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Curonian Spit Lithuania by car. What Lithuania can be proud of: the resort on the Curonian Spit

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Holidays on the Curonian Spit

Nature reserve of the Curonian Spit

Do you want to take a break from the bustle of dusty cities and enjoy the pristine beauty of nature? Welcome to the sea coast of Lithuania - to the unique natural reserve of the Curonian Spit!

Only here you can see the “wandering” dunes and hear how the sands quietly “sing” to the whisper of relict pine trees and feel the heady honey aroma of cachim growing on the sand dunes! Only on the Lithuanian coast with soft, white sand and quiet waves can you see incredibly beautiful sunsets! And every evening they will be unique, but always bewitchingly beautiful!

The beauty of the Curonian Spit is attractive at any time of the year: in early spring, when colonies of migratory birds flock here; cool summers with gentle sunshine, sandy beaches and an abundance of berries; in the fall, when lush forests are painted in rainbow colors and the smell of mushrooms attracts mushroom pickers into the forests.
And in winter, when the snow falls on the fluffy paws of the fir trees, the high dunes turn into fun slides - a real haven for sledding and skiing!
This is one of the ecologically clean places in the Baltics, which is distinguished by its unusually picturesque nature.

The purest iodized sea air, unique beaches with blue flag status, some of the highest dunes in Europe, forests rich in mushrooms and berries - all this attracts numerous tourists from different parts of the world.
All this virgin natural beauty is located 25 km from the resort of Palanga and 1.5 km from the port city of Klaipeda; you just need to take a ferry and cross the Curonian Lagoon, admiring the landscapes surrounding you from the water!

The Curonian Spit is a narrow (0.400m – 3.8 km) sandy peninsula, 98 km long, washed by the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon. This national nature reserve is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Rare plants listed in the Red Book grow here, endangered species of birds are found, and wild animals feel safe here and are almost not afraid of humans, because hunting is prohibited here and animals boldly approach vacationers, begging for treats.

It was on the Curonian Spit in 1901 that the world's first station for ringing birds flying from Europe to warm countries and northern Africa was opened. This is one of the oldest migration routes. About 20 million birds fly over the Curonian Spit in autumn and spring, stopping here to rest!

History of the Curonian Spit

Back in the 9th century, pagan Curonian tribes lived in the forests of the Curonian Spit - hence the name of the spit. In the 11th century, the Vikings settled in these places, and from the middle of the 13th century, these lands were taken over by the Teutonic Order, for which the spit was the link between the lands around Königsberg and its Livonian possessions. The Order built guard structures here and strictly monitored the order and ecology of this forest region, so the sacred forests of the Curonians remained untouched.
With the fall of the Order, massive deforestation began on the spit, which led to catastrophic consequences: sand gradually began to cover roads and buildings, turning everything in its path into desert, and piles of sand moving under the influence of the wind swept away entire villages. 14 fishing villages disappeared under a pile of sand.
In 1791, the sand dunes finally displaced the last inhabitants of the village of Karvaichyu (German: Karwaiten), who unsuccessfully fought the onslaught of the sand elements, and in the end were forced to leave their homes.
The poet, professor of philology, and rector of the University of Königsberg, Ludwig Reza (author of “The History of the Lithuanian Bible”), who was born here, sadly wrote after visiting his native place: “... everything that is overgrown with moss is all that remains from those times.” Now there is a high Karvaichu dune, under the sand of which the village of the same name is buried.

At the end of the 19th century, the Prussian government, seeing that the sands began to threaten navigation of the Curonian Lagoon and the Memel Canal, decided to stop the destructive force of the sand dunes. This is how the strengthening of the rolling sands began on Kos.
In 1768, professor at the University of Wittenberg I.D. Titius wrote a project on the formation of the landscape of the Curonian Spit, which formed the basis for restoring the natural balance of these places. In 1810, work began to strengthen the unstable slopes of the “wandering” dunes with special weaving from brushwood and planting herbs and forests. This huge, labor-intensive fight against the sands continued for almost 150 years. It is still underway; the dunes are constantly being strengthened and protected from the destructive force of the wind.
Thus, the Curonian Spit, thanks to man-made labor, again blossomed with the lush greenery of forests and regained its former beauty.

Three centuries ago, an international Prussian postal route was laid along the spit, connecting Russia, Prussia and Paris by the shortest route, along which mail was delivered and many royal persons repeatedly passed through, including Tsar Peter the Great, King Frederick I of Prussia and Queen Louise, Friedrich Wilhelm III, Russian Emperor Alexander I and many others. The postal route along the Curonian Spit lost its significance only in 1832, as a new postal route Tilsit (Sovetsk) - Taurage - St. Petersburg was opened.

Smiltyne

The village of Smiltyne (German: Sandkrug) is part of the protected Curonian Spit National Park and administratively belongs to the city of Klaipeda. You can only cross here from Klaipeda by ferry, which runs frequently and on schedule from the Old and New crossings. A settlement arose on the site of an inn founded in these places in 1836. The owner of a local tavern had the sole right to ferry service to the city of Memel (Klaipeda).

