Klaipeda In Your Pocket

N°17 - 6Lt

www.inyourpocket.com

Insie

A fully updated, impartialscrutiny of the best things

Klaipėda has to offer visitors

for the next 12 months

Outsie

Two cracking little guides toNida and Palanga

June 2009 - My 2010

Hotes Resturnts Cfés Nightife Sightseeing Events Ms

KlaIpEda

“In Your Pocket:

A cheeky, well-written series of guidebooks.”

The New York Times

9 771822 179014



Contents

ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES

June 2009 - May 2010

klaipeda.inyourpocket.com

Arriving in Klaipėda

5

Happy landings

Basics

6

Essential information, from tipping to toilets

History

8

Events that shaped the city

Culture & Events

9

Theatre, concerts, galleries etc.

Where to stay

10

Beds and tents for all budgets

Dining & Nightlife

Where to eat 14

A compendium of cuisine

Cafés 16

Coffee and cakes

Nightlife 18

Drinking, dancing and a little bit of nakedness

Contents

Sightseeing

What to see 22

The very best places to visit

Getting around

25

When legs just aren’t enough

Mail & phones

28

Keeping in touch

Shopping

29

Amber, antiques and vast shopping centres

Directory

30

Everything else you need to know

Nida

33

Lithuania’s lagoon-side oasis

Palanga

38

A little Baltic slap and tickle

Maps

Country map 45Street register 46City centre map 47City map 48

Index 50

Nathan Greenhalgh

Whilst we don’t recommend you leave Klaipėda beforeyou’ve even started reading this guide, we would like to point

out that if you’re in the city for a while then you really shouldhead north and/or south and spend at least a little time inPalanga (see p.38) and/or Nida (see p.33). Completing the

hat trick is of course the ultimate goal, but if you’ve only got

time for one, remember, Palanga for a party and Nida for something altogether more cultured and refined.

Klaipėda Timepiece Museum

(p.23) Sco



Foreword

Klaipėda

In Your Pocketklaipeda.inyourpocket.com

June 2009 - May 2010

klaipeda.inyourpocket.com



arriving in klaipeda

ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES

EditorialEditor

Sco

Layout & Design

Vaida Gudynaitė

Researcher

Saulina Kochanskaitė

Cover Photo

Sco

Sales & CirculationPublisher

Vilnius In Your Pocket

General Manager

Rūta Klimavičiūtė

Accounting

CO Finansai

Sales Manager

Inga GrikienytėAvailable for 6Lt from bookshops,

kiosks, hotels and Tourist InformationCentres. We are proud to be themost-stolen item from hotel foyers,cafés and the back pocket of anyonewalking slowly.

Although Lithuania’s third city in terms of size and

population, few would argue that Klaipėda is in many ways its second. Home over the colourful and turbulent centuries to the Curonians, Germans, Livonians andLietuvininkai to name but a few past residents, likeany contemporary Lithuanian conurbation Klaipėda(or Memel if you wish) comes with its own fiendishly

complicated ethnic and cultural heritage, a fact that makes it the intriguing and at times immensely enjoyable city that it is. Blown to smithereens as the

curtains closed on WWII, today’s Klaipėda is a curiousamalgam of the Soviet mindset spiced up with a splashof German history and a modicum of shiver-me-timbers

21st-century playfulness. Taken on its own, the BalticStates’ only ice-free port would be of moderate interest

to visitors if it wasn’t for its location mid-way between

the Tweedledee and Tweedledum resorts of Nida andPalanga, both included in this guidebook. Together, the

three destinations make up a sort of Baltic Riviera,providing a tempting variation of things to see and do from the scientific gravity of the Klaipėda TimepieceMuseum to the slap and tickle sensuality of Palanga.Completely revised and updated, find everything you

need to know tucked inside the following 52 pages.

Comments, suggestions, custard pies and knives in the

back as always to klaipeda@inyourpocket.com.

Copyright notice

Text and photos copyright UAB VIYP 1992-2010; some photos, LATGA-A;

No part of this publication may bereproduced in any form, except brief

extracts for the purpose of review,

without written permission from thepublisher and copyright owner. The brandname In Your Pocket is used under license

from UAB In Your Pocket (Vokiečių 10-15,Vilnius, Lithuania tel. +370-5 212 29 76).

Editor’s note

The editorial content of In Your Pocket guides is independent from paid-for

advertising. Sponsored listings are

clearly marked as such. We welcome allreaders‘ comments and suggestions.

We have made every effort to ensure

the accuracy of the information at thetime of going to press and assume noresponsibility for changes and errors.

