How to get there:

By bus:

To the Curonian : From – route 593 Kaliningrad –

Zelenogradsk – Morskoe (bus station Yuzhniy and Severniy) and route Kaliningrad – Klaipeda (International bus station on Moskovskiy prospekt, 184). From Svetlogorsk – route 596 Svetlogorsk – Regional Tourism – Morskoe (railroad station). Information Center From Zelenogradsk – route 296 Zelenogradsk – Morskoe (railroad station). 4 Prospekt Mira Street, tel.: +7(4012)555200 www.visit-kaliningrad.ru By car:

To the : Drive from Nevskogo str. Travel time to the beginning of the Curonian Spit – 30 minutes, to the settlement Morskoe – 80 minutes. Car stops are allowed only in settlements and at Tourist route equipped parking lots.

Important: you have to pay a fee to enter the “Ecological route: the Curonian Curonian Spit. For motorcar – 250 rubles, for each passenger – 30 rubles, children younger Spit and the Krasniy forest” than 16 – free of charge.

To the Krasniy Forest: Drive from Kaliningrad by Moskovsky prospekt St, then take the road A229 to Gusev, then drive 27 km in the direction of Goldap up to the turn to Krasnolesye (about 150 km in total). Then keep driving to where start following the signs towards Nevsky and Yagodny.

Important: as the Krasniy Forest is located in the border zone of , the guests without a permanent residence in the Kaliningrad must have a permit to move along this zone.

Important information:

Information centers on the Curonian Spit: Settlement Lesnoy, 9 Tsentralnaya Street

Tel. +7 906 2185266. Settlement Rybachiy, 2 Pobedy Street Tel. +7 (40150) 4-12-43, +7 906 2185277. To visit the Kaliningrad region without visiting the Settlement Morskoe, 2 Morskaya Street. Tel. +7 906 2185299. Curonian Spit means to miss something

The Curonian Spit Nature Museum important, something that inspired Wilhelm von The 14th km of the highway on the Curonian Spit. Humboldt to write: “The Curonian Spit is so Tel. 8(40150) 4-13-46. remarkable that everyone should visit it just like Fringilla field study area of the Ornithological Station Spain or Italy if he or she wants to fill his or her rd The 23 km highway on the Curonian Spit. soul with images of amazing beauty”. Open hours: from April to November, 9-18. Tel. 8(40150) 4-12-51. If you go to the south-east of the region, you’ll

Administration center of Curonian Spit National find yourself in the Krasniy forest – the legendary Park Rominten which was considered the largest www.park-kosa.ru woodland in Germany. Vishtynets Historical and Ecological Museum Lake Vishtynets Information Center Nesterov district, settlement Krasnolesye, 5a Shkolnaya Street Tel. +7 906 2126823

