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 is open 24 hours. There is no public transport here; bicycles may cross but not pedestrians. See Lithuania for the entry rules coming northeast: Lithuania is part of the EU Schengen Zone, but in 2023 bars entry to Russian citizens. See Russia 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.

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



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:

By bicycle


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

See

 * Miliūnas and Oškinis MO-1 crashed.jpg

Museums

 * Kurische Nehrung Nida 2.JPG
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.

Do

 * 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.

Eat
Nida has a dozen places clustered round the ferry pier. Fish is the usual offering: try smoke-dried eel or bream. For example:



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


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.