Publisher Vilnius In Your Pocket

Vokiečių 10-15

Vilnius, Lithuania

tel. (+370-5) 212 29 76

fax (+370-5) 212 29 82

vilnius@inyourpocket.com

www.inyourpocket.comISSN 1822-1793©UAB “VIYP”

Printed by A.Jakšto spaustuvė

Published once a year in June

16,000 copies.Whether you believe it’s the so

-lidified tears of a broken-heartedbeauty or the fossilised resin of prehistoric pine trees, amber (

gin- taras

) can be found in abundancealong the Lithuanian coastline. Thegood news for people who can’t be bothered to arse around in the

water looking for it themselves isthat it’s available in all its forms in

a number of shops around the city,including the one listed on p.29.

Cover story

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locally produced travel guides, producing almost

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across the continent, tra-

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its founding aim of covering the world with well

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we have already launched a new guide to

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,and will be launching new guides in

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Europe In Your Pocket

By bus

Long-distance buses arrive in Klaipėda from Kaliningrad,

Riga and most major Lithuanian towns and cities. At thetime of writing the bus station was a construction site,with a series of small cabins bolted together standing inuntil a brand new bus station opens in August. Facilitesinclude plastic outside toilets, a left luggage office(

bagažinė

) for travellers who only plan on spending the

day in town, and little else. If you need money, the closest

ATM is over the road inside the train station.

Getting to town

Taxis can be found lurking around the station perimeter. A ride to Old Town should cost around 10Lt from an honest

driver. Buses to the city centre leave from outside the train

station just across the street. For more information on the

subject, see Arriving by train. The bus station is a good 20-

minutes away on foot from Old Town.

By car

Klaipėda is at the end of the 311km highway from Vilniusand is also connected to Riga via the A13 (E272) that hugs

the Lithuanian coast before crossing the border and be-

coming the A11. Brave souls wishing to take a vehicle intothe city should know in advance that Klaipėda’s a sprawl

-ing mass of bumpy roads possessing little in the way of

useful signposts. Don’t leave valuables unattended, and if you can, use guarded parking whenever possible.

By ferry

Ferries arrive at Klaipėda’s International Ferry Port from

Kiel and Sassnitz in Germany as well as Karlshamn inSweden. Facilities are few and far between. If you want

to change money, find a Medicinos Bankas kiosk (Open

08:00 - 20:00, Wed, Thu 08:00 - 21:30, Fri, Sat, Sun24hrs) in the main terminal building.

Getting to town

The International Ferry Terminal is about 18km south of the

city centre. Bus Nº1a leaves from outside the main terminalbuilding a few times a day, and is timed to coincide with arriv

-

ing ferries. Buy a ticket from the driver for 2.40Lt and validate

it in the appropriate machine. Journey time to the centre isabout 25 minutes. All buses terminate at the last stop on Tai-kos before Old Town. Taxis are usually waiting around outside.

A journey to Old Town costs anything from 35-60Lt.

By plane

Klaipėda is served by Palanga Airport, which is about

25km north of the city on the main A13 (E272) highway.At the time of writing, the airport handles flights to and

from Copenhagen, Riga, Oslo (Rygge) and Moscow (Vnu

-

kovo). Small even by Lithuanian standards, the airport

is easy to use. A currency exchange office takes care of changing money although there’s little else to be foundinside.

Getting to town

Buses for Klaipėda leave from the small stand outsidethe main entrance, and all of them go via Palanga. The

journey time is about 50 minutes. Tickets cost 7-8Lt and

can be bought from the driver. The bus terminates at themain bus station. See Arriving by bus for more informa

-tion. Taxis are usually parked outside the terminal building

whenever flights arrive. The journey to Klaipėda costs

anything from 100Lt upwards.

By train

A handful of trains arrive in Klaipėda each day fromŠiauliai, Šilutė and Vilnius. Facilities at the train stationinclude toilets, ATM, large luggage lockers (4Lt/day), a

drinks machine and not a lot else.

Getting to town

Taxis can be found outside the front of the station. A ride

to Old Town costs around 10Lt from an honest driver.Minibus Nº8 leaves from a small stand to the right of theexit and goes south through the city centre. Pay the driver

2.50Lt and shout when you want him to stop. The larger

city bus Nº8 leaves from the bus stop to the right of the

minibus stop and follows the same route. Buy a ticket

from the driver for 2.40Lt. Both buses go through Old Town

during the week and around it at all other times. The trainstation is a good 20 minutes away on foot from Old Town.

Klaipėda Tourist Information Centre

N-7, Tur-

gaus 7, tel. 41 21 86, tic@klaipedainfo.lt, www.klaipedainfo.lt.

These lovely and helpful people can

sell you a map, arrange a guided tour, find you a bed for the night and sell you a ticket if you’re planning on

leaving town. English and German spoken.

Q