In 1871, when the Prussian government decided to strengthen the moving sand and plant forests, the village began to turn into a recreation area, where a Kurhaus was built for the entertainment of vacationers.

Now, in the vicinity of the ferry crossing, several picturesque German-built houses, typical of Prussian resorts, have been restored.
After the war, the descendants of famous Russian noble families lived in these houses: the Potemkins, Aristovs, Guryevs, who, by the will of fate, were abandoned to these places. Now there are exhibitions telling about the history of the village.

Directly from the old ferry crossing, paved paths begin that lead through a wonderful pine forest to the white sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea. 800 meters of a pleasant walk, and you are on one of the beautiful beaches of Smiltyne. There are four of them - general, female, male and nudist. Everyone can choose a holiday according to their taste.

At any time of the year there are many people here who want not only to sunbathe, but also to simply take a walk, breathe in the sea air, saturated with iodine and the coniferous aroma of pine trees. Here you can go to a cafe, have a snack or drink a cup of delicious hot tea.

Bath lovers can take a steam bath right on the seashore and immediately dive into the cool Baltic waters. By the way, there are many winter swimmers who visit this steam room and swim in the sea all year round.

A kilometer south of the ferry crossing is the Smiltyne Yacht Club, where you will be offered:
rental of not only watercraft, but also bicycles - 3 euros per hour, 9 euros per day;
trips on yachts or boats around the port (ship for 5 people - 60 euros, for 8 people - 90 euros);
along the Curonian Lagoon towards Nida (price per person - 100 euros / first hour and 60 euros / remaining hours);
fishing in the sea or bay - 350 euros for 4 people.

Maritime Museum-Aquarium

In the northern part of the Curonian Spit is the main attraction of Smiltyne -. The Museum of the History of Lithuanian Shipping is located in the premises of the former 19th century defensive fortress of Kopgalis and was first opened to visitors in 1979.

At the end of 2017, after a three-year reconstruction, 24 updated aquariums and a new transparent 25-meter tunnel were opened to the public, above which you can watch two-meter sturgeons, huge stingrays and other fish swimming in a large aquarium. Now it is considered one of the largest aquariums in Europe. In the outdoor pools it is fascinating to watch the behavior of funny penguins, seals, and sea lions.

Located next to the museum Dolphinarium of the Curonian Spit. In summer, colorful water shows with the participation of Black Sea dolphins and sea lions are held here. The dolphinarium also houses a special dolphin therapy center for adults and children.

At 9 km of Kosa there is the village of Alksnines. To the left of the road, there is a huge boulder raised from the bottom of the Curonian Lagoon - this is a monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Klaipeda at the end of January 1945.

At the end of the 19th century, this place was the site of a manor where the family of a dune overseer lived, working to stabilize the ever-moving sands.

There is also a checkpoint where an environmental fee is collected for entering the territory of the protected national park. This fee is payable only one way, when you leave Smiltyne and head to the resort villages of Neringa.

Neringa and resort villages of the Curonian Spit

The Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit, 52 km long, is called Neringa. It unites 4 resort villages: Nida, Juodkrante, Pervalka and Preila (the number of residents of Neringa is about 3,500 people).

These beautiful resort villages are located on the coast of the Curonian Lagoon, along the picturesque highway connecting Lithuania with the Kaliningrad region. Just 1.5 km from the villages, behind high dunes, stretch the wide sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea, recognized as one of the cleanest in Europe.

Traveling by car along the road running between the bay and the sea, at 9 km there is a unique place where the expanses of the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon open up before you at the same time. Here you can also see a sad picture - more than 200 hectares of forest that burned out in 2006, which was destroyed due to the fault of people who handled fire irresponsibly. Now small seedlings are growing here, which only after many years will be able to become a real forest again.

All the villages of Neringa are united by a beautiful 52 km bicycle path, which runs through the picturesque places of the reserve. Along the way there are convenient rest areas for cyclists. Traveling by bicycle will bring great pleasure to lovers of active recreation.

These uniquely beautiful places have also been chosen by artists. The famous films “Treasure Island”, “Bay of Fear” and others were filmed on the Curonian Spit.

The resort villages of the Curonian Spit are not a place of noisy entertainment and vibrant nightlife. If you are more attracted to the fun-filled resort life, then 25 km away is the famous Lithuanian resort of Palanga, from where you can quickly get to the Curonian Spit.

In Neringa it’s nice to just relax, enjoy the aroma of the forest and sea, be alone with yourself, forgetting about the bustle of big cities. Problems and hectic life remain beyond the invisible border.

This is facilitated by the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of quiet resort villages, where no one is in a hurry, no one is pushing anyone, no one is angry, no one is nervous, and people, meeting you on a walk in the forest or by the sea, smile warmly at you as if they were good friends. This is what this “little country of smiles” is like, called Neringa.

