Tukums is a small town west of Riga, close enough for an easy day trip but slower and more local than nearby Jurmala. It sells itself as a town of roses, and that fits: modest, tidy, a little old-fashioned, with flowers and cobbled streets doing much of the work.
The town centre is compact, with Brivibas Square, old streets, galleries, and the Castle Tower of Tukums. The stronger reasons to come are just outside the centre: Durbe Manor, with its museum interiors, and Jaunmoku Palace, a hunting lodge in the countryside.
Tukums is not one of Latvia's great headline stops, but it has enough for a rewarding spare day if you want manor houses, small-town Latvia, and a break from Riga's busier circuit.