Has anyone visited the area between Klaipeda up the coast to Riga?
 

I know it's a long shot on this forum, but I thought I'd ask anyway. We are vacillating about driving up from the Palanga/Klaipeda area to Riga. We have heard of Kuldiga and its charms and also of Ventspils & Liepaja. We would amble around and do this drive on our way to the Rundale Palace. Is this area worth a day or two?
I guess I should add that while we really enjoy nature, we are from Minnesota in the US which is very well-known for its remote wild areas, lakes, forests and nature. We are not looking for another dose of this. We also don't necessarily need "tourist attractions", but we'd like to get some insight into Latvia. What do you think? Or, would we be better off putting this day or two somewhere else on our trip?

I have been to Kuldiga, Liepaja and Kolka - but by visits date back a few years (around 5). Liepaja used to be a big army base for the Soviet troops - and it showed when I was there with an abundance of military barracks, most of which were deserted and decaying.

Kuldiga has its charms, but I also recall that a considerable number of the traditional wooden buildings were showing their age a bit - consider it patina and enjoy it ;-)!

Kolka is basically a typically Baltic stretch of coast, what makes it particular is its relative isolation and that the merging waters of the Baltic Sea and the Bay of Riga can be untypically rough at times. For a Baltic Sea lover like me a very nice place with nature galore.

The only part I don't quite get of your schedule is that you state you were willing to visit this area (Courland or Kurzeme) on your way to Rundale Palace. Rundale is definitely worth a trip, but in the South East of Latvia, near the Lithuanian border at Bauska, whereas the areas you describe are on the Western border of Latvia.

We will be starting out on the Coronian spit in Lithuania and thought maybe we'd drive up along the coast a ways and then cut over to Kuldiga. Then we'd go to Rundale Palace before arriving in Riga where we will probably get rid of the rental car. However, you don't sound too enthusiastic about Kuldiga, and I've read that it takes maybe only about 1/2 hour to visit. I'm not too enthused about driving all that way for some place that just isn't that great.

Did you ever go to the southeast of Riga towards Belarus. I've been doing some reading & I am also rather curious about an area that is really off the beaten path--Latgale and the Daugvapils river valley. From what I've read, it sounds as though it is an area in which time has stood still. We may also be interested in the drive along the river between Riga & Daugvapils where we would then cut down to Vilnius. When we visited Romania several years ago one of the most enjoyable things we did was to go to a remote area where things really were as they'd been nearly a 100 years ago. There were certainly no major tourist sites, but it was fascinating nonetheless. Thanks again for your help.

I have never made it into Latgale and Daugavpils, unfortunately, so do not have any expertise.

You are right about Kuldige, I suppose, if you happen to pass by, you might stop, but otherwise it's rather not worth it.

What I found to be a scenic area was the area around Sigulda and Cesis with the adjacent Gauja National Park - but that's not to discourage you from venturing to Daugavpils.

Personally I would cycle/hike along the coast rather than drive. From inside a car you would miss a lot.
I have some photos of Kleipeda if you're interested. http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/palanga.htm

I have done this drive some 7 years ago. The main attraction is the coast itself - practically all of the coastline on Latvian side is uninterrupted stretch of lovely white-sand beach (except for Liepaja and Ventspils towns) that is almost completely deserted of people.
The border crossing Lithuania-Latvia was quite a shock, as Lithuania has barely 20 km of proper coast, it is heavily developed and very busy in summer. After crossing to Latvia, we met first people only near Liepaja, some 50 km away. The beach stretches up to Kolka and continues on Gulf of Riga side as well, ending up with the famous Jurmala resort near Riga. It is definitely worth experiencing, though it looks quite the same everywhere, no need to drive the whole coast.