The Legend of Neringa

A long time ago, where the Neman flows into the sea, in a fishing village there lived a kind giantess girl named Neringa. She had a kind heart and hardworking hands. She often saw how the formidable Sea King brutally dealt with fishermen who were catching fish in the sea, and they returned home without a catch. Neringa asked the sea king for mercy for them, but he was cruel and unbowed. And the depths of the sea swallowed the ships, and the fishermen died.

Then the hardworking giantess collected a whole dune of sand into her apron and poured it into the path of the Baltic waves. The storm raged for twenty days and nights, but Neringa kept pouring sand and pouring sand, and all the villagers helped her.

So a long sand spit grew, and a calm bay lay between the sea and the shore... The villagers were very grateful to the giantess girl, so the resulting peninsula was named after her - Neringa.

Juodkrante

The resort village of Juodkrante (German name Schwarzort, which means Black Beach) is located 18 km from the ferry crossing. This is one of the ancient settlements of the spit. Now this is the second largest resort village of Neringa, located along the coast of the Curonian Lagoon. Neat houses with characteristic German architecture in the half-timbered style; clean courtyards with flowering flower beds and trimmed lawns. Paths leading into the forest and to the sea coast with fine white sand and unique dunes.

Small and cozy Juodkrante hotels, charming cottages, guest houses, restaurants and cafes. Everything here contributes to a pleasant and relaxing holiday.

There is a store in the village where you can buy all the necessary goods. There is also a local market where in summer you can buy local fruits and vegetables, wild berries, homemade dairy products and aromatic smoked meats.
But the main trade of local residents is the traditional smoking of freshly caught fish and eel. These delicacies can be bought here in a shop in almost every private home.

At rental points you can rent a bicycle and ride along picturesque forest paths, along the seashore, or ride along a bicycle path that goes all the way to the border with the Russian Federation.
There is also a rental of boats and pedalos, which you can not only ride, admiring the beauty of the village from the bay, but also fish, of which there is really a lot here.
And what places there are for berries and mushrooms! Especially blueberries, this healthy berry grows everywhere. You can collect it yourself, or you can buy it from local residents.

Juodkrante is an ideal place for a relaxing family holiday. For those who want to be alone with nature, take an evening walk along the beautiful embankment of the bay, listen to the quiet whisper of the surf, the cry of seagulls hovering over the water, admire the proud swans living in the quiet plant of the bay and enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds you.

And if you want noisy entertainment, shopping and other city pleasures, then Klaipeda is very close. A ferry crossing is a 15-minute drive away, from where a ferry departs every 20 minutes to Klaipeda.
A kilometer from the ferry crossing there is a large shopping and entertainment complex Akropolis, where you can spend the whole day with your whole family, and everyone will find entertainment to suit their interests.

History of the village

At the end of the 16th century, the population of the village numbered no more than 100 people. These were poor families of fishermen who were engaged in fishing and waged an eternal struggle with the sand advancing from the dunes. At the beginning of the 17th century, all the inhabitants of the village died from a typhus epidemic, and the sands completely covered it.
But at the end of the 17th century, fishermen settled here again and the fishing village of Juodkrante was revived in the old place.

At the end of the 19th century, amber mining was actively carried out here and even valuable prehistoric amber items were discovered, indicating the ancient roots of the settlement.

Already in the 20s of the 20th century, Juodkrante had the reputation of a resort. In Soviet times, there were pioneer camps, boarding houses and holiday homes for workers of the Lithuanian fishing industry. Beautiful wide sandy beaches framed by dunes and pine forests, clean iodized air have always attracted vacationers here.

In the village of Juodkrante there is one very mysterious and attractive place for tourists that you must definitely visit - this is the Witch Mountain: a sacred place of the pagan Curonian tribes, the habitat of the gods. It is located on a dune covered with centuries-old pine trees at an altitude of 42 meters above sea level.

In the 19th century and until the First World War, on the holiday of Jonines (Ivan Kupala), young people from Memel and Tilsit came here to have fun and look for fern flowers.

Now there are paths leading up the mountain, where mystical and fairy-tale heroes of the folk epic, made of wood, greet you at every step. These 65 sculptures were carved from solid oak by Lithuanian folk craftsmen. The collection is regularly updated.

At the entrance to Juodkrante, on a hill among the forest, a kilometer from the sea, the Juodkrante Lighthouse rises. This structure of a metal structure resembles a 65-meter gate, where a beam lights up every 5 seconds, giving a light signal to passing ships.

Fishermen, who have lived on the Curonian Spit since ancient times, created their own system of identification marks - weather vanes with carved symbols, which were installed on the mast of sailing boats of a special design - kurens.
They were carved with views of the local landscape, figures of birds, animals and symbols, by which one could find out the place of residence, family composition and income level of the fisherman. They were made colorful and delicate. An elk on a weather vane meant strength, a circle on its top meant a woman, and a cross meant a man.

Juodkrante has the only Miniature Museum in Lithuania. There are interesting exhibitions here and you can see rare exhibits.

