Neringa - Wikitravel (2024)

Neringa is in western Lithuania. Also, it is a part of the Curonian Spit[1].

Understand[edit]

Neringa is the pearl of Lithuania and Europe, the Mecca for artists, and the recreation oasis for the tired. Even though Neringa has only been established since 1961, the history of the town at the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea dates back to the times when giants were living. Legend has it that the Curonian peninsula was made by a giant, the kind-hearted Neringa, making a safe place for local fishermen against horrible sea monsters. This legend has been an inspiration for many centuries for people who live, work and create here and who are careful, have a firm and temperate character, and who are reliable and hospitable.

The Neringa resort was founded in the Curonian Spit National Park, which, since the year 2000 has been included in the list of World Heritage of UNESCO as a site of cultural landscape having many natural and cultural values.

Neringa’s beaches are also internationally recognized. In 2002, they were awarded a blue flag (primarily Nida beaches), meaning that the beach meets high standards of environment protection and service quality. The safety of visitors is ensured by professional rescue service including not only the members of the Lithuanian Water Rescue Service Association but also the winners of the international championships.

Neringa resort is one of the most popular in Lithuania and is considered to be the best Lithuanian resort by more than half (51.7%) of the surveyed residents of large cities. Recreation in this sea resort is preferred by those who like its exceptional freedom, tranquillity, and relaxing atmosphere. Neringa is an exceptional place of recreation with its unique nature and specific culture. This area is a real hideout from busy life and urban noise for tired people.

Neringa is a legend that presents the slogan of Neringa, a place of freedom, tranquillity, and recreation.

Typical visitors of Neringa are families with children, elderly people, and those with more experience, as well as wealthy people looking for tranquillity. A sign presenting Neringa includes the coats of arms of all settlements around Neringa. Future and innovation are symbolized by water ripples. You can see also the dunes in the emblem resembling a female silhouette. Femininity is symbolised also by warm and pastel colors. Femininity is highly featured for Neringa. Such feminine characteristics like care, service-mindedness, and warmth are related to this resort.

History[edit]

Scientists say that the waves of the Baltic Sea formed the Curonian Spit more than 5000 years ago. The origins of the Nerija (Spit) name relate to Kuršiai—a western Baltic tribe who lived on the current Latvian and northern Lithuanian seacoast and in the south stretched to the areas of Klaipėda. Urbanization of the Curonian Spit began in the 13th century when the crusaders (Teutonic Order) occupied this territory and built several castles of the Order. The most important of them was Rasytė (Rossitten, currently Ribachiy). At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, Kuršininkai settled the Curonian Spit, who were fishermen and used boats of a special structure, named “kurėnai“.

Affected by the specific nature of the Curonian Spit and nearly separated from the continent, local residents were constructing original buildings covered with reed. Only in the settlements of the Curonian Spit you can see the specific carved decorations and weatherco*cks on the buildings. These weatherco*cks are evidence of the main activity of the old fishermen residents of Neringa. In the 15th century, the entire Curonian Spit was covered by dense forest. The old generation considered trees to be sacred and did not touch them. Later people began to cut trees with no pity. When the forests were destroyed, nothing prevented, the sand started moving in the wind, so it slid along the peninsula towards the Curonian Lagoon. Huge dunes have buried many fishermen's villages on their way. Scientists consider that there are as many as 14 villages buried under the sand in the Curonian Spit. Later, it became clear that the pine roots were the best way to prevent the moving sands. Two centuries ago, they started the planting the Curonian Spit dunes again and this process still continues. The seacoast dunes fortification and planting work in the Curonian Spit is the biggest project of its kind in the world.

Even though the majority of ancient residents were involved in fishing, from the beginning of the 19 century later they began breeding animals as well. Juodkrantė was the first settlement among the current Neringa settlements to offer tourist services, and from the middle of the 19th century also engaged in amber excavation and processing. The rapid growth of Juodkrantė began. In 1881, the Juodkrantė resort committee was established, which was rearranged into the Resort Society at the beginning of the 20th century.

At the beginning of the 20th century, new types of buildings, summerhouses, and hotels appeared in Juodkrantė. Fishermen homestead buildings were rearranged and reequipped by adapting them for visitors. In 1904, a large recreation complex was built in the resort with healing water and mud procedures. During the years of independent Lithuania (1923-1939), the resort was famous for various healing and mineral waters, attractions of resort infrastructure, and tranquillity of the dune forest.

Meanwhile, Nida was famous as a mecca of artists. In 1900, the headquarters of the German artist colony was established in the hotel of H. Blodė. This society existed until 1945. The hotel of H. Blodė was one of the most famous German hotels. In 1930, a famous German writer, laureate of Nobel Prize T. Mann built his house in Nida.