The Curonian Spit environmental fee at the entrance to the Spit at the checkpoint. If you are going to visit you should keep the check because You can choose one of the routes offered by travel agencies, buy a it’s valid during the day. Remember that the natural world of the ticket to a guest house and go for an individual walk or come to the Curonian Spit is extremely fragile and today’s balance is the fruit of Spit in any other convenient way. No matter how long you stay on labors of several generations. the Spit it will definitely be worth it and the nature will keep many You can take a bus or drive a car to the Curonian Spit. The starting secrets for your future visits. Its diversity is so great that during just point for hiking or biking is Zelenogradsk which is connected with one day you may find yourself in a tundra, desert, pine forest Kaliningrad through rail and bus services. You can rent a bicycle in and other different landscapes. one of the Information Centers on the Curonian Spit. Those who The unique feature of the Spit is a large swamp located at its wish to take a small water trip should begin from the channel beginning, so you should start your walk at the 4th km. A large nearby Zelenogradsk. Throughout the Spit there is a highway which number of rare plants grow around the ruins of the former Grenz will not let you get lost even if you are not good at orienting forestry (between the 6th and the 7th km). Our first stop is the yourself. Almost the whole coast is a beautiful sandy enclosed settlement Lesnoy (the 10th km). Numerous boarding houses, by a front- stretching along it. holiday camps, private houses and hotels have different offers of staying for the night. Right after the settlement there is the The Krasniy (Red) forest narrowest place of the Curonian Spit, where its width does not exceed 400 m. Sometimes, as a result of severe storm and western For most people an ordinary Kaliningrad forest seems rather like a wind, waves of the reach the . Here you park. Such comparison is influenced by its modest size and strict can see a unique natural phenomenon - the dancing forest, system of glades, some of which were formed many hundreds years characterized by pine trees bent to the east, succumbing to the sea ago. A traveler who seeks solitude will hardly notice that he is in the breeze. Some tree trunks bent so fancifully, that they remind of backwoods. works of a vanguard-artist. Dancing forests make a not infrequent However, if you go to the south-east you’ll find yourself in the sight on the Spit, the most prominent one is located on the 37th km. Krasniy forest - the legendary Rominten which was considered the On the 14th km you can visit the Curonian Spit Nature Museum. largest woodland in Germany. Now it’s divided by the state border Shortly you will finally see the reason why tourists from all over the between Russia and . The Russian part covers hundreds of world strive to come here – , located between the highway square miles of sparsely populated territory of Vishtynets hill where and the coast of the Curonian Lagoon. There is something cosmic in the Vishtynets reserve is located. This area has always been this landscape, which made one of the famous citizens of considered as one of the necks of the woods of . There was a Kaliningrad exclaim: "Is this a dying world or a recently emerged time when Prussian belligerent tribes Sudovs, or Yatvyags lived one?" More than one fishing village was buried under the layer of there. They resisted the expansion of the the sand. On the 23rd km there is another route destination which must longest, which was to a great extent due to the impenetrable forest be visited – Fringilla. It is a field study area of the ornithological depths. The Rominten remained a wild area, which was not affected station, a place where migratory routes of millions summer birds lie. by resettlement campaigns. As a result, the local forests largely Those who get caught in the nets are rung with an aluminum ring retained their original shape, which was particularly appreciated in after careful measurements. the 19th and 20th centuries by avid hunters, including the German The ornithological station is located in the settlement Rybachiy. But Kaiser for whom a hunting lodge was built in the Norwegian style. It first you should stop on the 32nd km, as there is a climb to Krutaya is now located in Central Park in Kaliningrad. mountain to the left of the road. From one of its peaks - Muller’s The Krasniy forest is still distant as from the blessings of civilization Height (44 m) – you get a beautiful view on the settlement Ribachiy and so from its drawbacks. One of the places you should definitely and lake Chayka. This is not only the widest place of the Curonian see, since you’ve already decided to travel almost two hundred Spit, but also the place of its origin. The history of the spit formation kilometers, are the settlement Tokarevka, where the old bridge dates back to several thousand years, when there was a sand cay on gives a lovely view on the suburbs, the settlement Krasnolesye, a this place. A little lime-forest on the coast of the lagoon near the former imperial hunting residence, and numerous lakes of the settlement shows how the Curonian Spit had looked like until the territory around Lake Vishtynets. Lake Marinovo is one of the most forest clearance uncovered the moving . The mountain itself, beautiful lakes and is located not far from the settlement from the top of which you can admire the view of the Spit, is a Pugachyovo, and the river Krasnaya is as pure as mountain rivers, natural monument. Information boards along the path leading to and the surrounding landscape is one of the most beautiful places in the top tell an amazing story of men's struggle with a huge the Kaliningrad region. wandering dune which threatened to engulf Rossitten (Rybachiy) in However, the main destination of most travelers is Lake Vishtynets, the second half of the 19th century. It’s hard to believe that the age which is justly considered one of the gems of the natural world of of some mountain pines which densely cover the slopes of the the Kaliningrad region. It is due to not only impressive size - its area mountain exceeds 100 years. It’s all thanks to the mass planting of is 16.6 km² and it is 54 m in depth - but also because of pure water. these trees, which weren’t originally inherent in the Curonian Spit, The volume of water is so large that the lake is considered as the the relentless sands were stopped. most valuable source of drinking water in . You may finish the trip in one of the guest houses in the settlement All this, including the remoteness from large and small settlements, Rybachiy. Those who continue traveling further will enjoy another makes Lake Vishtynets a lovely place to relax on holidays alone with unforgettable view which opens from the top of the Epha’s Height nature. Its waters are a real paradise for fishermen. There are even (42 km) to the south of the settlement Morskoe. If you walk about eels in Vishtynets, which can exceed 1 m in length. Clean water 400 m from a large car park towards the lagoon you will find makes Lake Vishtynets one of the best places for underwater yourself at the highest point of the Russian part of the Curonian Spit. hunting in the Kaliningrad region. It’s also a great place for water It has a magnificent panorama of the sand dunes. Since there are, as sports fans as the lake is the traditional venue for sailing regattas. a rule, quite many visitors during the day you should come here at Those who are not familiar with the science of sailing can enjoy sunrise or sunset. Then you will have a chance to observe the colour catamarans and boats. There aren’t a lot of holiday camps on the of the sand dunes changing every minute. After the settlement river bank that’s why you need to take a tent with you and other Morskoe there is the last part of the route (46th km) which leads to equipment for self sustainable living. the picturesque lake Lebed and dunes that surround it - probably The best way to reach the lake is by car - from Kaliningrad to the oldest ones on the Spit. Nesterov, then to the south through the settlement Neva. There is Don’t forget that Curonian Spit National Park has a number of rules: an alternative way - to Nesterov by bus or train and then to the lake do not put up tents and start campfires, cars are allowed to park by bus. When following this route you need to obtain a special only in the areas specially designated for it, it is prohibited to walk permission, as some part of the route runs through the border zone, on the dunes and get off the special trails. Everyone is charged an and the end of the route lies on the border with Lithuania.