Juodkrante is home to one of the largest colonies of gray herons and cormorans in Europe. There is an observation deck for tourists here, from where you can see how these birds build their nests and feed their chicks.
However, the cormorans took a fancy to the relict pines of the Curonian Spit and began to multiply intensively, which led to the destruction of the trees. Now local residents, foresters and environmentalists are concerned about what is happening, since the forest is disappearing before our eyes, and in addition, voracious cormorans are stealing the fish catch from the fishermen. This is a clear example when a person forcibly interferes and upsets the balance in nature.

Nida

Holidays in Nida

Small cozy Nida hotels and private hotels are a real piece of paradise among centuries-old pine trees: bright houses with tiled and thatched roofs, well-groomed courtyards with fragrant flower beds. Almost every house in the village is a place where you can find accommodation for the night.
On one side of the village there is a freshwater bay, on the other - the salty waters of the Baltic Sea, with high sand dunes and the coniferous aroma of slender pine trees, approaching close to the beach line. The unique nature of the protected area attracts tourists from different countries.

In Nida, everything is provided for a comfortable stay - cafes, bars, restaurants, there is a campsite for auto tourists and even an equipped beach for relaxing with your favorite animals. There are also separate equipped beach areas for women, men and nudists.
The wide and clean beaches of Neringa are recognized as one of the best in Europe and have blue flag status.

Tourism and fishing are what the small resort village lives and trades on. In Nida there is a shopping center “Maxima”, a market where in summer they sell fresh fruits, vegetables, wild berries, famous Lithuanian dairy products and aromatic smoked meats.
There are cozy cafes and restaurants here where you can have a delicious lunch and taste fish dishes made from fish caught by local fishermen.
Delicious smoked fish is prepared according to ancient Lithuanian recipes - it is smoked over pine cones, which gives the fish a special aroma and unique taste. This is how fish was prepared in the old days for holidays and weddings. Be sure to visit the fishing manor “Pas Jona” - here you will find the most delicious, freshly smoked, aromatic fish and the famous Lithuanian beer!

History of the village

The settlement of Curonian fishermen was first mentioned in historical chronicles back in 1430.
During Prussian rule, a postal route passed here, where horse teams changed and continued their difficult journey along the spit. Then the road ran through Europe to Paris. The postal route operated until 1833.

At the end of the 19th century. In the resort village of Nida, a bohemian group of artists loved to spend the summer seasons, choosing one of the oldest hotels in Nida - the Hermann Blode Hotel (now it is the museum-hotel "Nidos Smelte").
Famous expressionists visited here: Max Pechstein, Lovis Corinth and others.

Not only artists loved to spend time in Nida, but also famous writers Hermann Suderman, Ernst Wichert, poets Agnes Miguel, Fritz Kudnig, and psychotherapist Sigmund Freud.

Nida was also visited by Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann, who was fascinated by the beauty of the Curonian Spit and even decided to buy a country house in the fishing village, where he spent three summer seasons (1930-1932). Here he wrote a significant part of the trilogy “Joseph and His Brothers”.

Now, in the summer season, the house of the Nobel laureate hosts Thomas Mann's musical and literary cultural days, in which numerous guests from Germany, as well as members of the governments of Germany and Lithuania, come to participate.

Sights of Nida

Leisure

There are many rental points in Nida where you can rent a bicycle and ride along the numerous bike paths of the village, admiring the local beauty.
A bicycle path has been laid along the sand dunes of all resort villages of Neringa. Along the entire route there are rest areas with route maps. The alternating picturesque pictures of coniferous forests, sand dunes and seascapes delight vacationers.

Fans of boat trips will be able to admire the picturesque shores from the bay while riding on a yacht, kayak or local fishing boat with a sail - “kurenas”.
Fans of paragliding and windsurfing will also be interested in spending their leisure time here. Nida has mini golf courses, tennis courts, and basketball courts.

The Nida Gliding School invites high-altitude extreme sports enthusiasts to unforgettable glider flights from high dunes.

Every year during the summer season, the Nida Yacht Club initiates international sailing regattas. In winter, here you can ride a snowmobile across the endless expanses of the frozen bay and watch how local fishermen catch cucumber-smelling smelt. The picture is truly mesmerizing!

For lovers of hiking, there are trails: the Parnizh educational trail, the observation trail in Nagliai and the dendrological trail. Those interested can get acquainted with the interesting history of these places.

There are also surprisingly many mushroom and berry places here - a real haven for lovers of “quiet hunting”!

"Wandering" dunes of Nida

The main attraction of Nida is the highest and most unique sand dunes. Winds constantly blowing from the West move huge masses of sand towards the Curonian Lagoon, which is why the dunes were called “wandering”.

In those places where no human foot has ever set foot, the surface of the sand resembles a ribbed seabed, and a journey through the endless sand dunes creates a feeling of pristineness and desert loneliness. You are left alone with your thoughts, involuntarily feeling like a small grain of sand in a boundless sea of sand. This is especially felt when climbing to the observation deck of the “dead” dunes, stretching between the villages of Juodkrante and Pervalka.

