Jūrmala (Latvian: [ˈjuːrmala] ⓘ; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Riga.

While Latvia was under Soviet occupation, Jūrmala was a favorite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev.

Jūrmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style.

From west to east, these include Ķemeri, Jaunķemeri, Sloka, Kauguri, Vaivari, Asari, Melluži, Pumpuri, Jaundubulti, Dubulti, Majori, Dzintari, Bulduri and Lielupe and others.

Wealthy landowners began the tradition of relaxing at the seaside, and Russian army officers came here to rest after the Napoleonic Wars, returning later with their families.

In Soviet times Jūrmala was popular with the Communist officials because of its beach and sanatoriums - holidays were also given as rewards for top union members.

Russians are now subject to strict visa requirements and its beaches have yet to attract significant numbers of Europeans, leaving the tourist industry with a hard task on its hands.

Many Russian celebrities, successful businessmen and others buy houses near the beach, and a variety of festivals and other activities attract increasing crowds each summer.

The main beach at Majori and another at Bulduri now bear blue eco-flags signalling the sea is clean and safe to swim in, and the Latvian Academy of Science boasts a hotel for its members in the town.

The territory of the park is mostly occupied by forests and mires, the most significant of them being The Great Ķemeri Bog (Latvian: Lielais Ķemeru tīrelis).

Most of the street is a walking boulevard closed to vehicle traffic, and is populated with restaurants, bars, souvenir booths, fruit stalls and a small shopping complex containing a cinema.

The Dzintari watchtower at 33.5 meters high, soars past the pine trees with a large viewing platform at the top allowing tall distant objects to be seen such as the Riga Radio and TV Tower.

It is popular amongst canoeists and kayakers as Lielupe flows through and connects populated municipalities including Bauska, Mežotne, Jelgava, Kalnciems and Riga.

In 1936, President Kārlis Ulmanis officially opened one of the most prestigious buildings in Latvia at the time, Hotel "Ķemeri" with 100 comfortable rooms and a luxurious hall.

After World War II, it was transformed into a sanatorium with 300 beds for treating problems with nervous systems, as well as patients with joint, bones and musculoskeletal and gynaecological diseases from the Soviet republics with a very wide range of health resorts and medical services.

The best Latvian men's team of Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Jānis Šmēdiņš took home silver, losing 2–0 to Italy in the finals.

[19][20] FK Spartaks is a Latvian football club in Jūrmala that plays its home matches in the 2,500 capacity Sloka Stadium.

[22] Since 2015, the international music festival Rendezvous, organized by Laima Vaikule, has been taking place in the Dzintari concert hall in Jurmala.

Over the years, the festival was attended by Chris Norman, Londonbeat, Tanita Tikaram, Måns Zelmerlöw, Nemo, Patrisha, Uku Suviste, Tomas Nevergreen, Michał Szpak, Inese Galante, Noa, Vera Brezhneva, Bi-2, Mashina Vremeni, Manizha and other performers from Europe, Asia and America, the guest of the festival was Alla Pugacheva.

[28] The current railway stations in Jūrmala, sorted from east to west, are Priedaine, Lielupe, Bulduri, Dzintari, Majori, Dubulti, Jaundubulti, Pumpuri, Melluži, Asari, Vaivari, Sloka and Ķemeri.

A railway overpass was built at Dzintari Station in 1976, giving a fast four-lane traffic flow into central Jūrmala.