Within the framework of the project “Accessible Hiking Trails”, two informative videos on accessible beach solutions have been produced in cooperation with the Association of People with Disabilities and Their Friends “Apeirons”. The videos are in Latvian and available with English subtitles.
One video presents the accessibility solutions implemented at Apšuciems Beach and encourages people with mobility impairments to use the available infrastructure.
The other video provides practical guidance on what should be considered when planning and constructing an accessible beach, using Apšuciems Beach as an example. The video features insights and experience shared by Jurģis Briedis from the Association “Apeirons”.
The accessible infrastructure at Apšuciems Beach was developed within the framework of the project “Accessible Hiking Trails” and officially opened on 23 May 2025 during the Baltic Hiking Tourism Conference. The beach features an approximately 20-metre-long wooden boardwalk that enables people with mobility impairments to cross soft sand comfortably, reach the sea, and access a dedicated sunbathing deck for wheelchair users. A changing cabin has also been installed.
Apšuciems Beach is also equipped with an amphibious beach wheelchair with three float-type wheels and armrests shaped like lifebuoys, ensuring buoyancy in the water. The wheelchair has a load capacity of up to 115 kg, and life jackets are provided for additional safety. The wheelchair is available free of charge and can be collected from Apšuciems School by prior arrangement via telephone +371 26 132 761. Users are required to provide their own assistant to help with access to and from the water and to support them during swimming.
These solutions are designed to improve access to the sea for people with mobility impairments, families with pushchairs, seniors, and anyone who finds moving on sand challenging.
The beach improvements and the informative videos were developed with the support of the European Union Interreg Estonia–Latvia Programme 2021–2027 within the project “Accessible Hiking Trails”.
More about the project:
The aim of the project “Accessible Hiking Trails” is to improve accessibility of the Baltic Hiking trails – the Coastal Hiking Trail and the Forest Trail – for different social groups by implementing accessibility and inclusive marketing solutions in the territory of both trails, in Latvia and Estonia. The project will be implemented over 3 years – from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026. The leading partner of the project is the Latvian Rural Tourism Association “Lauku Celotajs”. The total budget of the Project is 1 245 027,00 EUR, of which the ERDF Interreg VI-A Estonia – Latvia Programme contribution is 996 021,60 EUR. Kurzeme planning region total budget of the Project is 139 893,00, of which the ERDF Interreg VI-A Estonia – Latvia Programme contribution is 111 914,40.
More about the project: https://www.kurzemesregions.lv/en/projects/tourism/accessible-hiking-trails/
Project manager in Kurzeme planning region
Aija Neilande
Phone: +371 26 147 139, e-mail: aija.neilande@kurzemesregions.lv