Even though the Soviet period affected the urban face of Nerija, today this is the only place in Lithuania with the preserved, nearly untouched, ancient settlements of the former fishermen villages. They are like live museums of Kuršiai with an ethnical architectural heritage and old resort traditions.

Neringa is more like as an administrative division with municipality rights. The territory of municipality covers 4 alive villages:

• Juodkrantė
• Nida
• Pervalka
• Preila.

• Nida Tourist Information Centre, Naglių St 18E, 93123 Nida, ☎ +370 46952345, [x].

Landscape[edit]

It is elongated sand dune peninsula on the west coast of Lithuania, washed by the Baltic Sea on the west and the Curonian lagoon on the east, created by constant fight against natural wind and water forces. At the same time, this sandy and wooded land has also overcome a kind of mutual struggle from the destruction of the nature of the spit to the reforestation. This peninsula has its own vegetation and stretches of sand[2], you just need to look better to see what you find by the seacoast as sea beach; protective dune ridge; sea berm; the great spit ridge; lagoon berm; lagoon beach.

Flora and fauna[edit]

The Curonian Spit National Park vegetation boasts about 900 plant species (including 31 species of them on the Lithuanian Red Book). Also, it is home to approximately 40 species of mammals and as many as about 300 species of birds. The White Sea/Baltic Sea migration highway goes along the Curonian Spit.

Climate[edit]

Curonian Spit is attributed to the coastal climate zone highly affected by the Baltic Sea. It boasts by the highest number of sunny days in Lithuania. Prevailing winds are west and southwest winds. Due to the proximity to the sea, autumns and winters there are milder than in the eastern areas of Lithuania. Air in winter is very humid, and in spring the humidity decreases. The warmest month of the year is August.

Neringa is a prestigious international seacoast resort. It features cognitive tourism and rationally used natural and cultural resources. Natural treatment resources in the resort are used according to the solutions of the scheme of the Curonian Spit National Park, and according to the UNESCO recommendations. According to the climate, Neringa is a seacoast resort, and according to treatment resources, it is a climatic resort. Neringa differs from the other Lithuanian resorts by its seacoast and nature.

In addition to the unique natural resources, it also offers a modern tourism infrastructure and various active leisure forms. Special attention is paid here to the outdoor recreation: playgrounds, sports, and recreation meadows, specially adapted forest infrastructure (cognitive trails), zones of non-smoking and silence, and sports equipment for outdoor entertainment, etc.

Get in[edit]

The town of Neringa was founded in 1961 when the Lithuanian settlements of the Curonian Spit—Juodkrantė, Pervalka, Preila, and Nida—were joined into one town stretching for nearly 50 km

Neringa’s geographic position is unique. It is the most western part of Lithuania, bordered by the Baltic Sea from the west, and by the Curonian Lagoon from the east. In the southern part of Neringa, there is a state border with Russian Federation, the Kaliningrad area, and therefore this peninsula can be easily accessed from the northern part of Neringa by ferry (Smiltynė-Klaipėda). If you don’t have a vehicle, Neringa can be conveniently accessed in several ways.

By plane[edit]

• Airport Palanga (Palangos Oro Uostas), Liepojos road 1, 00169 Palanga, ☎ +370 61244442, [x]. It is a small nearest airport to Neringa.
• Kaunas international airport ({{IATA|KUN}}), Oro uosto St 4, 54460 Karmėlava, ☎ +370 612 44442, [x]. It is one of the most convenient airports to reach Lithuania.

By train[edit]

The nearest train line reaches Klaipeda.

By bus[edit]

Buses leave from Vilnius and Kaunas every day. Buses leave from Klaipeda’s Smiltynė ferry according to the schedule (the old ferry (1st), Žvejų St 8, Klaipeda).

By car[edit]

Kaunas – Nida 263 km, Vilnius – Nida 361. The Lagoon is crossed in the new (2nd) ferry (Nemuno St 8, Klaipeda).

A local fee is charged for entrance permission by vehicle to the state-protected territories of the Curonian Spit National Park. This fee is administrated by the Neringa municipality.

Fees/Permits[edit]

There is an "Ecology" fee to enter[3] Neringa by vehicle:

Car/Motocycle €5 low season, €10 high seasonCamper €15 low season, €20 high season

Get around[edit]

If you want to see all Neringa your travel efforts will not be enough on foot. You will have to use a bicycle, car or bus.

