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Curonian Spit National Park

On this bewitching tendril of land, winds caress the sand dunes, pine scents the breeze and amber washes up on beaches. Designated a national park (Kuršių Nerijos Nacionalinis Parkas) in 1991, Curonian Spit trails across the Baltic Sea from Lithuania to Russian territory Kaliningrad. Pine forests populated by deer, elk and wild boar cover about 70% of the area and only a fraction is urban; the four main villages Nida, Juodkrantė, Pervalka and Preila are known collectively as ‘Neringa’. Today these fishing villages have embraced tourism, a double-edged sword that yields both their main source of income and their biggest environmental threat.

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Attractions

Must-see attractions

Parnidis Dune
Nida
The 52m-high Parnidis Dune is simultaneously mighty and fragile. Past settlements around Nida have been engulfed by the moving sand dune but this is a…
Witches' Hill
Curonian Spit National Park
A coven of wooden sculptures is gathered on a forest-clad hill in Juodkrantė, carved by Lithuanian artists over the years since 1979. At this open-air…
Nida Cemetery
Nida
This delightful woodland cemetery features some fine examples of krikštai (wooden grave markers). Their origins hark back to Lithuania's pagan roots and…
Cormorant & Heron Colony
Curonian Spit National Park
One of Europe's largest colonies of cormorants and grey herons is amassed in the forest 1km south of Juodkrantė. Wooden steps lead from the road to a…
Amber Gallery
Nida
In an old fisher's hut on the northern side of town is this museum and shop devoted to amber. Staff introduce the mythic and supposed health-boosting…
Neringa History Museum
Nida
Curonian Spit's three defining traditional crafts, fishing, crow-catching and amber collecting, are explained within this small regional museum. Look out…
Beaches
Curonian Spit National Park
Grab your Speedos and take a footpath through pine forests across the spit’s 1km-wide tip to a bleached-white sandy beach. From the ferry landing, walk…
Amber Bay
Curonian Spit National Park
At Juodkrantė’s northern end is an area around a fishing harbour known as Amber Bay (Gintaro įlanka), recalling the amber excavated in the village in…