for Trails Magazine.

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Until my next adventure,

Julia

P.S. And thank you to Brad Yonaka of Odyssey And Meaning for recommending I visit Cēsis!

1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ukraine-war-latvia-drone-shot-down-nato/

2. Russia’s UAV Campaign Over Europe