Nida.
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Overview

Nida is a resort town in Lithuania Minor on the Curonian Spit, a remarkable 99 km peninsula of sandhills. Nida has about 1500 permanent residents and the larger Neringa County, which Nida is a part of, had 3,530 residents in 2020.

Understand

The present town is 5 km south of the original settlement, engulfed by sand dunes in the 1730s. Replanting of woodland from the 19th century halted the dunes' advance.

This area has traditionally been German-speaking, part of Prussia from 1701. Its fishing village and haunting landscape of sand dunes drew artists in the 19th century, and in the 1930s it was the summer home of novelist Thomas Mann. That population was deported after the Second World War, and the Lithuanian communists turned it into a private holiday resort for party officials, a sort of Sandals Soviet Socialist Republic, so Nida was little developed and its old buildings preserved.

Get in

Coming from Klaipėda is the usual route; the city has trains and buses from elsewhere in Lithuania plus Riga.

How to use the ferry to get to Smiltynė on the Curonian Spit side, see Klaipėda.

By bus In summer buses run twice a day direct from Vilnius and Kaunas via Klaipėda.

Kopos Bus from Smiltynė runs year-round, connecting with the ferry and taking an hour to Nida. It carries bicycles and stops at Juodkrantė; also on request at villages such as Pervalka and Preila, but otherwise scoots by on the highway.

By car With your own vehicle, head to Klaipėda New ferry terminal (Naujoji perkėla) for the 10 minute crossing to Smiltynė, then follow Highway 167 down the Curonian Spit via Juodkrantė to Nida.

From Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia You can drive to Nida with the correct documentation for yourself and vehicle. Drive northeast up the spit from Zelenogradsk via Lesnoy, Rybachii and Morskoe.

is open 24 hours. There's no public transport here; bicycles may cross but not pedestrians. See Lithuania#Get in for the entry rules coming northeast: Lithuania is part of the EU Schengen Zone, but in 2023 bars entry to Russian citizens. See Russia#Get in for the rules going southwest: there's a special e-visa for Kaliningrad Oblast, free and quick to obtain, for citizens of 51 countries including most of Europe. Those ineligible for the e-visa, such as US or British passport holders, must go through the usual bureaucracy of obtaining a standard Russian visa. Either way, you must sort out your documentation before reaching the border, there is no "visa on arrival".

And don't lark about on the beach or in the water beyond the border fences, the guards will assume you're making a recce for an illegal crossing or smuggling run, and invite you in for a less-than-friendly chat. Most border transgressions are by small craft gone astray, or by ice-fishermen convinced the catch will be better just a few metres the other side.

Get around

Walk: most sights in Nida are in walking distance.

no longer has ferries but is the terminus of Bus N1 from Smiltynė and the centre of this straggly village. That bus also brings you to sights further out.

You might also be able to rent a bicycle from your accommodation in Nida, or from Klaipėda.

The 30 km cycle track to Juodkrantė passes by Vecekrugas dune near Preila) and the Dead Dunes near Pervalka.

See

Nida Gliding School. Again only a sign commemorates it. After the First World War, Germany was forbidden any powered aviation, so instead developed the design and piloting of gliders. A training area was set up between Rybachii and Morskoe south of the border. Lithuania sent pilots and engineers to train with the Germans and in 1933 opened its own area at Nida. Launching was much the same as with a kite: the glider perched atop a sand dune, and four beefy fellows ran pell-mell down the dune with a cable to drag it aloft. This did not violate the rule against "powered" aviation.

Five Hills Stone Age Settlement. 4,000 years old and nothing to see now except an explanatory sign in the forest. But this archaeological site yielded valuable knowledge about the Bay Coast people of the Baltic, whose other villages in Poland and Germany had been lost to human activity or sea erosion. Their characteristic "corded" pottery is exhibited in the museum in Nida and elsewhere.

Old cemetery of the Nida. This is where you can find the GD Kuwert graves, father and son, which are by the main road west edge of town. In the 19th century they began the systematic replanting of the sand dunes, which were about to engulf the village and connecting road.

Nida Lighthouse. A 27 m concrete tower, rebuilt in 1953 after the original 1874 tower was sabotaged in wartime. Run by the History Museum.

Observation tower 200 m west of the lighthouse gives you a view, but you have to shin up a ladder, slippery after rain.

RC Church of St Mary. Built in 2003 in retro-wooden style.

Fisherman's Homestead. This was built in 1927 and restored in 1973.

Amber Museum. Good exhibition of the story of this Baltic gem. Some pieces are for sale.

Evangelical Lutheran Church. A redbrick building of 1895, with attractive wooden interior and old graveyard.

Curonian Spit History Museum. Local history of the denizens of the Spit.

Thomas Mann Culture Centre. This was the summer residence of Thomas Mann from 1930 to 1932, and he wrote some of "Joseph and His Brothers" here - the blowing sand maybe helped the Egyptian scenes. It was damaged in the Second World War but restored from the 1950s, and is now a museum. They hold a literary festival over a week in July.

Museum of Zoology is a high-falutin' name for a few paddocks with sheep and goats, 2 km north of town by the airfield. It's basically a farm selling its produce.

Grobštas Nature Reserve. An expanse of sandy dunes by the border, free to enter 24/7. Sklandytojų and Parnidis dunes are a couple of the larger specimens, with Death Valley (Mirties slėnis) between. You can gaze across into Russia to confirm that their dunes are similar, thus saving the bother of a border crossing.

Vecekrugas Dune. The highest dune on the spit, at 67.2 m. It's forested with pines to stabilise it. You can ascend the track to an observation platform.

Lighthouse of the Cape of Horses. It perches on an artificial islet in the lagoon near Pervalkos village. It was first erected in 1900 and is now automated.

Grey Dunes. Almost 60 m high and fixed in position by a thin layer of topsoil and lichen. But there is still plenty of blowing sand about, so mind your contact lenses. Stay on the 1 km boardwalk from the parking lot.

Do

Water sports: sailing, kayaking and paddle-boarding are on the sheltered lagoon. Boat hire is available from Jachtos Nuoma and others in Nida marina. The breezy beach on the Baltic coast is for flying kites, romping with the dog over the dunes, and building sandcastles. Nida Jazz Marathon is in late July.

Eat

Nida has a dozen places clustered round the ferry pier. Fish is the usual offering: try smoke-dried eel or bream. For example:

Zuikio Daržas. An outdoor pizzeria near the shore west of the village.

Drink

Bars in Nida are Purvynė by the ferry pier, Vyninė Nida at GD Kuwert g 10, and Griuvėsiai and Saulės on the west beach.

Sleep

Pas Justę Motel. Comfy small guesthouse.

Hostel El Nido. Clean friendly central hostel.

Džaladūta. A yacht moored in Nida marina with accommodation for two.

Preila and Pervalka villages further north have self-catering accommodation.