In Nida, climb the highest dune Parnidje (52m) with a huge sundial representing a stone stele 13.8m high and weighing over 36 tons. The granite steps of the clock are the basis of the dial, on which symbols of calendar holidays are written, copied from ancient calendars.

This is a truly beautiful and unique place: from the observation deck there is a view of the widest part of the Curonian Spit - Bulviksky Horn, the surroundings of the resort village and the water expanses of the bay and the sea at the same time. Only from here you can see how the first rays of the sun rise from the water in the morning, and in the evening they hide in the endless waters of the Baltic Sea. And if you visit this place on a clear, hot day, you will be able to see a rare natural phenomenon - a sailboat flying above the sea horizon. This is a mirage standing in the air above the hot sands of the dunes and the surface of the water.

While walking along the streets of Nida, be sure to visit the private Mizgiris Amber Museum. Here you will see a lot of amber with inclusions - flies, mosquitoes, etc., and get acquainted with the history of amber mining on the spit. In the museum you can see an exhibition of individual amber products made by Lithuanian craftsmen, purchase exclusive beautiful jewelry and even taste amber tincture!

On Pamario Street there is a historical and ethnographic museum where you can see finds dating back to the Stone Age, rare exhibitions telling about the difficult life of local residents, their crafts and methods of survival. You will learn how, during the hungry years, crow catchers, crow catchers, caught birds for further salting them in barrels for the winter.

Next to the Evangelical Lutheran Church there is an ancient cemetery with interesting wooden tombstones - krikshta, combining pagan and Christian culture, characteristic only of the inhabitants of Lithuania Minor. This is a strange mixture of idols with crosses, carved from different types of wood (female and male) and placed at the feet of the deceased. Similar krikshta were installed until the middle of the 20th century. This indicates the long-term pagan religion of the Lithuanians (Lithuania was the last in Europe to adopt Christianity).

In the southern part of Nida, on the shore of the bay, there is a thatched ethnographic fisherman’s manor, built in 1927 and restored again in 1973. Here you will see authentic household items, clothes of the fisherman’s family, fishing equipment, an ancient sailing boat “Kurenas”, individual identification symbols fisherman's boats - weather vanes, which were attached to the mast of the ship and much more. In summer, here you can get acquainted with folk crafts, listen to ethnic music, and watch theatrical performances.

The expanses of the Baltic Sea with wide beaches and the sound of the surf, the “singing” sand of endless dunes, a relict forest filled with pine aroma and amazing silence...
These pictures of the resort village of Nida fascinate with their unique beauty and make you come back here again and again.

Preila and Pervalka

8-12 km from Nida there are two more small and cozy resort towns - Preila and Pervalka. In the mid-18th century, residents of the dune-filled villages of Naglyu and Karvaychu settled in these places. Now there are just over 200 residents living here, who are engaged in fishing and tourism. About 1.5 km north of Preila rises the “dead” Karvaičiu dune, under the sand of which the village of the same name is buried. Near the village of Pervalka, in the bay at Cape Zhirgu, there is a 14-meter-high active Lighthouse, the signals of which are visible at a distance of 13 kilometers. The beaches here are no less beautiful and well-maintained than in Nida, and the forests are full of berries and mushrooms. And what amazing places there are for fishing lovers! The ecological pristine nature of these places is unique and attractive to tourists who want to take a break from the noisy bustle of big cities.

Photo story - How we closed the summer on the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit!
Neringa - a beautiful Lithuanian resort. It is located on the Curonian Spit and has a length of about 50 km. This is an amazing place, on one side it is washed by the Baltic Sea, and on the other by the Curonian Lagoon. The sights of Neringa are the sea, stunning dunes and sunny beaches, forests, and the tranquility of fishermen's houses.

I really love unusual places! The Curonian Spit clearly falls under this definition. A narrow and long sandy strip of land separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. Braid length - 98 kilometers, the width ranges from 400 meters to 3.8 kilometers.

This year in Belarus and Lithuania the summer was not very successful; there was more rain than sunny days. The last weekend of summer was forecast to be sunny, and we or I :) decided to rush to the Baltic with our family.

On the one hand, Klaipeda is not far from Minsk, about 500-530 km, and Nida is 560-590 km. But taking into account the fact that there is a border on the way, which took us almost 3 hours, the road seems further than from Minsk to Moscow. We also lost about 30 minutes on the ferry crossing, which cost 11.4 Euro.
Having left home at 5 am, we were in Nida around 4 pm. (Nida is the last city on the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit)

Waiting for the ferry in Klaipeda.

There are a lot of hotels and guest houses on the Curonian Spit. Renting an apartment in 2-3 weeks does not seem to be a problem (a decent double room for 30-35 Euros). Since it is interesting to relax on the spit only in good weather, Lithuanians plan a vacation there only a week in advance, when the weather can be more or less predicted.
I booked a 4 bed room for 65 Euro for 5 days. Booking said at this time that 98% of accommodation on the spit was already booked.
We were met by the good-natured owner of the Laguna Hotel and checked into our room. What I liked was that in the hotel lobby there was a stack of maps of the Curonian Spit with all the attractions, and the owner meticulously told us for 20-30 minutes information about where to go on the spit (he offered bicycles, but we had our own), where to eat inexpensively, where are the best playgrounds, how to get to the beach, etc.

