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!
Yesterday I talked about the horrors of a Russian resort on the Baltic Sea. The people of Kaliningrad were excited, but they didn’t smell like their own.
Very close, an hour and a half drive from the kebab town of Svetlogorsk, there is the village of Nida.
He is the complete opposite. Lithuania's answer to what an inexpensive resort on the Baltic should be like.
1 Let's see what the Svetlogorsk embankment looks like. Already, the strip of the promenade is crowded with all sorts of merchants who interfere with the passage.
2 In Nida there are more than enough places for celebrations. If only for the sake of these endless pedestrian paths, you can cross the border, and at the same time see the beautiful Curonian Spit from both sides.
3 You can rent a bike and go explore the surrounding area. As far as I remember, there are also bikes in Svetlogorsk, but the terrain does not allow riding.
4 Let’s not idealize, there’s plenty of shit here too. The same advertising umbrellas with draft beer in plastic cups. Two weeks later I had already “forgotten” the photographs, and only then discovered that this was not Lithuania, but the same Svetlogorsk.
5 In fact, I saw a couple of burrs in Nida. The rest of the restaurants are not disgusting.
6 This is how street menus are designed in Russia. It’s generally unclear to the car what they forgot here - this is a pedestrian zone.
7 The same “inviting” menu in Lithuania. The meaning is the same, the difference is in the details. Well, they won’t go to this restaurant if they make a mistake. This is disrespect for clients.
8 And the umbrellas can be removed altogether! If it rains, people will move inside, there is enough space for everyone. In winter they won’t eat outside, this is the Baltic! It became interesting, do people generally not come to Svetlogorsk out of season?
9 Restaurant with a claim to design. At the same time, it is not at all expensive. And in general, it was set up in a Soviet building.
10 Children's corner.
11 The interior is simple. The decoration uses furniture from IKEA and wooden boxes, a lot of glass. It's inexpensive, looks stylish, what more do you need?
12 We need to come up with a concept. The “Vorona” restaurant appeared here not by chance.
13 The indigenous inhabitants of the Curonian Spit ate these birds and did not see anything indecent in it. They were called “crow biters”. Now such a dish will not be served to you openly, but a certain mystery remains.
14 There are many restaurants, all for a variety of pockets. But none can compare with Svetlogorsk.
15 They also sell gifts for grandmothers - beads with amber. Where would we be without him?
16 Yantar is not only for pensioners. A man made of a wooden ball decided to prove this. He also sells the famous Baltic stone.
17 But his amber is special. Beads and bracelets are made of pressed black amber, interspersed with regular amber. The man said something about nanotechnology, but I honestly forgot. This trinket looks much more modern. Costs twenty euros.
18 This is the Nida resort that our Svetlogorsk is located in. Despite the fact that they don’t even have a sea, only a bay.
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Along the coast of the Baltic Sea, partly in Russia and partly in Lithuania, stretches a 98-kilometer strip of saber-shaped land: the Curonian Spit.
Its name, like the name of the bay it separates from the sea, is associated with the ancient Curonian tribes who lived here before the colonization of Prussia by the Germans. For its amazing relief and biodiversity, the Curonian Spit was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as an outstanding cultural landscape.
The width of this sandy strip ranges from 400 to 3800 meters. The Russian-Lithuanian border is located at the 49th kilometer, if you count from the city of Zelenogradsk, Kaliningrad region. From both Russia and Lithuania, the Curonian Spit is officially a protected area with the status of a national park. 72% of the territory is occupied by forests, in which more than 600 species of trees, bushes and plants grow.
Elk, roe deer, wild boar, fox and other animals live here: a total of 296 species. But there are even more birds on the Curonian Spit: the ancient migration route of 160 species of birds from the northern regions of Europe to the south of the continent and North Africa runs along it.
During migration days, up to a million birds fly over the spit every day, and another 102 species nest constantly. This gave the Curonian Spit the unofficial name “bird bridge”, and these representatives of the fauna are studied by scientists working at the oldest ornithological station in Europe, the foundation of which was laid by the German ornithologist I. Tiineman back in 1901.
