Vilnius/Curion Spit/ Riga 6 nites total itinerary

In Vilnius there is the KGB museum and a small Jewish museum. Lots of churches in Vilnius that have unique stories from the soviet era. Outside of Vilnius are Trakai (medieval castle) and Rumsiskes, an open air museum. More Jewish history at the Ninth Fort on the outskirts of Kaunas. On the Curonian Spit, get there by ferry, over by Klaipeda see the carvings about folk tales in the woods of Juodkrante. Try to visit the Hill of Crosses just outside of Siauliai. Riga seems a bit out of the way for only 2 nights out of Vilnius. I'm not much help with crafts or music, other than hit an open air market for crafts. There's one in Klaipeda on the square with the statue of the little girl (Taravos Anike). See www.inyourpocket.com for info on any of the cities named here. Let me know if you have more questions. Have a great trip!

Outside of Vilnius are Trakai (medieval castle) and Rumsiskes, an open air museum.( Are these two possible day trips?) More Jewish history at the Ninth Fort on the outskirts of Kaunas (Can this be a day trip?). On the Curonian Spit, get there by ferry, over by Klaipeda see the carvings about folk tales in the woods of Juodkrante (should we stay here 2 nights?). Try to visit the Hill of Crosses just outside of Siauliai. Riga seems a bit out of the way for only 2 nights out of Vilnius. I'm not much help with crafts or music, other than hit an open air market for crafts. There's one in Klaipeda on the square with the statue of the little girl (Taravos Anike) How far away is this market and when is it open). See www.inyourpocket.com for info on any of the cities named here (what a great resource! thank you so much). Let me know if you have more questions. Have a great trip! Thanks so much.

Trakai is about an hour by bus, as I recall, west of Vilnius. Its worth a half-day or so.

Rumsiskes is closer to Kaunas, also west of Vilnius. Because of the distance a visit would probably consume most of a day. Or, if you are going to Klaipeda, you could plan a stop at Kaunas to visit Rumsiskes and the Ninth Fort, and then get on to Klaipeda for night.

You could plan 2 nights in Klaipeda in order to visit the Curonian Spit and some local sights. The small crafts market, mostly amber stuff, is in the center of town. Its open daily in the Summer; I don't know about the time of your visit. Another interesting site is the former Soviet missile base near Plunge.

Potentially your travel out of Vilnius could be to Kaunas and then to Klaipeda, to Plunge and Siauliai (for Hill of Crosses), and back to Vilnius.

See eurolines.lt for bus schedules; use google maps to chart your travel. Good luck.

Thanks so much. So if we took a bus to Kaunus, could we just get off and go to the ninth fort and Rumsiskes, then get another bus and go to Klaipeda? We can take the ferry to the curian spit and then a bus to Nido? Is it better, perhaps, to stay in Nido?

Barbara, you’ve posted here on the travel forum and also sent a PM. I’ll try to respond to both.

You wrote: “So if we took a bus to Kaunus, could we just get off and go to the ninth fort and Rumsiskes, then get another bus and go to Klaipeda?” Theoretically yes. But I’d suggest asking that question when you are in Vilnius, or see if there is someone local on another forum, say TripAdvisor.

You asked: “Have you been to Nida? Do you think we should stay there instead of Klepedas?” We’ve been to Nida a couple of times as day trips from Klaipeda. I wouldn’t stay the night there because there is only so much to do and see out on the Curonian Spit.

You said (in your PM): “I think you don't know about buses but maybe you can give me some suggestions anyway.” In my second post I named a bus company, Eurolines, and gave its website: eurolines.lt . I’m not sure what suggestions about buses you want.

Your proposed itinerary in your PM has you taking the bus from Klaipeda to Vilnius on May 3 and then your plane home in the afternoon or evening on May 4. Given that the bus takes 4 to 5 hours, depending on which departure you choose, you could potentially leave Klaipeda in the morning of the 4th and easily make your plane.

Hi,

Keep in mind that Klaipeda was the former Memel of Memeland, the most northeasterly tip of Germany prior to WWI, Memel was the town in Memeland, part of the former province of East Prussia.