Neringa is a city and concurrently a resort located on the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit. There is an unusual nature, the highest dunes in Europe and excellent medical facilities. The resort is a narrow peninsula with a length of 97 km, dividing the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. Families with children and elderly people come here, as the local climate is healthy.

The most developed tourist centers are Neringa - Nida and Juodkrante. In Nida, neat colorful houses with thatched roofs, perfectly flat roads, flower beds everywhere. Almost every house is a cafe, a pub or a hotel. Nida is considered a more prestigious resort than Juodokrante, because the prices there are higher.

How to get

The train Moscow-Klaipeda (journey time - 20 hours) or the train Moscow-Vilnius and Moscow-Kaliningrad (the journey time is about 15 hours). Or - a flight to Vilnius, then by bus about 5 hours.

From Klaipeda to the territory of Neringa you can get by using a ferry in Smiltyn .The ticket for the ferry to both sides costs 1, 5 LTL from the passenger, 5 LTL is taken for the transportation of the animal, for a motorcycle or motor scooter - 16 LTL, and for the transfer of a passenger car - 32 LTL .Then you can get either on your own transport, or on minibuses that regularly depart from the first ferry crossing .At the post in Alksnin for entry to the Neringa National Park, which is a national park, you must pay a cash contribution of .The fee for a residential van will be 100 LTL, for a minibus - 20 LTL, for a car - 15 LTL, for a motorcycle - 7 LTL .

A bit of history

Even in the Middle Ages, fishermen chose the local places here, at the beginning of the last century, they were pressed by notable Lithuanians and rich tourists from all over Europe, they began to build their summer residences here, thus turning the Curonian Spit into a popular resort. Thomas Mann also liked to rest here, now he has a whole museum complex in his villa, which will be interesting not only to fans of the work of this world-famous writer and one of the Nobel prize winners.

But the full city of Neringa became only in the second half of the 20th century, when five small fishing villages (Nida, Pervalka, Preila, Alksnina and Juodkrant) were turned into a single administrative unit. Neringa is a unique city, unique in its kind, because its most part is covered by untouched protected forests. There are no multi-storey buildings, public transport and any production facilities.

Neringa Hotels

Even hotel complexes in the usual sense for us in Neringa are absent .Tourists are offered to stay in small private hotels, decorated in national style, most often three-star .But here you will feel yourself if not as at home, then as a guest at the most hospitable hosts .Depending on the level of the hotel and the season, the peak of which falls at the end of July in mid-August, house prices per person can range from thirty to one hundred EUR .You will not only provide the most comfortable living conditions, but will also gladly tell you about the peculiarities of this holiday and will advise which places to visit first of all .

Beaches

Beaches of the Curonian Spit are some of the best on the whole coast of the Baltic Sea. A strip of clean sand, 25-70 m wide, stretches along the entire Neringa shore. For ecological cleanness, corresponding to the world standards, in 2001 beaches in Nida were awarded the "blue flag", and in 2004 it was awarded and beaches Juodkrante.

Entertainment, Excursions and Attractions Neringa

And to look in Neringa really is on what - this locality is struck by the richness of natural landscapes and cultural and historical heritage. Here untouched centuries-old pine forests adjoin to huge coastal dunes, overgrown with grasses and shrubs.

On one of them, bearing a somewhat mystical name - Dune Witch, nearby Juodokraty at an altitude of more than forty meters is an exposition of figures made of wood carved by craftsmen. Very close to the Museum of Miniatures. It is better to learn about the peculiarities of the unique nature of the Curonian Spit in the Nature Museum, where the story of the development of the region's landscapes is told in fascinating form, as well as those unusual plants and animals that inhabit it. In the immediate vicinity of the museum there is a dolphinarium where spectators are given a lot of positive emotions.

No less interesting is the visit to a kind of ethnographic museum located in a house where the family of a hereditary fisherman once lived .It should be noted that even though tourism has become the main occupation of local residents and the main source of their income, they never forget their "fishing" past, moreover, turned it into one of the "chips" in the resort region .In particular, the above-mentioned house-museum has more than a century of history, however, at the end of the last century, it did not resist the onslaught of the elements, and it had to rebuild .The restoration came very scrupulously, and now the house looks exactly like hundreds of years ago, colorfully illustrating the peculiarities of life and customs of Lithuanian fishermen .

Here come, first of all, for rest in the literal sense of the word. Walking in the National Park, rest on the coast can be diversified only by visiting museums and festivals of classical music. And summer evenings can be spent on cozy verandas of numerous cafes and restaurants, where they serve national cuisine and fish cooked in every possible way.

In Nida: Thomas Mann House-Museum, Amber Museum and Ethnographic Cemetery. Finally, in Smiltene you can visit the Natural Museum of the National Park and the Dolphinarium. Photo of Neringa (3)