The Curonian Spit and the amber coast
The Curonian Spit is the strangest landscape in the Baltics: 98 km of migrating dune between a freshwater lagoon and the open sea.
The route.
Day by day.
Daylight is shown for a departure on 26 October, calculated for each day's own location. Ask us and we will run the figures for your dates.
Crossing to the spit
Meet your guide at Klaipėda's old port. A short ferry across the Curonian Lagoon to Smiltynė, then 50 km of slow road through pine and dune to Nida. Settle into the fisherman's house, collect your bicycles, and walk the lagoon promenade at sunset.
Read the full day
The crossing takes about ten minutes. From the moment you step off the ferry the air changes: pine resin, salt, and a little woodsmoke from the chimneys inland. Your driver and guide takes the unhurried inland road that hugs the lagoon, stopping at the Juodkrantė heron colony if the wind is right. You are in Nida by six; by seven you are walking the boardwalk past the painted weathervanes.
- Ferry from Klaipėda to Smiltynė
- The inland dune road to Nida
- Orientation walk on the lagoon at sunset
The Sahara at dawn, the lagoon at noon
Walk the sundial path up the Parnidis dune at first light. Breakfast back at the house. A late morning on the bikes along the lagoon path, lunch at a harbour fish kiosk, an afternoon swimming or reading on the lagoon beach. Optional sunset walk to Thomas Mann's summer house.
Read the full day
The Parnidis dune is a half-hour walk from the centre and the climb is gentle. From the top you can see Russia (Kaliningrad) on the southern horizon and the open Baltic to the west; the sundial obelisk catches the first light. We send you up alone, with a flask and a printed map; your guide meets you at half nine for breakfast.
- Parnidis dune sundial at sunrise
- The lagoon path by bicycle
- Lunch at the harbour fish kiosk
- Optional Thomas Mann summer house visit
Witches' Hill and smoked fish
Cycle 20 km north along the lagoon path to Juodkrantė. Walk the wooden sculpture trail on Raganų Kalnas, the Hill of Witches. A late lunch of smoked perch at a working family smokehouse, then back to Nida on the seaward path.
Read the full day
The path is paved, flat and shaded for most of its length. The Hill of Witches is a sculpture park from 1979 hidden in a pine wood: eighty wooden figures from Lithuanian folk tales, all hand-carved, all left out in the weather. The smokehouse is down a side street; the family started smoking eel in 1923 and have not stopped. You smell it before you see it.
- 20 km ride on the lagoon path
- Wooden sculpture trail on Raganų Kalnas
- Smoked perch lunch at a working smokehouse
- Return on the seaward path
Nida fisherman's house
Third night in the same cottage.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
Amber on the morning tide
A pre-sunrise walk on the seaward beach with Andrius, a local amber collector. He works the tide line after a westerly storm and has been doing it since 1985. Late breakfast back at the house, the ferry to the mainland, and a transfer to Klaipėda airport or station by midday.
- Pre-sunrise amber walk on the wild coast
- Late breakfast at the cottage
- Ferry back to the mainland
- Transfer to Klaipėda airport or station
Request your quote.
Tell us your dates and party size. We'll reply within one working day, with a private, fully-costed version of The Curonian Spit and the amber coast to follow within two.
within two working days
Prices shown in USD for reference. You're billed in EUR.
- Private trip: just your party, your pace
- Flexible dates, year-round departures
- No payment taken to enquire
- A $421 pp deposit holds your dates
- Protected under the EU Package Travel Directive
Priced by party size.
- Per person
- $2,492(≈ €2,130)
- Total for 2
- $4,984(≈ €4,260)
- Deposit to book
- $842(≈ €720)
- Balance, 45 days out
- $4,142(≈ €3,540)
Calculated from the same per-person rates as the table below. Final pricing is confirmed with your quote and moves with your dates, room choices and any day you change. Billed in EUR.
Per-person rates by party size
Prices shown in USD for reference. You're billed in EUR.
What's included.
- 3 nights in a converted fisherman's guesthouse (twin or double)
- Bicycle hire for the whole stay (helmet, lock and panniers included)
- All Klaipėda to Smiltynė ferry crossings
- An amber-collecting morning with a local from Nida (weather dependent)
- Daily breakfast · one smoked fish dinner at a working smokehouse
- Private guide on call, not out in front of you
- Door-to-door transfers from Klaipėda airport or station
- Detailed cycling map and a printed Curonian Spit reading list
- International travel to Klaipėda (budget airport or rail via Vilnius)
- Most lunches and two dinners (we send a curated shortlist)
- Travel insurance (mandatory; we can recommend providers)
- Tips for your guide and host (suggested €5 to €7 per day per traveller)
- Any spa visits at the Nida wellness centres