Map.

On the Map, the burgundy thin line is a bike path!

Nida is located on the side of the bay, the first thing we did was cross the spit and go to the beach on the Baltic Sea!
Pine forest!

Beach.

The first time I saw the Baltic Sea, calm! The beach is good, however, to get to the depths, you had to walk 100-150 meters. And the water was about 18 degrees.

Then we went to Nida to look at Parnida dune

We climbed to the observation deck next to the dune. View of Curonian Lagoon.

Interesting colors!

The sundial is a grandiose granite monument.

Sands.

About half a kilometer from us, it’s called Dijoi (“Big”). This is one of the moving dunes. The wind, almost always blowing from the west - from the sea, constantly pours its sand in such a way that it gradually moves towards the bay all the time.
In this photo you can see the bay on the left and the Baltic Sea on the right, as well as the Russian border directly.

View of Nida from the Parnida dune.

Well, once again a view of the moving dune Dijoi ("Big"). Which moves 5-6 meters per year.

Dune.

Next we went along the Nida-Juodkrante cycling route, where you can see the highest duneVecekrugas, and after Pervalka wander around the reserve Nagliai.

Climbing the Vecekrugas dune - the highest dune on the Curonian Spit.

Beautiful dunes.

The final part of the climb up the dune Vecekrugas.

Dune Vecekrugas is the highest dune on the Curonian Spit 67.2 m. It offers a beautiful view of the surrounding area.
View of the Curonian Lagoon.

View of the Baltic Sea.

And some “desert” photos.

Next we went to see a colony of gray herons and cormorants.

We spent the night and in the afternoon headed to Latvian Liepaja.
Ferry to Klaipeda.
By the way, tickets are not checked back, so if you go from Kaliningrad, the ferry will be free.

The general conclusion is that the trip turned out to be too short, if driving 590 km from Minsk with the border is too difficult for a 1-2 day trip, and there is something to see on the Curonian Spit itself. My opinion is that you need to go for at least 3-4 days. By the way, the place is much more interesting than traditional Lithuanian resorts like Palanga or Latvian ones like Liepaja.

Thank you for your attention!

This was our first trip abroad in our car. Everything was new and a little scary. What is it like driving a car across the border, what is it like further along unfamiliar roads... What if the police... After crossing the border between Belarus and Lithuania, to the surprise of the locals, we literally sneaked along narrow and unfamiliar roads, observing all the rules and leaving a “reserve” of speed. Over time, we have learned to disrupt things a little where it is safe and to follow the traffic flow and the locals.

Palanga. About the city, beaches and weather

Palanga is our destination, the purpose of our vacation. Looking ahead, I’ll say that we didn’t have a beach holiday as such, and out of 15 days, we were at sea only 2 times. However, it’s still worth telling a little about this city, but first, the road. Vilnius and the Planga – Klaipeda junction are connected by the A6 highway. Local rules allow driving on it up to 130 km/h, which seems unheard of generosity in comparison with other roads.

Hotels in Palanga

There are plenty of places for comfortable accommodation here, although in the summer months, especially during the “swimming period”, and here it is very short, hotels, mini-hotels and private apartments are almost completely filled with tourists. We arrived in Palanga just in the high season - July-August, but booking a very comfortable apartment through booking was not a problem. You just need to make sure to book at least three months in advance. And so the room in the guest house cost quite reasonable money with a fairly high level of comfort.

Beaches

The beach in Palanga is very decent - clean, fine sand, plenty of free WC, which is rarely seen at our resorts. I was surprised by the lack of sun loungers even for a fee. One of the disadvantages is the almost constant wind, so many people prefer special folding mini-tents to traditional umbrellas, where you can hide your head so that your face is not covered in sand.

There are things that are a curiosity at Russian resorts. Almost every corner offers bicycle rental services - for children, teenagers, adults, with a “female frame” - for every taste. If you are traveling with small children, they offer a choice of a child seat or a special trailer. This attention to cycling is not at all accidental. There are bicycle paths throughout the city, as well as the A10 bicycle route, along which you can easily get to Klaipeda, and then take a ferry to the Curonian Spit. The cycling route runs through picturesque places: the Baltic Sea coast, pine groves, and a park.
The town has a botanical garden and a huge park. True, we were never able to appreciate these attractions due to heavy rains that began in the second half of the vacation. On clear and partly cloudy evenings, Palanga offers a theatrical show created by nature itself - sunset.