Along the entire length of the spit there are sandy beaches that allow you to swim both in the freshwater bay and in the salty Baltic Sea. The holiday season itself is short, but you can enjoy the natural attractions of the Curonian Spit from May to November. Many interesting tourist routes have been created here, which can be seen in our panoramas.
Unfortunately, the Curonian Spit is a very vulnerable natural area. Already by the beginning of the 17th century, deforestation brought this area of land to the brink of an environmental disaster: roads, trees and buildings began to gradually be blocked by wandering dunes.
Only after wandering sands caused shallowing of the coastal part of the bay and began to threaten the existence of navigation, local authorities (at that time they were the rulers of East Prussia) began to take decisive measures to combat desertification and erosion. And in order to cut off the direct supply of sand from the sea beaches, a protective dune rampart was built - a foredune, stretching along the entire hundred-kilometer sea coast.
Efforts to preserve this natural monument continue today, but the elements are constantly one step ahead.
Due to frequent Baltic storms accompanied by strong winds, sandy beaches are washed away and dunes slide into the water. Our panoramas allow you to preserve the picturesque landscapes of the Curonian Spit at least in a virtual format.
The Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit is a narrow strip of land that stretches for 50 km. from North to South.
These kilometers, where the Curonian Spit is located, contain everything a traveler could wish for: historical, cultural and natural attractions, several museums, five villages, hotels and a campsite, a national park, sea, dunes, and forest. There are even settlements of cormorants and herons on the territory of the Curonian Spit. And, of course, there is its own anomalous zone. And all this is just a step away, very close.
Story
The history of the Curonian Spit began with a miracle. Fishermen living on the seashore fought the waves every day. In the morning they went to sea, and in the evening they returned to their homes and saw that the sea was getting closer and closer, and the waves were already reaching the threshold.
The residents were just about ready to leave the village and go to another place. But kind Neringa collected sand in her apron and poured it into the path of the Baltic waves. Thus, the legendary fishermen received protection for their homes, Neringa received the love and reverence of the inhabitants of the Baltic coast, and we, modern people, received the opportunity to see with our own eyes miracle Curonian Spit.
This place great in any season. It, like any miracle of nature, beckons and gives its beauty to anyone who wants to accept it.
It is impossible to visit Lithuania and not get to the Curonian Spit. Because the narrow arrow combines all the most characteristic and all the most unusual.
Ferry Klaipeda – Curonian Spit
The ferry is the only thing vehicle, which will take you to the spit. More precisely, there are even two of them. The old ferry crossing only carries pedestrians and cyclists. Total 15-20 minutes, and the ferry will land in Smiltyne, the northernmost village of the Curonian Spit.
Ferry Klaipeda - Curonian Spit. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/
Ferry schedule
The ferry operates from October 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014 every day according to schedule below. Departure time is Lithuanian.
Old ferry crossing (for pedestrians)
New ferry crossing
Ticket prices
And if you are traveling in your own car, you need new ferry crossing, only they transport cars. You can get from Smiltyne to the southernmost village, Nida, by local bus, taxi or in your own car. Do not forget that entry of cars There is a fee to enter the territory of the national park; payment of 20 litas is made at the tenth kilometer of the only highway on the Curonian Spit.
Attractions Smiltyne
However, do not rush to leave Smiltyne without visiting Maritime Museum and Dolphinarium. They are located on the territory of an ancient Prussian fortress, which was carefully restored.
Models of ships in the Maritime Museum. Photo: https://site
And on the shore, literally two steps away, there is ethnographic fisherman's house with ethnographic fishing boats moored nearby.
Heading south...
...It’s convenient to navigate like this: on the right is the Baltic Sea and beaches, on the left is the Curonian Lagoon and settlements. Juodkrante is the next village you will meet on the way to the south. On its territory is the Mountain of Witches.
Now there is a theme park decorated with dozens of carved wooden sculptures. The most attentive visitor can even find the devil dancing at a village party. And on the embankment there are stone sculptures lined up in a row.
Even further along the map of the Curonian Spit, to the south, are the small Pervalka and Preila, which were founded by residents of villages buried under the dunes. From these settlements it is easy to get to the Naglu nature reserve, walk to the Jirgu lighthouse or climb to the top of the fifty-meter Skirpstas dune.
