About region

Klaipėda and the Curonian Spit

Klaipėda, founded in 1252, is the oldest town of Lithuania. It’s also one of the biggest ice free ports on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, located in a convenient mouth of the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. Klaipėda is one of the oldest ports in the Baltic Sea fostering European marine traditions.

Klaipėda is the business centre of Western Lithuania, featuring modern port facilities, commercial enterprises, scientific and educational institutions, banks and comfortable hotels. The transport links to and from Klaipėda include flights to other European cities as well as highways and direct ferry links to Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Beautiful sandy beaches stretching for many kilometres provide a nice place for rest, swimming, walking to the Sea Museum-Aquarium. Ships entering and leaving harbour are the integral part of Klaipėda landscape.

The Curonian Spit (Lithuanian: Kuršių Nerija, Russian: Куршская коса) is a 98 km long, narrow, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Spit is home to the highest moving (drifting) sand dunes in Europe. Their average height is 35 m, but some attain the height of 60 m.

The largest town on the spit in Lithuanian territory is Nida, a popular holiday resort, mostly frequented by Lithuanian and German tourists. The northern shoreline of the Curonian Spit is the site of beaches for tourists. Both Russian and Lithuanian parts of the spit are national parks.