The sun seems to be bathing in the Baltic Sea and the bright, rich, teeming sky.
It seems like the whole tourist crowd gathers to watch this performance. Already an hour before the show it is impossible to get to the pier, and it is difficult to place photographic equipment near the water in such a way that only the main characters are included in the frame: the Sun and the sky. In the evening, there is no crowd on the central street of Palanga. However, all this crowd and local establishments do not create any terrible noise. There are no noisy discos in the city, mainly cafes and restaurants. The cuisine is very diverse, but you can’t eat really tasty food everywhere.

What to see in Palanga

There is a completely modern amusement park: from carousels for kids to very extreme entertainment for adults. As for the sea, I personally never had a chance to swim in it. Still, 19-20 degrees is quite cool for me. As they say - not for everyone. In general, if we talk about Lithuania as a place for a beach holiday, then you need to be prepared for the vagaries and peculiarities of the local weather: cool water, frequent storms, cool winds, and often very heavy rains. In a word, if you are not afraid of the scorching sun with +40 in the shade, water +28, then it is better to go to Turkey. If you prefer healing air and 22-24 degrees in the middle of summer, feel free to go to the Baltic.

You can go on a two-day excursion to Palanga and Klaipeda.

Curonian Spit. Lithuanian side

The Curonian Spit (lit. Kuršių nerija) is a sand spit located on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The name of the spit comes from the name of the ancient Curonian tribes who lived here before the colonization of Prussia by the Germans.

The length is 98 kilometers, the width ranges from 400 meters (in the area of the village of Lesnoy) to 3.8 kilometers (in the area of \u200b\u200bCape Bulviko, just north of Nida). Here, at a very short distance from each other, very different landscapes coexist: sandy desert, coniferous forests, birch forests of western Russia. The spit resembles a museum of natural areas. The spit stretches from the city of Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region to the Lithuanian Klaipeda (Smiltyne). But this is just a dry encyclopedic extract. In fact, this place is a unique natural monument. As mentioned above, part of the Curonian Spit is located on Russian territory, part on the territory of Lithuania.

To get from Klaipeda to the Curonian Spit you need to use a ferry.

This year I had to visit “both sides” (story about the Kaliningrad region). Unfortunately, in terms of amenities and cleanliness, “our part” is significantly inferior to the Lithuanian one. Bicycle paths, flower beds, neatly trimmed bushes and lawns - unfortunately, there are no or very few of these on our side. The Lithuanians treated their piece of fertile land much more carefully.

In addition to wonderful landscapes and cycling along the sea, tourists are offered yachts for every taste - from high-speed modern ones to sailboats. The prices are quite affordable.

Small villages located on Kos are designed in the same style. Well-groomed lawns and a sea of flowers.

Sand dunes of the Curonian Spit

As I said above, the Curonian Spit is, first of all, a natural monument. Majestic sand dunes stretch along the coast of the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon. Parking lots are organized in the most picturesque places, and special paths are laid out for tourists.

It is believed that the dunes of the Curonian Spit are the largest wandering dunes in Europe. However, this natural monument might have disappeared if not for efforts to strengthen the dunes. Back in the 19th century, the Prussian government began work to strengthen the dunes by landscaping the spit.

The dunes are not only beautiful, but also very dangerous. Tourists are strictly forbidden to walk outside the designated paths, since the sand is very treacherous; drowning, that is, being buried alive, is more than possible here. Before the strengthening of the dunes began, not just people drowned in the sands - entire villages.

Maritime Museum in Lithuania

One of the most popular places on the Curonian Spit is the Maritime Museum with a dolphinarium. True, at the time of our trip the dolphinarium was closed for reconstruction. Nevertheless, a visit to the Maritime Museum will be very interesting for children.

You can feed the fish by hand; food will be provided to you. Probably the Lithuanian Maritime Museum is not the most impressive in the world, but it is great for breaking up the vacation “routine” of beaches, entertaining children and admiring the marine life for yourself.

Now, by the way, the museum’s exhibition has been significantly expanded and in addition to the dolphinarium and aquarium, which are discussed in this article, you can also learn about the history of shipping, study marine nature, explore the sea fort of the Curonian Spit, find out how fishermen lived and how they caught fish. In general, when going to the Lithuanian Maritime Museum, expect that this trip will take the whole day.

All the information necessary for the trip - about prices, opening hours, etc. - is posted on the website of the Lithuanian Maritime Museum.

Hotels on the Curonian Spit

On the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit is the resort town of Neringa, consisting of four villages: Nida, Juodkrante, Preila and Pervalka. There are quite a lot of hotels, tourist centers, and apartments here, but the prices... the prices, especially in the high season, may not please you at all, although if you take care of booking in advance, you can find interesting options at a quite reasonable price.

You can visit all the most interesting places in Lithuania by arranging an excursion with a local guide. Fortunately, finding a Russian-speaking guide is not a problem. For example, Gintaras will show you all the most interesting and unusual places in Lithuania. Contact him.

Nida is the largest settlement on the Curonian Spit, which is considered the best holiday destination in Lithuania.

The Curonian Spit is located 320 km from Vilnius. To get to it, you must come to the city of Klaipeda, from where ferries go to the spit across the bay.