The village of Nida on the Curonian Spit. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellennetcom/
The next village is Nida, the largest and southernmost village in the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit. It existed back in the times of the Crusaders.
In Nida there are several historical and ethnographic museums, an amber museum, famous Nida lighthouse. The Valley of Death is associated with a difficult historical memory - many French prisoners of war died on its territory at the end of the 19th century.
Have you tried it? No? Lost a lot! When traveling around Lithuania, be sure to treat yourself to them.
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The highest dunes are located in the vicinity of Nida, and a sundial is installed at the top of the Parniggio dune. It is from Nida that the road to the dancing, as if drunk, forest of the Curonian Spit begins.
Dancing forest on the Curonian Spit
No one knows exactly what forces of nature make pine trees bend in an unprecedented dance. A place where there is not a single upright tree, where birds do not sing or settle, is rightfully considered anomalous.
Dancing forest on the Curonian Spit. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barthelomaus/
The impression from the frozen dance is more depressing than joyful. However, this does not prevent curious tourists from coming here again and again, taking photographs and climbing through the rings of curved trunks. Who knows, what if it happens brings good luck or health? And since no one knows, we need to check it personally.
And, of course, the main attraction of the spit is its wealth and attraction for the curious. Dunes. White dunes speaking in quiet rustling voices to the Baltic wind. Dunes that destroyed the homes of local residents and which were stopped by the joint efforts of man and wildlife.
A walk through the dunes produces impression of unreality what's happening. After a dozen or two steps you completely forget about the sea on one side and the bay on the other. There comes a feeling of desert loneliness.
Sand dunes on the Curonian Spit. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/
There is only sand all around, sand all over the world and there is no one except slowly pouring living grains of sand. Another fifty steps, climb to the ridge, and - here it is, water! Endless, rolling in waves, merging with the sky at the horizon.
Now the movement of the dunes is limited, the Curonian Spit is reliably protected by pine forests, shrubs and grasses. However, in two natural reserves the dunes were left free. There, as they have become accustomed to since ancient times, they move freely across the entire spit.
Born on the seashore, they growing and gaining strength, and then, obedient to the wind, they begin their movement. Centimeter by centimeter they make their way inland, cross it and end their existence in the Curonian Lagoon.
Traveling along a narrow strip of land between the Baltic Sea and the bay leaves no one indifferent. Maybe that’s why after the first visit there follows a second, and then a third.
Because when you come across the wonderful sights of the Curonian Spit, seeing them with your own eyes, you always want to go back and see something else. Something new, special, carefully saved for the most faithful admirers of the Curonian Spit, its nature and the girl Neringa, who once scattered sand from her apron.
Consisting of four villages: Nida, Juodkrante, Preila and Pervalki. All settlements retain the “gingerbread” flavor of Lithuanian fishing villages of the 19th century with their one-story wooden houses, thatched and painted in the traditional colors of the local guild. Add to this the abundance of greenery and flowers, generous forests, endless white dunes and the extraordinary silence of solitude and contemplation.
It is most pleasant to stay in Nida or Juodkrante. Here, well-restored ancient fishermen's huts have been turned into private hotels, restaurants or beer bars with folkloric interiors and delicacies of national cuisine. The Nida embankment with its beautiful green esplanade, a favorite place for walks among resort regulars, repeatedly becomes the “proscenium” of numerous sailing regattas during the summer season, and the town itself is famous for its jazz festival “Nida Jazz Marathon” (the first half of August), a festival of ancient crafts that reconstructs the local medieval everyday life (mid-August), and the international film festival “Baltic Wave” (end of August). Both resorts have a well-developed tourist infrastructure and offer hotels and private villas of varying levels of comfort and privacy, well-groomed and equipped beaches, clear sea, local homemade gastronomy and rich festival programs (music, literature and folklore). Here you can also pick mushrooms and berries the old fashioned way, go boating and fish in the bays.
The whitish sandy beaches of Neringa stretch in a strip 25-70 meters wide along the coast of the Baltic Sea. They are equipped according to all European standards, including special descents, telephones and toilets for the disabled, and are kept impeccably clean. This allowed local beaches to acquire the honorary “Blue Flag” - an international certificate guaranteeing the safety and environmental friendliness of the territory.
