Autumn is the season straight after summer where temperatures drop and deciduous trees, shrubs and their leaves turn the most vibrant yellow, orange, pink, purple and brown colours.
In this blog, I explain where I believe is the best place in the world to experience the most amazing seasonal change in nature. This is a subjective topic and I know there are a large number of possibilities with readers having differing opinions, therefore, I have activated the comments at the end of this post so I would appreciate you telling me where you believe is worth visiting to see autumnal colour. One thing is sure, you need trees and lots of them, in order to experience a magical blanket of bright autumn colours.
In Poland, it is possible to experience amazing autumn scenes in the forests around Krakow in the Ojcow region with every colour imaginable.
In America, the north-eastern region of New England or the north-west Pacific state of Washington provide some of the best sights of autumn from the air. However, in my opinion, it is tough to trump (pardon the pun) Sigulda in Latvia’s Gauja National Park, home to 90,000 hectares and the raised viewing point of Turaida Castle that provides a wonderful platform to view an amazing landscape of trees, rivers and caves.
I got to visit the region with my Latvian girlfriend Eva in October before the leaves had fallen fully from the trees and I must admit, Sigulda is probably the best place in Latvia (maybe in Europe, possibly even on the planet) to visit in autumn with the vivid colours on display.
Our visit to Sigulda in Autumn.
We parked our car at the pedestrian entrance to medieval Turaida castle, zipped up our jackets and headed to the pay-in desk which incidentally was only €3 each! Great value. It was a longish walk from the entry point to the actual castle, taking about 15 minutes, but as the path wound through forest and meadows, we entertained ourselves taking photographs in the mounds of leaves covering the ground.
Turaida castle loomed large as we approached and we were surrounded by multi-coloured trees that twinkled everywhere, glinting, with an ever-changing spectrum in the wintery sunlight which never gains much altitude at that time of year.
On entering the castle courtyard, there was an increased bustle of activity and you could see why it is a popular destination with local and foreign tourists. The courtyard complex houses a museum over a few floors, outdoor stalls selling souvenirs with archery lessons available too. The centre piece is the 60 meter climb up the castle tower for which a 20-minute queue had already formed when we arrived. While Eva lined up patiently, I tried my hand at archery using a proper wooden bow. I think I landed 6 out 10 arrows on the target board, not bad for a half blind novice.
Finally, it was our turn to climb Turaida castle, up through a series of sweeping narrow and low brick staircases that wound all the way to the top, breaking once or twice in large chambers on the way.
Once at the summit, there was an even larger open section spanning the full diameter of the tower roof with about 10 small windows that one can peer out. What greeted us was breathtakingly beautiful. Amazing autumn views of the golden and green forest below that stretched for miles in every direction, with views of Sigulda and a glimpse of the Gauja river reflecting the sky, in deep contrast to the greens, oranges, browns and pinks crowding its banks.
When we swopped to the other side of the tower, the forest basked in hazy sunlight echoing, in my mind, the magical and mountainous cinematic scenes from the 1992 film, Last of the Mohicans, starring Daniel-Day Lewis and Madeline Stowe.
We truly had a wonderful afternoon in Sigulda, Turaida castle and the Gauja national park. It is my firm opinion, that the best time of year to visit is in autumn when you can experience the kaleidoscope of colours that we had the privilege to see.
I enjoyed it so much and was blown away by the autumn colours on show that I decided to name one of the lights in our new home lighting brand; Autumn Colour. The Original Cherry Light is a new Irish lighting brand with an international theme, and they represent a departure from my traditional business: chimneychoice.ie that I have worked at up until now.
Above is our Autumn Colour Cherry Light and as you can see the colours match the photographs in this blog.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed my account of our afternoon trip to Sigulda and the images I took of all the wonderful autumn colours. If you did, please consider supporting my new venture and purchase a Cherry Light.
Thanks, and take care. Greg.