See[edit]

• Colony of herons and cormorants. Just after leaving Juodkrantė in the direction of Nida, before going up to the steep hill Avinas, there is another hill of herons (Garnių kalnas), which got its name from the colony of gray herons and great cormorants living nearby.
• Juodkrantė Church of Evangelic Lutherans. The first church was wooden built-in 1780 and stood there for about 100 years until it was burnt. Later there was built one tower brick church.
• Lighthouse of the Cape of Horses (Žirgų švyturys), near Pervalka. It was built in 1900, later it was rebuilt several times. It is the only lighthouse in the Curonian Lagoon, not on land, but on a small artificial island.
• Lighthouse on the Urbas Hill in Nida[4]. The name of the hill comes from the word "urbti", which means to dig holes for planting trees. The hill itself is 50,8 m high.
• Memorial for the commemoration of Nida gliding school. In the past, it was the main summer campsite for Lithuanian gliders there.
• Monument to St D. Kuvertas at Nida. Gottlieb Dovydas Kuwertas was the first person to plant the spit with trees in the 19th century. It was not so easy to insert into the dead sand and grow a tree.
• Nida Church of Evangelic Lutherans. The gothic-style red-bricked building was built at the end of the 19th century.
• Nida ethnographic cemetery, Nida Roman Catholic Church. The cemetery is situated at the church and features exceptional grave markers.
• Observation Bench, 93130 Neringa municipality, nearby Karvaičiai dune.

• Parnidis dune with a sun clock. The name of dune means a hill behind or near Nida. It is a blown sand dune and at 52 m above sea level is one of the highest sand dunes in Europe. In the past, it was even higher. This white sand dune constantly moves towards the Curonian Lagoon and sinks. From an astronomical point of view, the sundial is located in the most ideal place in Lithuania, because the absolute mathematical horizon opens up there. In this place, you can watch how the Sun comes out of the water and sinks into it in the evening.
• Preila ethnographic cemetery. The last Curonians were buried there marking the graveyards with the typical for these places wooden moss-covered markers.
• Sightseeing grounds on the Sheep hill (Avino kalnas) at Juodkrantė, [5]. There opens the Avinas cape sandy plain at the bottom of the dunes with one of the most impressive panoramas of the Curonian Spit: parabolic dunes and the common pine forests.
• Stone Sculpture Park in the embankment of Juodkrantė. The Earth and Water exposition are located there.
• Witch hill (Raganų kalnas), Juodkrantė. Exhibition of wooden folk sculptures, most of which are based on folk and fairy tales. These sculptures were carved by more than 100 folk craftsmen.

Museums[edit]

• Amber Gallery-Museum, Pamario St 20, 93124 Nida, ph.+370 61004280, [6]. There are mainly placed amber amulets.
• Herman Blode museum, Skruzdynės St 2, 93121 Nida, ph.+370 46952221. On the display is a small collection of paintings and personal possessions.
• Lithuania Sea museum-aquarium and dolphinarium, 93100 Klaipėda, 869837299, [7]. Great sea fauna exhibition and dolphin show and therapy.
• Ludwig Rheza Culture Centre, L. Rėzos St 8 B, 93101 Juodkrantė, ph.+370 46953448, [8]. Rheza was a Lutheran pastor and professor at the University of Königsberg in East Prussia (18th-19th century). The Center is a place where various cultural events take place.
• Miniature museum (Miniatiūrų muziejus), L. Rėzos St 3, 93101 Juodkrantė, ph.+370 46953323. Portrait and watercolor miniatures, as well as works of applied art, can be seen in the museum.
• Nagliai Nature Reserve ph.370 46951224. The purpose of the reserve is to preserve the unique landscape with the big ridge of deflated humped gray dunes, humps and sand crests at the bottom, wooded humped coastal belts, coastal protective dunes, and stretches of sand dunes, plant and animal species listed in the Lithuanian Red Book.
• Neringa history museum, Pamario St 53, 93121 Nida, ph.+370 46952260.The exhibitions present the Curonian Spit residents' crafts, fishing appliances, models of different boats, smelt destroyer and hunting crows, findings at the Nida neolith settlement, and the history of Nida Post Station.
• Nida Fisherman's Ethnographic Homestead, Naglių St 4, 93123 Nida, 846952260 https://www.neringosmuziejai.lt/en/ The farmstead was built by local craftsmen in 1927 and consisted of two connected buildings. The exposition creates a sense of the presence of the old residents of the house.
• Thomas Mann’s Culture Centre, Skruzdynės St 17, 93121 Nida, ph.+370 46952260, [9]. The very popular museum honored writer Thomas Mann.
• Weather vane gallery (Vėtrungių galerija), L. Rėzos St 13, 93101 Juodkrantė, ph.+370 69827283. Very special gallery where you can get acquainted with the historical and cultural part of the heritage of the Curonian Lagoon region - weather vanes.

