Text and photos: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

The quiet resort village Nida is based at the Curonian Spit (Neringa) near the Kaliningrad border, less than one hour’s drive from Klaipeda at Lithuania’s seacoast. With beautiful Baltic Sea beaches on the west side, the large Curonian Lagoon on the east side and the largest sand dunes of Northern Europe on the southern side, this is a truly unique place for a relaxed vacation. You should spend one or two weeks in a self catering fisherman's cottage or a few days in a guest house or hotel. Nida is the place to take it easy!

Here is what a visiting family wrote after their visit:

"We have never visited anywhere that had such a relaxing effect on us as the view from the sun clock on the Great Dune in Nida. The silky-smooth lagoon to one side of the golden spit and the sparkling waves of the Baltic Sea to the other side was breath-takingly beautiful. We did lots of walking, running and cycling including a walk along the Baltic Sea beach from west of Preila back to Nida”.  

The Nida home of the German writer Thomas Mann, today the Thomas Mann Museum.

 

The Curonian Lagoon

The Curonian Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is 1,619 square kilometres. The Nemunas River supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of 100,450 square kilometres in Lithuania, Belarus, and the Kaliningrad Oblast. At the northern end of the Spit, there is a passage to the Baltic Sea, and the place was chosen by the Teutonic Knights in 1252 to found Memelburg castle and the city of Memel (today’s Klaipeda). The Lagoon, formed about 7,000 years BC, is classified as brackish. Water depths average is 3.8 meters. Nida is very beautifully situated on the west bank of the lagoon. It is from here the fishermen go out on the lagoon in the early morning hours to find the catch of the day.  This is where sailing boats gather in late summer evenings. It is in the small streets and on the promenade along the lagoon that the good life in Nida takes place.

 

I took this picture on a warm late summer evening. I had had a very enjoyable evening with family and friends, and decided afterwards to go for a walk along the Curonian Lagoon. The silence, peace, and the slow whisper of the waves from this large lagoon makes an unforgettable impression. The faint moonlight and the last sailing boats that were heading towards the Nida harbour made the impression no less impressive. Nida is a place on earth that simply MUST be experienced... 

 

The local fishermen are still going strong!

 

 

Colourful fishermen homes

 

 

A sailors’ paradise

 

 

A children’s paradise

 

The Nida sand dunes are high as mountains

Nida is located in the middle of the Curonian Spit (Neringa), half way between Klaipeda and Kalininigrad. The Curonian Spit is a long and narrow sand peninsula that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The huge sand dunes here are the largest in North Europe. A walk on the sand-hills on the outskirts of Nida is an absolute must when you're here. You  climb up the steep stairs, take off your shoes. Kilometers of hot desert sand lies ahead. To the east you overview the huge lagoon between the Curonian Spit and the Lithuanian mainland. To the west you can see out over the glassy Baltic Sea almost to Sweden. Fantastic!

 

 

The fantastic Nida beaches – at the Baltic Sea

The Curonian Spit is around 3 km wide here at Nida, and it’s very easy to walk from east to west, over the hilltop, through beautiful pine forests, to some of the finest beaches existing at the Baltic Sea. Probably the best in Northern Europe!

 

Nida tranquillity awaits you!

http://www.visitneringa.com/en