{"id":11910,"date":"2023-09-13T18:59:19","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T18:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cooncampsprings.com\/?p=11910"},"modified":"2023-09-13T18:59:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T18:59:19","slug":"discovering-the-corner-of-europe-that-has-the-best-sunset-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cooncampsprings.com\/travel\/discovering-the-corner-of-europe-that-has-the-best-sunset-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering the corner of Europe that has the best sunset in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Discovering a secret corner of Lithuania that has the best sunset in the world<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Jo Kessel travels to Lithuania\u2019s Baltic coast to delve into her family history &#8211; her grandfather was Lithuanian\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>She visits a &#8216;gaspingly striking beach&#8217; in the seaside resort of Nida, which lies on the 60-mile Curonian Spit<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0Locals reveal things that are normal in their country but seem BIZARRE to tourists<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It&#8217;s late, the light is dimming and my destination is a spot that locals claim has one of the best sunsets in the world. Reached down a trail that crosses through huge dunes, it ends at a gaspingly striking beach \u2013 waves crash on a ribbon of pristine white sand, glowing beneath the sinking sun.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to a lovely little corner of Europe: Lithuania\u2019s Baltic coastline, a gem that locals have managed to keep secret&#8230; till now.<\/p>\n<p>After Brexit I dug into my ancestry, found out my grandfather was from Lithuania \u2013 he\u2019d always said he was Russian \u2013 and applied for citizenship. A year later I had an EU passport and was hungry to discover where I came from. Which is how I find myself by a near-empty beach belonging to the seaside resort of Nida, on a 60-mile long finger of sand called the Curonian Spit.<\/p>\n<p>Lithuania owns the northern half of this peninsula, Russia the rest, in the enclave of Kaliningrad. The Spit\u2019s giant dunes are a Unesco World Heritage site and have long attracted a creative crowd. Sigmund Freud used to holiday here, as did Jean-Paul Sartre, who stood atop the giant 170 ft Parnidis Dune and declared: \u2018For the first time in my life I have the clouds at my feet.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Nicknamed Lithuania\u2019s Sahara, this region has a complex and turbulent history. It has belonged to Prussia, Germany and the Soviet Union, and after the fall of the Iron Curtain it returned to Lithuania.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/11\/09\/75241547-12498683-Glorious_On_her_tour_of_Lithuanian_Jo_Kessel_visits_the_seaside_-a-4_1694419682813.jpg\" height=\"534\" width=\"962\"><\/p>\n<p>Glorious: On a tour of Lithuania, Jo Kessel visits the seaside resort of Nida, which lies on a 60-mile-long finger of sand called the Curonian Spit. Locals claim that Nida offers some of the best sunsets in the world &#8211; pictured is a sunset over a sand dune near the resort\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nida is its showcase resort. It\u2019s glamorous without being ostentatious. Fishing boats bob alongside yachts in its harbour. The area has unique brown and blue clapboard houses, and when my guide, Regina, shows me around she says it\u2019s a miracle the Soviets didn\u2019t bulldoze them: \u2018Soviets liked to build concrete boxes \u2013 Soviet-style is no style.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The exterior of the Spa Hotel, where I am staying, is one such concrete box, but the inside can\u2019t be faulted. The spa has a pool, hot tub and sauna. My Soviet-style balcony turns out to be the perfect spot for an aperitif and breakfast is a Baltic smorgasbord of herring, smoked salmon and banana bread.<\/p>\n<p>A cycle path runs along the length of the peninsula, so I hire a bike and pedal to the neighbouring village of Preila.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/11\/09\/75287631-12498683-image-a-10_1694422712379.jpg\" height=\"721\" width=\"962\"><\/p>\n<p>In Nida (pictured), fishing boats bob alongside yachts in the harbour and a cycle path runs along the length of the peninsula<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/11\/75241557-12498683-Jo_says_that_Nida_is_glamorous_without_being_ostentatious_Above_-a-13_1694599595325.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"470\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/11\/75241543-12498683-Jo_admires_Nida_s_unique_brown_and_blue_clapboard_houses-a-12_1694599594339.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"470\"><\/p>\n<p>Jo says that Nida is &#8216;glamorous without being ostentatious&#8217;. Pictured left is a sign in the town, while to the right are the town&#8217;s\u00a0unique brown and blue clapboard houses, which Jo admires\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lunch is a bowl of Curonian fish soup \u2013 chunks of pike, perch and potato in steaming consomm\u00e9 \u2013 served on the waterside terrace of restaurant Kursmariu Vila. Then it\u2019s time for a dip. Preila\u2019s beach has sand soft as talc and surprisingly warm water. How have the masses not found this place?