We spent our last night in Russia in the border town of Sovetsk, formerly (until 1946) known as Tilsit. It is a river port near Kaliningrad on the Neman River. The city was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1288 and was the site of the treaty negotiated between Napoleon and Tsar...
Just by chance, we caught a great event near the village of Talpaki. We spent more than an hour in the traffic jam like most of the Kaliningraders, who wanted to join the traditional festival “Baltic Field 2019”. The Baltic Field is one of the most diverse and intense events in the...
We spent two days in the friendly city of Kaliningrad, formerly knows as German Königsberg (1255–1946). The city’s history began in 1255 when the Teutonic Knights founded a fortress on a hill, named Königsberg (King’s Hill). It became the capital of the dukes of Prussia and...
In the afternoon we have arrived in the Svetlogorsk, prior to 1947 known by its German name Rauschen. It is a resort town located on the coast of the Baltic Sea in the historical region of Sambia of East Prussia, 39 kilometers northwest of Kaliningrad. It was established in 1258 as a...
We drove through narrow roads in Curonian Spit to the first city in Russia – Zelenogradsk. We have arrived here late afternoon and the first thing, what we needed, were SIM cards. We found a small computer shop just opposite Victoria Supermarket, where we have bought the Russian sim...
We have got the Russian eVisa for the Kaliningrad Region (easy online procedure, no fee), so we moved today to a small border located on the Curonian Spit. We went there before 08:00 and we were the only ones there at that time, but after 30 minutes there was already a queue of cars and...
We made a day hike around the coast and sand dunes in Nida. This tranquil fishing village is located on the 98 km long Curonian Spit which shares the UNESCO accolade with Russia. This lone detached strip of land surrounded by the waters of the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon is one of...
From Klaipėda we took a quite expensive ferry (24,6 € / few minutes ride) to Curonian Spit, the birch-lined tendril of land across the lagoon, which is also called Neringa. On top of that, we have paid another 30 € entrance fee to the National Park. Our first stop was the Juodkrantė...
On the way to the south, we made another stop at a city with a distinctly German flavor. Lithuania’s third-largest city, formerly known as Memel, was part of the Prussian Kingdom until the region wrestled to autonomy in 1923. Buildings in the compact, cobblestoned Old Town are...
Palanga is the biggest seaside resort in Lithuania. It is located 29 kilometers north of Klaipėda. The famous ten kilometers long white sandy beach is lined by dunes and pine forests. Originally a fishermen’s village, Palanga was first mentioned in written sources in the 12th century. It...