Do[edit]

• Beaches. When the weather is sunny and warm, beaches around the towns tend to get quite busy. If you don't mind walking a bit faster, chances are you will have the whole beach all to yourselves.
• Biking, [x]. A cycle route runs across the entire length of the Curonian Spit. The route is equipped with stopovers and signposts pointing to sightseeing objects.
• Birding, [x]. The Curonian Spit is a wonderful place for bird lovers. The best time is autumn. Already by August sandpipers can be seen on the sea beach and the coast of the lagoon. The recommended sites for bird observation include Parnidis Dune top, the shores of Pervalka Bay, and the seacoast. Here at any time, You have an opportunity to visit the colony of grey herons and cormorants. Cormorants, a species nearly extinct in the rest of Europe, have resettled in the spit.
• Boat tours. In summer you can take various boat trips. In the area, most of them depart from Nida. The most popular day trip is to Vente cape (Ventes ragas), located on the other side of the Curonian Lagoon.
• Fishing. The Curonian Lagoon is the most suitable place for hobby fishing. Popular and much liked fishermen - hobbyists are ice fishing of burbots and smelts. Fishing is permitted with the licenses of the Environmental Ministry.
• Hiking. Cognitive path in Nagliai natural reserve, Parnidis educational path, Dendrological cognitive path.

• Kitesurfing.

• Mushrooms and berries picking. From the old times' mushrooms and berry picking was the most favorable occupation of the residents of the Curonian Spit.
• Orienteering. It is a sport that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain. It is possible to get maps at Neringa sports school, and Tourist Information Centers.
• Windsurfing. There are excellent conditions for windsurfing and yacht sailing in the Curonian Lagoon.
• Yacht sailing. You can yacht, or sail by old type of boat Kurenas in the Curonian Lagoon. You can visit Nemunas falls. Minge Village, Uostadvaris, or other places liked by tourists.

Events[edit]

• International Chamber Music Summer Festival (Kuršių Nerija). June.
• International Folk Festival, [x]. June-July.
• International Nida Jazz Festival (Nida Jazz maratonas). June.
• International Opera and Symphonic Music Festival (Muzikinis rugpjūtis pajūryje). August.
• International Thomas Mann Arts Festival. June.
• Summer Season Opening Festival. May.

Buy[edit]

Typical Neringa souvenirs are articles made of amber which can be purchased not only in small shops but in places visited by many tourists in summer as well. Cheer your house, friends, mates, and colleagues with weatherco*cks (symbols of the Curonian Spit).

Eat[edit]

All Neringa cafes will offer you Lithuanian traditional dishes. You should necessarily taste cepelinai (potato dumplings with various fillings), potato pancakes (bulvių blynai) and cold beetroot soup (šaltibarščiai), fish soup (žuvienė), and other fish dishes typical to this region as well. You should taste really delicious and fresh fish smoked on the Curonian recipe.

• Matėja, Nidos-Smiltynės pl. 27, 93125 Neringa (Infront of Preila).
• Nerija, Smiltynės St 15, 93100 Klaipėda, ☎ +370 60778573, [x].
• Nida Pier Restaurant (Nidos prieplauka), Naglių St, Nida, ☎ +370 61491181, [x].
• Pamario takas Cafe (A. Zaksienes firma), L. Rėzos St 42, 93101 Juodkrantė, ☎ +370 64064029.

Drink[edit]

• Coffee for you (Kava Tau), Žaliasis road 2, 93102, [x].
• Freiheit Bar, Naglių St, Nida, ☎ +370 65418551, [x].
• Gardumėlis cafe, Pamario St 3, 93123 Nida, ☎ +370 61831474.
• Kupolas Live music bar, 93125 Neringa, ☎ +370 64301447, [x].

Sleep[edit]

A variety of accommodations is on offer in Neringa including hospitable hotels, cozy villas, romantic guesthouses.

Lodging[edit]

• Black hill Hotel & Restaurant (Juodasis kalnas), Ievos kalno St 22, 93103 Juodkrantė, ☎ +370 61101861, [x].
• Curonian Lagoon Villa (Kursmariu Vila), Preilos St 93, 93104 Preila, ☎ +370 69963217.
• Kursiai yard guest house (Kursiu kiemas poilsio namai, A. Venckienes imone), Miško St 11, 93102 Juodkrantė, ☎ +370 68217095, [x].
• Sava Waterfront Villa, Pervalkos St 5, 93104 Pervalka, ☎ +370 61134537, [x].
• Smiltyne Yacht Club (Smiltynės Jachtklubas), Smiltynės St 25, 93100 Klaipėda, ☎ +370 66355550, [x].

Camping[edit]

• Nida Camping (Nidos Kempingas), E. A. Jonušo g. 11, 93127 Nida, ☎ +370 68241150 (mailto:[emailprotected]), [x].

Backcountry[edit]

Stay safe[edit]

Get out[edit]

• Klaipeda

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