Golden hour in Riga, Latvia today

Evening golden hour in Riga, Latvia runs 17:42 – 18:57 today, Saturday 10 October — that is 1h 15m of usable low light before blue hour takes over.

This evening

Golden hour: 17:42 – 18:57
Duration: 1h 15m
Sunset: 18:34
Blue hour: 18:57 – 19:12
Sunset direction: 259° (W)

18h 32m until sunset

This morning

Golden hour: 07:22 – 08:38
Duration: 1h 15m
Sunrise: 07:45
Blue hour: 07:07 – 07:22
Sunrise direction: 101° (E)

The next seven days

Evening golden hour, blue hour and sunset for the coming week in Riga.
Date	Golden hour starts	Golden hour ends	Duration	Blue hour	Sunset	Sunset direction
Sat 10 Oct	17:42	18:57	1h 15m	18:57 – 19:12	18:34	259° W
Sun 11 Oct	17:39	18:55	1h 16m	18:55 – 19:10	18:31	258° WSW
Mon 12 Oct	17:36	18:52	1h 16m	18:52 – 19:07	18:29	257° WSW
Tue 13 Oct	17:33	18:50	1h 16m	18:50 – 19:05	18:26	257° WSW
Wed 14 Oct	17:30	18:47	1h 16m	18:47 – 19:02	18:24	256° WSW
Thu 15 Oct	17:27	18:45	1h 17m	18:45 – 18:59	18:21	255° WSW
Fri 16 Oct	17:25	18:42	1h 17m	18:42 – 18:57	18:18	255° WSW

Golden hour in October 2026

Evening golden hour start, end and duration for every day of October 2026.
Date	Starts	Ends	Duration	Sunset
Thu 1	18:07	19:21	1h 14m	18:58
Fri 2	18:04	19:19	1h 14m	18:55
Sat 3	18:02	19:16	1h 14m	18:53
Sun 4	17:59	19:13	1h 14m	18:50
Mon 5	17:56	19:11	1h 14m	18:47
Tue 6	17:53	19:08	1h 14m	18:45
Wed 7	17:50	19:05	1h 15m	18:42
Thu 8	17:47	19:03	1h 15m	18:39
Fri 9	17:45	19:00	1h 15m	18:37
Sat 10	17:42	18:57	1h 15m	18:34
Sun 11	17:39	18:55	1h 16m	18:31
Mon 12	17:36	18:52	1h 16m	18:29
Tue 13	17:33	18:50	1h 16m	18:26
Wed 14	17:30	18:47	1h 16m	18:24
Thu 15	17:27	18:45	1h 17m	18:21
Fri 16	17:25	18:42	1h 17m	18:18
Sat 17	17:22	18:40	1h 17m	18:16
Sun 18	17:19	18:37	1h 18m	18:13
Mon 19	17:16	18:35	1h 18m	18:11
Tue 20	17:13	18:32	1h 18m	18:08
Wed 21	17:11	18:30	1h 19m	18:06
Thu 22	17:08	18:27	1h 19m	18:03
Fri 23	17:05	18:25	1h 20m	18:01
Sat 24	17:02	18:23	1h 20m	17:58
Sun 25	15:59	17:20	1h 21m	16:56
Mon 26	15:57	17:18	1h 21m	16:53
Tue 27	15:54	17:16	1h 21m	16:51
Wed 28	15:51	17:13	1h 22m	16:49
Thu 29	15:48	17:11	1h 22m	16:46
Fri 30	15:46	17:09	1h 23m	16:44
Sat 31	15:43	17:07	1h 24m	16:42

How much golden light each month gives you

Total evening golden-hour minutes available in each month. December is the strongest, at about 59 hours across the month; the year ranges by 35%.

What the numbers mean for Riga

Through October the evening window averages about 78 minutes a day here.

December is the most generous month at roughly 114 minutes an evening, and September the tightest at about 74 minutes — a difference of 1.5×. That gap is geometry, not weather: the shallower the sun meets the horizon, the longer it spends crossing the golden band.

A month from now the evening window will be about 14 minutes longer than tonight, and it will start at 15:19.

The light comes from west tonight, at 259° on the compass. Check that against your viewpoint before committing to it — the bearing moves through the year, as the table above shows.

What counts as golden hour

Golden hour is defined here by the sun’s altitude, not by a fixed number of minutes. It runs while the sun sits between +6° and −4° relative to the horizon: high enough to still light the scene, low enough that the light has travelled through a long path of atmosphere and lost its blue.

Below −4° the direct light is gone and blue hour takes over, running to −6° where civil twilight ends. Because the definition is angular, the length of golden hour depends on how steeply the sun meets the horizon — which is a function of latitude and season, not of the clock. That is why it lasts 1h 15m here today and about 40 minutes at the equator.

Full definitions of every term used here — golden hour, blue hour, altitude, azimuth — are in the glossary.

Full sunrise and sunset times for Riga Twilight, solar noon, moon phases, the monthly calendar and the year in one chart.