<\/p>\n<p>Access to the Spit is via a five-minute ferry from the mainland port of Klaipeda, which also merits a day or two\u2019s exploration.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a jumble of half-timbered houses and cobbled streets (forget high heels) leading to airy plazas, the most historic being the Old Town Square. Behind its central fountain sits the grand terracotta theatre \u2013 Wagner performed here in the 1800s and in 1939 Hitler stood on its balcony to deliver a chilling speech. Nowadays the focus is its market and its displays of amber.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/11\/09\/75287641-12498683-image-a-11_1694422739167.jpg\" height=\"648\" width=\"962\"><\/p>\n<p>The Curonian Spit&#8217;s giant dunes (above) are a Unesco World Heritage site and have long attracted a creative crowd. &#8216;Sigmund Freud used to holiday here, as did Jean-Paul Sartre,&#8217; says Jo\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/11\/75287643-12498683-Jo_explores_the_mainland_port_of_Klaipeda_above_which_is_a_jumbl-a-11_1694599593813.jpg\" height=\"543\" width=\"962\"><\/p>\n<p>Jo explores the\u00a0mainland port of Klaipeda (above), which is a jumble of half-timbered houses and cobbled streets leading to airy plazas<\/p>\n<p>My trip ends in the university town of Kaunas. This was my grandfather\u2019s last-known address, although it probably looks very different to the city he once knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As 2022\u2019s European Capital of Culture it\u2019s been so spruced up that its leafy, chi-chi pedestrianised Freedom Alley is reminiscent of Haussmann\u2019s Paris.<\/p>\n<p>I constantly wonder if I\u2019m retracing my grandfather\u2019s footsteps. Did he stroll along the towpath of Kaunas\u2019s River Nemunas? Did he try spurgos? They\u2019re sugary doughnuts filled with jam, cheese or meat, served warm at cafe Spurgine on Freedom Alley. The \u20ac1 treats are a must.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/11\/75287637-12498683-Jo_s_trip_ends_in_the_university_town_of_Kaunas_pictured_Her_gra-a-10_1694599593595.jpg\" height=\"643\" width=\"962\"><\/p>\n<p>Jo&#8217;s trip ends in the university town of Kaunas (pictured). Her grandfather, who was Lithuanian, formerly lived here, she reveals\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/11\/09\/75241573-12498683-Jo_ends_her_trip_in_the_university_town_of_Kaunas_where_she_visi-a-3_1694419682813.jpg\" height=\"660\" width=\"962\"><\/p>\n<p>At the Pazaislis Monastery (pictured) in Kaunas, Jo dines on a feast crafted from\u00a0ingredients from the monastery garden<\/p>\n<p>For sure he never ate at the restaurant attached to Kaunas\u2019s 17th Century monastery, Pazaislis, which doubled as a palace in Dame Helen Mirren\u2019s series Catherine The Great.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The chef uses ingredients from the monastery garden, and my duck breast with raspberry sauce and caramelised sweet potato cream is so mouth-watering that, rather like my tour of Lithuania, I don\u2019t want it to end.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I toast my grandfather. Without him I\u2019d never have discovered this Baltic beauty.<\/p>\n<h3>TRAVEL FACTS\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Regent Holidays offers five-night B&amp;B self-driving breaks in Lithuania from \u00a3745pp, including two nights at Spa Hotel, Nida, one night at Hotel National, Klaipeda, and two nights at Moxy, Kaunas, plus flights and car hire (regent-holidays.co.uk). More information at lithuania.travel.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/travel\/article-12498683\/Discovering-secret-corner-Lithuania-best-sunset-world.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discovering a secret corner of Lithuania that has the best sunset in the world Jo Kessel travels to Lithuania\u2019s Baltic coast to delve into her family history &#8211; her grandfather was Lithuanian\u00a0 She visits a &#8216;gaspingly striking beach&#8217; in the seaside resort of Nida, which lies on the 60-mile Curonian Spit READ MORE:\u00a0Locals reveal things [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Discovering the corner of Europe that has the best sunset in the world - cooncampsprings.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cooncampsprings.com\/travel\/discovering-the-corner-of-europe-that-has-the-best-sunset-in-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Discovering the corner of Europe that has the best sunset in the world - cooncampsprings.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discovering a secret corner of Lithuania that has the best sunset in the world Jo Kessel travels to Lithuania\u2019s Baltic coast to delve into her family history &#8211; 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