Klaipeda riverside
Klaipeda is Lithuania's only port and the only town of any significance on the country's west coast. The town itself was flattened during WW2 and was for many years an important military-industrial area and this shows as you enter the town, still some bleak areas there. Certainly there is a nice riverside area and some pretty little streets; we visited towards the end of our visit to the Baltic states and felt that Klaipeda's attractions were quite modest in comparison to some of the other towns we had visited.
There is a campsite on the spit and word is that it is really expensive and so most people stay at Pajurio Kempingas which is a modern site with very good pitches, each with electricity, water, toilet and grey water disposal points. There is a well equipped kitchen, washing machines and a TV room. There is also free wifi available.The downside is that it is near to a railway line with huge goods trains going by - bring your ear plugs.
We were able to take the bus into Klaipeda, the bus stop being a short distance from the campsite and finallt the Baltic beach is 500metres away.
There is a campsite on the spit and word is that it is really expensive and so most people stay at Pajurio Kempingas which is a modern site with very good pitches, each with electricity, water, toilet and grey water disposal points. There is a well equipped kitchen, washing machines and a TV room. There is also free wifi available.The downside is that it is near to a railway line with huge goods trains going by - bring your ear plugs.
We were able to take the bus into Klaipeda, the bus stop being a short distance from the campsite and finallt the Baltic beach is 500metres away.
Ogre on the Hill of Witches
As well as its beautiful beaches Klaipeda has the Curonian Spit - a World Heritage site since 2000 and this is the main reason we visited. The spit is divided between Lithuania and Kaliningrad and the Lithuanian part is about 50+ kms so unless you are a keen cyclist you need to take your vehicle across with you. We took our motorhome and it cost us about 25 euro ( a car was about 5) and then once on the spit you have to pay again, we think to enter the national park - it was not clear but this was another tidy sum. The ferry crossing was wonderfully efficient and We reckon we paid about 50 euro to take ourselves and the van across for the day. Bearing in mind the ferry crossing itself took 4 minutes this was probably one of the more expensive crossings if you priced it by the 100metres
The view from our ferry to the Curonian Spit
So what's there? Plenty of fabulous beaches, lots and lots of pine trees and some pretty villages with wooden houses and a warm welcome for the tourist and his wallet, ie lots of gift shops and restaurants.There is also the Hill of Witches which is a wooded hill near Juodkrante with some spectacular wooden carvings - very skilled impressive things and on a hot day makes a nice shady walk too.
Nida weathervanes.
The village of Nida is a big attraction, there is a small harbour where you can take boat trips across the lagoon and to the Nemunas Delta and lots of pretty fishermen's cottages. Fishing boats leaving the spit traditonally had their own unique weathervanes which described where the boat had come from and gave a bit of info on the boat owner - they're very pretty.