Tourist Information Centers:
- Nida - Tajkos, 4, tel.: 8 469 523 45, fax: 8 469 525 38, [email protected]
- Juodkrante - L.Rezos, 54, tel.: 8 46 534 90
How to get there
By plane or train to Vilnius, Kaunas, Kaliningrad, then by bus routes Vilnius-Nida, Kaunas-Nida, Kaliningrad-Nida. Bus schedule on the website. From Klaipeda, you can only get to Kos by ferry. The old ferry (lit. Senoji Perkėla) connects the final bus stop in Smiltyne and the center of Klaipeda, transporting passengers only. The new crossing is equipped with ferries transporting all types of transport. Domestic routes: bus Nida-Smiltyne, minibus connecting Nida bus station with the beach (only in summer), bus from the old ferry terminal to the Maritime Museum.
If you prefer to use your own or rented car, then the only Zelenogradsk-Klaipeda highway is at your service. It passes through Lesnoye, the outskirts of Rybachy and Juodkrante, with exits branching off to the rest of the villages. Throughout its entire length, the highway has only one lane in each direction. Entry into the territory of the National Park is paid. The Alksnine post is equipped with payment machines that accept only cash and only banknotes; change is issued in coins. When paying on the panel, you need to select one of the buttons corresponding to the vehicle being paid for. Thus, travel for a passenger car with a capacity of up to 9 people in the summer will cost 5 EUR. The nearest ATMs are located next to the crossing. Prices on the page are for April 2019.
Part of the European cycling route R1 runs along the Lithuanian side of the Curonian Spit - from Nida to Smiltyne. In the vicinity of other villages there are local bicycle paths. The bicycle routes Nida - Klaipeda, Klaipeda-Palanga-Latvian border and Klaipeda - Silute - Rusne are also open.
Popular hotels in Curonian Spit
Entertainment and attractions of the Curonian Spit
The northern half of the Curonian Spit, which is part of Lithuania, is the Curonian Neria National Park (26.5 thousand hectares), which in 2000 was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The uniqueness of the Curonian landscape lies in the endless sand dunes, reaching up to 70 meters in height and stretching in a continuous chain for tens of kilometers. The spit is also located on the White Sea-Baltic migration route for migratory birds, which stop here to feed and rest. The approximate number of feathered “nomads” reaches 10-20 million per season, among them there are rare endangered species. The exhibition of the Kursiu Neria Museum of Nature tells in detail about the geographical and geological features of the formation of the landscape, about archaeological finds, about the flora and fauna of the region.
It is best to observe bird migration from high hills, dunes, from specially installed panoramic towers, or simply in the open: on the seashore or in wide fields. The most popular ornithological observatory is considered to be the Parniggio dune, located near Nida and nicknamed the Sandglass dune. In spring, the first “migrants” arrive at the beginning of March, and the last at the end of May. Much more birds can be seen in the fall - from August to November - when the young summer brood joins the flocks leaving for the winter. On the Curonian Spit you can get more closely acquainted with the local semi-tame wild boars that go out onto the roads in the hope of begging for something tasty. Near Juodkrante you can see the most numerous and ancient colonies of herons and cormorants in Lithuania.
Sights of Neringa
You can get acquainted with the history of the region and the Curonians, the people who originally inhabited these lands, in the Historical Museum of Neringa (Pamario St., 53, Nida). Here are finds from the Stone Age, an exhibition dedicated to traditional local crafts, including crow catching, photographs, documents and items from family and state archives. Another source of local history is the Ethnographic Fisherman's Estate (Naglyu St., Nida), located in one of the residential buildings of Old Nida (circa 1900). The decoration, furniture, utensils and the organization of the interior itself represent a living illustration of the fishing life of the late nineteenth - early. XX century. Here, near the house, there are 4 original fishing vessels: from a boat to a kurenas.
