Seventeen kilometres south-east brings you to Lielvarde and, a little out from the town, Lielvarde Lutheran church and the Museum of A.Pumpurs, dedicated to the author of the famous Latvian epic Laplesis (1888), the themes of which are illustrated by wooden sculptures in the surrounding park. Also try to see the ruins of the Lielvarde Castle, located in the beautiful park where the Rumbina river flows into the Daugava. On your arrival in Koknese, built at the confluence of the Perse and Daugava rivers, be sure to see Koknese park, home to castle ruins and a Lutheran church, dating from 1687, which offers marvellous views of the surrounding countryside. The cannons and stone crosses which dot the park date from medieval times.
Unfortunately, the creation of the Plavinas reservoir in 1967, flooding the Daugava primeval hollow, the Staburags cliff, the Perse waterfall and several castle walls and ruins, has marred much of the region's natural beauty - even today, a part of Koknese castle is still under water.

Still further south, you'll reach the modern city of Jekabpils, created in 1962 by uniting the older towns of Krustpils and Jekabpils on opposite sides of the Daugava. It's a pleasant town to visit, particularly Meza Park, near the Brodu reservoir, and Struve Park, both favourite places for locals to get away from it all. Popular with visitors is the open-air section of the Museum (6 Filizofu Street), where you can see 19th-century buildings and household artefacts typical of the Augszeme region, as well as the Sunkaste windmill, dating from 1820, and the district rent-house, built the same year.

Krustpils Castle, dating from the 18th century, has been rebuilt several times and finally converted into a manor house. It's still worth seeing; the main building of the old castle has remained intact, and in the park, by the pond with the mill (214 Riga Street), is the castle's chapel.

Thirty-five kilometres east of Jekabpils, on the banks of Lake Marinzeja, is the magnificent Marinzeja Manor House, built in 1847 and surrounded by rolling parkland; it is currently in use as a school.

Back on the road, continue east towards Rezekne, stopping in Sakstagals, birthplace of the Latgale hero Francis Trasuns. In 1992 a museum in the from of an ancient Latgale homestead was built in his memory.

Rezekne itself is noted for its unique location among seven hills in the very centre of the Latgale region. The town is built on the Rezekne river, and in its southern section is the lovely Lake Kovsa. Apart from the scenery, Rezekne is noted for Latgale Street, the town's oldest, lined with buildings constructed on the plans of Catherine II of Russia at the end of the 18th century. An important symbol of independence is the Latgale Liberation Monument - a woman with a cross in her upraised hand - symbolising the liberation of the region from the Bolsheviks in 1920. You can learn more about the history of Latgale and Rezekne itself at the Museum of Latgale Culture and History at 102 Atbrivosanas aleja.