Nida

Nida is a resort town in Lithuania Minor on the Curonian Spit, a remarkable 99 km peninsula of sandhills. Nida and its associated villages comprise Neringa County and in 2020 had a population of 3,530.

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

There are regular bus connections between Smiltynė and Nida. In Smiltynė, the bus generally waits for the ferry passengers before it starts southwards. It carries bicycles and takes an hour for the full distance. It stops on request at intermediate villages such as Pervalka and Preila, but otherwise scoots by on the highway.

Costs are: €6 Smiltynė–Nida, €3 Smiltynė–Juodkrantė, €4 Juodkrantė–Nida

Times are (verify):

• Smiltynė to Nida: 07:10 (weekdays only), 09:10, 10:10, 11:10, 12:10, 13:10, 14:10, 16:10, 17:10, 18:10, 19:10, 21:10, 22:10
• Nida to Smiltynė: 06:00 (weekdays only), 08:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00

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 (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.

The 1 Pogranperekhod Kurshskaya / Neringa border post is open 24 hours. There is 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 is 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 are 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

On foot

In and around Nida, most things should be in walking distance.

• 2 Nida ferry pier. No longer operational, but it is the terminus of Bus N1 from Smiltynė and the centre of this straggly village. (updated Jul 2023)

By bus

For destinations a little further away there are almost hourly bus connections north between Nida and Smiltynė—see above.

By taxi

Taxis companies in Nida are:

• Kapitono Taksi, ☏ +370 622 00107. (updated Jul 2023)
• Taksi Neringoje, ☏ +370 654 11115. (updated Jul 2023)

By bicycle

• Dviratis Jums, Taikos g. 5 and 11, ☏ +370 611 59187, veranida@gmail.com. Daily 10:00–18:00. Rental bicycles with kiosks by the ferry pier and in the main village. (updated Jul 2023)

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

See

• 1 Nida Gliding School (in the area south of Five Hills). 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. (updated Jul 2023)

  

  Glider flights didn't always succeed

• 2 Five Hills Stone Age Settlement (Nidos akmens amžiaus Penkių kalvelių gyvenvietė). 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. (updated Jul 2023)
• 3 Old cemetery of the Nida (Nidos kopų apželdintojų senosios kapinės). 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. (updated Jul 2023)
• 4 Nida Lighthouse (Nidos švyturys). Weekends (plus W Th mid-June to mid-Sept), usually 12:00–18:00 but hours vary. A 27 m concrete tower, rebuilt in 1953 after the original 1874 tower was sabotaged in wartime. Run by the History Museum. (updated Jul 2023)
• 5 Lighthouse of the Cape of Horses (Žirgų rago švyturys / Pervalka Lighthouse). It perches on an artificial islet in the lagoon near Pervalkos village. It was first erected in 1900 and is now automated. (updated Jul 2023)

Museums

• 6 Fisherman's Homestead (by the pier). Jun–Sep Tu–Sa 10:00–17:00. It was built in 1927 and restored in 1973. (updated Jul 2023)

  

  Fisherman's Homestead

• 7 Amber Museum, Naglių g 27 (by the pier), ☏ +370 610 04280. Daily 10:00–19:00. Good exhibition of the story of this Baltic gem. Some pieces are for sale. (updated Jun 2023)
• 8 Curonian Spit History Museum (Kuršių nerijos istorijos muziejus), Pamario g 53, ☏ +370 46 952260. Tu–Sa 10:00–17:00. Local history of the denizens of the Spit. (updated Jun 2023)
• 9 Thomas Mann Culture Centre (Thomo Manno kultūros centras), Skruzdynės g 17, ☏ +370 46 952260. May to mid-Oct daily 10:00–18:00, mid-Oct to Apr Tu–Sa 10:00–17:00. 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. (updated Jun 2023)
• Museum of Zoology – A high-falutin' name for a few paddocks with sheep and goats, 2 km north of town by the airfield. Basically a farm selling its produces.

Churches

• 10 Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pamario g 37 (behind the Amber Museum). A redbrick building of 1895, with attractive wooden interior and old graveyard. (updated Jul 2023)
• 11 RC Church of St Mary, Taikos g 17 (west of the pier). Built in 2003 in retro-wooden style. (updated Jul 2023)

Dunes

• 12 Grobštas Nature Reserve (Grobšto gamtinis rezervatas). An expanse of sandy dunes by the border. The area is free to enter 24/7. Sklandytojų and Parnidis dunes are a couple of the larger specimens, with 13 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. (updated Jul 2023)
• 14 Vecekrugas Dune (Vecekrugo kopa) (south of Preila). 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. (updated Jul 2023)
• 15 Grey Dunes (Pilkosios kopos / Dead 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. (updated Jul 2023)

Do

This dune straddles the border with Russia

• 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.
• 1 Observation tower. (updated Jul 2023)
• Nida Jazz Marathon. 3-5 Aug 2023. (updated Jul 2023)
• Ride a bicylce to Juodkrante. You can rent a bicycle and ride all the way to Juodkrantė (about 30 km), the main sight of which is the "Hill of Witches" (Raganų kalnas), and visiting Preila and Pervalka en route. The bicycle track goes by the Curonian Lagoon for about 15 km, then through a pine forest and finally by the sea, letting you to see lots of beautiful sceneries. Don't forget to stop by the Vecekrugas dune (~1 km before Preila) and the Dead Dunes (Negyvosios kopos) near Pervalka. (updated Jul 2023)

Buy

• Maxima, Naglių g 29A (near the ferry pier). Daily 08:00-00:00. the main store (updated Jul 2023)

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. Su-Th 12:00-00:00, F Sa 12:00-03:00. An outdoor pizzeria near the shore west of the village. (updated Jul 2023)

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

Replica wooden grave markers at the Ethnographic Museum

• Pas Justę Motel, Kopų g 15 (500 m SW of ferry pier off Taikos g), ☏ +370 469 52354. Comfy small guesthouse. B&B double €70. (updated Jun 2023)
• Spa Nida, Taikos g 18 (300 m west of ferry pier), ☏ +370 670 12355. Decent mid-range hotel. B&B double €150. (updated Jun 2023)
• Hostel El Nido, Naglių g 20 (At bus terminus), ☏ +370 670 13245. Clean friendly central hostel. (updated Jun 2023)
• Džaladūta. A yacht moored in Nida marina with accommodation for two. (updated Jul 2023)

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

Connect

As of June 2023, Nida and Highway 167 have a patchy mobile signal from Tele2 and Telia, but nothing from Bite. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

• Klaipėda for the north of the Curonian Spit, from Juodkrantė up to its tip at Smiltynė. For most visitors the only practical onward route.
• South into Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast is possible with the correct documentation.