Sights of Nida
The miniature Amber Museum (20 Pamario St., Nida) tells about the origin of Baltic amber, its rich morphology - external features: from transparency to different shades, and the history of local fishing. Here you can also see a unique collection of inclusions - minerals with insects inside. The museum's gallery offers designer jewelry and accessories that differ from most local products in their original modern design. And in the exhibition hall of the Nida cultural center “Agila” (street, Taikos 4) you can view and buy paintings, graphic works, sculptures and photographs by Lithuanian artists.
Sights of Juodkrante
Near the village of Juodkrante lies the Mountain of Witches - a sacred place professing the old Vedic cults, the Curonians. During the Inquisition, pagans from all over Europe flocked to this mountain, then resting on a small island and perfectly protected from the “guardians of law and order” by shallow waters, to worship the forces of nature and the Mother Goddess. In the XIX - early In the 20th century, residents of Lithuania Minor loved to celebrate the summer solstice here - Jonines. Guests, choristers and musicians from Klaipeda, Tilsit, Rusne came to the spit on sailing boats and small steamships. During the Nazi era, they tried to revive ancient Germanic and Aryan cults on the mountain. At the end of the 1970s and 1980s, a park of wooden sculptures, carved by Lithuanian craftsmen and illustrating scenes from local ancient beliefs and epics, appeared on the sacred hill.
In the gallery of Daiva and Remigijus Žadeikis (G.Rezos str. 13, Juodkrante) - Weathervane Gallery - you can learn about all the secrets of Kush weathervanes, the color, shape and combination of plot elements of which are by no means accidental. This space also hosts various ethnographic and historical exhibitions and fairs selling paintings, graphics, sculpture, ceramics and products made of flax and amber.
Aquarium
At the northern tip of the Curonian Spit in the Smiltyne region, in a German bastion fortress from the second half of the 19th century, the Maritime Aquarium Museum (website) is located. The museum complex includes many thematic exhibitions dedicated to marine flora and fauna, the history of Lithuanian shipbuilding, shipping, military and merchant fleets. The restored central redoubt houses aquariums that are impressive with their exotic life; on former gun platforms and ramparts there is a collection of ancient anchors collected throughout Lithuania; the life of Pomeranian fishermen is shown in an ethnographic exhibition set up on the site of a former fishing village - traditional huts are lined up here and ships on which fishermen went to the Atlantic and Baltic Seas.
The aquariums contain about 40 species of fish from Lithuanian rivers, lakes and the Baltic Sea (catfish, chub, barbel, grayling, eels, sabrefish, whitefish, etc.), tropical freshwater fish (including the huge moray eel), invertebrate inhabitants of coral reefs ( starfish, shellfish, sea urchins, etc.). The museum is also famous for the richest collection of rare species of corals and shells in Lithuania. The exhibition of prepared animals, according to scientific taxonomy, covers the entire spectrum of marine animals: from sponges to birds and mammals. In the outdoor pools you can observe penguins, seals, and sea lions.
Here, a stone's throw from the museum, there is a dolphinarium. During the summer season, colorful performances are held here with the participation of Black Sea dolphins and California sea lions. The dolphinarium also has a dolphin therapy center.
Until 1945, the Curonians living on the Curonian Spit spoke their original dialect, close to the Latvian language. At the end of the Second World War and German citizenship, many of the local residents were evacuated to central Germany, and therefore the Curonian Spit lost its own colorful language. Now only a few dozen elderly people living in Germany speak the Curonian dialect.
Amateur fishing
The Curonian and Klaipeda Lagoons are excellent places for fishing. Bream, perch, pike-perch, roach, raw fish, herring, etc. readily bite here. Ice fishing for burbot and capelin is also very popular here. In the Baltic Sea, flounder, herring, cod and halibut are caught from boats. You can fish from the shore with a float rod at any time of the day and without “documents” in compliance with the rules of amateur fishing. Fishing at a distance of more than 500 meters from the shore and using various fishing equipment is permitted only with a special license issued by the Ministry of Nature Protection; for a fishing raid in the Baltic Sea, permission from the border police is required. The total weight of fish caught per day should not exceed 5 kg per person.
- Nature Protection Agency of the City of Klaipeda st. Birutes, 16, tel.: (8 46) 21 71 06)
- Nature Protection Agency of the city of Neringa, Taikos Ave., 2, tel.: (8 469) 5 12 32)