The spit is a long narrow peninsula with a length of 97 km, separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The spit belongs to Russia (45 km) and Lithuania (52 km). Its width varies from 400 m to 4 km. The Neringa National Natural Park is located here.

Curonian Spit

The most remarkable feature of the Curonian Spit landscape are the sand dunes. About 70% of the spit's area is covered with forests, inhabited by moose, wild boars, hares, foxes and other animals. The Curonian Spit serves as a shelter, resting and feeding place for approximately 15 million birds during their seasonal migrations. There are 200 species of rare plants growing on the peninsula.

Since the Curonian Spit is a nature reserve, only a fifth of it is intended for recreation.

Sights of Nida

Nida is located 4 km from the border with Russia. Here is one of the largest dunes on the spit, 50 m high, on the top of which there is an observation deck. Nida has the Ethnographic Fisherman's House, the Thomas Mann Museum and the Amber Gallery. This museum contains samples of amber of different colors, shapes and sizes. The Neringa Historical Museum is also located here. Nida itself is a cozy village with cute houses housing hotels, bars and restaurants.

From Nida you can go to neighboring villages located on the spit. Their architecture is in the style of traditional fishing villages: wooden huts are covered with reeds and tiles, carved weather vanes rotate on the roofs. The entire peninsula is crisscrossed by a network of bicycle paths.

It is more convenient to go to the spit, of course, by car, but if you do not have this opportunity, then the spit has developed transport links, and the beaches can be reached by minibus.

village Juodkrante famous for its promenade along the sea and Witch Hill, on which 70 wooden sculptures of witches, devils and other fairy-tale characters are installed.

In two small villages Preile And Pervalke You can have a great time in solitude in the lap of nature, occasionally going out to Nida or Juodkrante.

Vacation with children

For children, in addition to walking along endless beaches and huge dunes, it will be interesting to visit the Maritime Museum-Aquarium, located in the north of the spit in Smiltyne. Here you can see not only those species of fish that live in the Baltic Sea, but also tropical fish and corals. Next to the aquarium there is an exhibition of fishing boats.

The dolphinarium hosts dolphin and sea lion shows. Prices for tickets to the dolphinarium in the summer for adult visitors are 30 litas, for children 20 litas, the museum's opening hours are from 10:30 to 18:30.

What can you do on the Curonian Spit? During the warm summer months you can swim and sunbathe, fish, sail on boats and yachts, pick mushrooms and berries in dense forests, and ride bicycles along forest paths. Many people go to the beach in the morning, hoping to find the main treasure of the Baltic Sea - amber.

Holidays in Nida do not shine with variety and fun, but sometimes every person needs peace and solitude, and then a trip to the Curonian Spit can be the best option for restoring vitality and energy.

Blogger Evgeniy Zolotukhin writes:

The streets and houses in this place are like the scenery from a beautiful movie. Cleanliness, silence and incredible comfort envelop these places, and people live here, and other people can come here, this is definitely the best place in Lithuania. The stunning resort village of Nida is located on the Curonian Spit, literally on the border with Russia

The Curonian Spit is a narrow and long sandy strip of land separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The length of the spit is almost 100 kilometers, somewhere in the middle there is the state border of Russia and Lithuania. On the territory of the spit there is a huge number of unique representatives of flora and fauna, for which the Curonian Spit is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Lithuania occupies approximately half of the spit, which is about 50 kilometers, and several thousand people live on this territory. On the spit is the city of Neringa, stretching for all of 50 kilometers and consisting of four resort villages: Juodkrante, Pervalka, Preila and Nida. Nida is the administrative center of Neringa; this village is located literally immediately beyond the border crossing.

The first mentions of a settlement with the name Nida in the chronicles of the Teutonic Order date back to 1429 and 1497. For a long time, the main activity of the local population was fishing. In Soviet times, a resort was built here for the Soviet nomenklatura. In recent years, bicycle paths have been organized in Nida, everything has been put in order and the village has been turned into a real European resort.

The entire territory of the spit is protected, and construction is prohibited here, so most of the houses here were built at the beginning of the last century. But look what they look like! It's like something out of a fairy tale!

It's hard to believe that this is not a set for some movie, that this is all real! Considering that it is impossible to build anything new here, and the village is a tourist one, almost every house has a small private hotel.

The houses are almost 100 years old.

By Lithuanian standards, Nida is an expensive place, but here you can meet a huge number of German pensioners vacationing.

House by the sea (bay).

Fabulous place!

There are no major attractions, large monuments, there is a small fountain and benches in front of it, and it’s incredibly nice here.

Wooden sculptures are very common on the Lithuanian side of the spit; they are everywhere here.

The central square of Nida.

You can ride a bicycle to the very end of the spit, and then take a ferry to Klaipeda. Many take this opportunity and simply leave for a day to ride around the territory of the spit.

There are dozens of walking routes around the village. There is nothing unusual in this forest, but walking here is good and pleasant.

While walking along the routes, you can periodically find yourself in different interesting places. For example, a sundial, and yes, it really shows the correct time!