Seaside wellbeing rendezvous in the Lithuanian winter

Experience the magic of the baltic gold in a unique amber sauna. The Amber Sauna, like the entire destination spa Atostogų parkas, is easily accessible by bicycle from the centre of Palanga (ca. 6 km riding a bike path from Palanga).More and more wellness enthusiasts are looking for unique experiences. The destination spa Atostogų parkas is the largest recreation and wellness ecosystem in Western Lithuania. It has 16 swimming pools for guests to relax and relish in. Atostogų parkas offers water entertainment, unique sauna programmes and wellness treatments.Atostogų parkas boasts the world’s first natural amber sauna, the construction of which demanded as much as three tons of natural Baltic amber. The sauna resembles the famous lost Amber Room. The walls, the benches and even the ceiling are covered exclusively with natural amber there. The sauna warms up the human body with amber excited by infrared rays. The body warms up deeply and relaxes, and amber releases volatile substances into the air. The Amber Sauna smells pleasantly with resin, and the human body absorbs the beneficial substances of amber by inhalation and through the skin. These substances stimulate metabolic processes, inhibit inflammations and improve blood circulation.The guests of Atostogų parkas are offered an eight-step revitalisation programme for those who want to relax and strengthen their immune systems. After completing the programme, which includes a 20-minute visit to the Amber Sauna, visitors feel fresher and healthier, revitalised because their bodies are properly reinvigorated and prepared for physical and psychological stress. By developing muscle, blood circulation, lymphatic system, eight steps stimulate the immune system’s resistance to disease and remove toxic substances from the body. After trying all eight steps, visitors feel pleasant muscle fatigue, a feeling of lightness, reduced psychological tension, improved mood and eliminated sleep disorders. Then a wave of internal energy floods the body and soul of the guest.

An exquisite resort spa of Vanagupe is a place where you will find peace and enjoy unforgettable moments. Guests are invited to relish in the wellbeing facilities comprising saunas, baths and swimming pools, where beauty and harmony are always close by. Guests can choose the most appropriate spa treatments and rituals to relax and rejuvenate. Forget stress and fatigue and pamper yourself with beauty treatments. A team of spa professionals is always ready to provide the highest level of service. Thalgo professional cosmetics help the skin absorb sea ingredients naturally, quickly and efficiently, give the desired result and meet the strict wellbeing criteria.Guests are invited to immerse themselves in an oasis of tranquillity, recuperate or simply relish themselves with an exclusive spa treatment. According to Vanagupe spa specialists, holistic spa therapy is treating the patron like a small ocean. Each of us is a reflection of the vast Universe. Therefore, the purpose of the massage is not only to assess the condition of the guest, find out the valid reason for the massage and perform it with specific accents, but also to “treat the body as a whole”. The goal of holistic therapy is to help the guests forget about themselves so that they no longer feel the tension of the past when they return to their bodies.

Karkelbeck No. 409 wellbeing homestead is located on the Baltic Sea coast, next to the Olandų Kepurė cliff. Peace awaits the guests with the sea rustling through an open window, a Lithuanian meadow, an old forest, the white waves and sand of the Baltic beach, the healing blue clay. The homestead offers pre-ordered therapies for groups, families and for a single person: amber and sound therapy with sounding bowls; dance movement and sound therapy; fractal drawing; collecting of healing herbs (depending on the season). Massages: amber, Ayurvedic, Shiatsu, Baltic with tree sticks. The owners of the homestead organize the sessions according to the season.Walking along the seaside. Motion is life, and walking along the coast is a great wellbeing activity, especially in the early fall, when the seaside air is rich in iodine, or in the spring, when the waking nature spreads its healing ethers abundantly, or in the winter, when the frozen air is so clean and full of the sea smell.Amber therapy. The power of warm amber restores energy and gives peace of mind. On the warm crushed amber mattress, guests enjoy a massage with warm amber bags, the harmony of the surrounding nature, the voices of birds and the sounds of the sea. It can be combined with sound therapy using sounding bowls. The owners of the homestead treat the guests with amber water and herbal tea collected in the meadow of the homestead.Sound therapy with sounding bowls. Sound waves propagate throughout the body and lead to deep relaxation, thus increasing the ability for self-healing, dissolving spasms, strengthening the body’s immunity. This therapy addresses a variety of problems, both psychological and physical. It is suitable for couples, families or performed individually or in a group. It can be combined with amber therapy.

These modest wellbeing service providers seek to convey good energy and world outlook to guests, enrich them spiritually, but at the same time gain new positive experiences themselves, encourage guests to get to know better their inner selves, the Baltic coast, our planet, take care not only of our seaside present but also the future. The café bar Ateik Ateik hosts strive to carry out their activities in harmony with the environment and the inner world. They are open, honest and aware of the impact of their actions on society and the environment.The seaside café bar in Melnrage with large sea-facing windows and an outdoor terrace is a family business that does not aim to build a fast-food empire but seeks to maintain a close relationship with everyone who opens the café’s door. The hosts feel all the current issues, help each other and share small happiness with guests. It is fun for the hosts that a person cares more and more about what she is buying and whom she is coming to, has sincere conversations on a rainy day and smiles when she is in a hurry.The café bar offers a large selection of snacks and drinks suitable for vegans and other health-aware customers. The café bar focuses on healthy food, so it’s no wonder why chia pudding and other healthy breakfast snacks are so popular. In Ateik Ateik, one can taste great cheeses, have a hot sandwich or enjoy a cup of coffee with a cake.

Surrounded by dunes, lagoon, and the sea, Neringa has long been attractive to visitors and vacationers looking for idyllic tranquillity. 150 years ago, tourists already flocked to Nida and Juodkrante to admire the giant mobile dunes. Tranquillity and peace, interrupted only by the sound of waves gently swashing against the lagoon shore, the voices of seagulls, and the rustling of Scots‘ pines, has always been a particular feature of Neringa as a wellbeing resort.An oasis of tranquillity, a unique landscape, a sanctuary for romantic walks along the forest and coastal promenades. Such appellations and associative images have always been dedicated to Neringa. And now, despite the growing popularity of the leisure industry with the accompanying kitsch, Neringa, unlike Palanga, remains a year-round resort of tranquillity and wellbeing, preserving the importance of the local genius and opportunities for peaceful leisure. High entry toll and very high prices result in relatively low pressure from visitors even at the height of the summer season.Despite the growing flow of visitors, Nida continues to be famous for its remarkable tranquillity and attracts many Peace of Minds every year. The tangible symbol of this oasis of peace is the famous lighthouse of Nida. A new walking trail from the centre of Nida by the Nida lighthouse towards the sea or the Parnidis dune was built on the initiative of the Curonian Spit National Park Administration in 2019.In 2016, EASA, a high-level architectural workshop in Europe, has created several small architectural objects in Nida. The most sophisticated work was the 10-meter-high observation tower built on the foundations of a former Soviet government villa near the Nida lighthouse. The most impressive thing for visitors is that the tower has no stairs. Instead, those who want to see the beautiful sunset of Nida must climb the ladder to the tower. And those visitors who do not dare climb the ladder can enjoy the experience by swinging at the bottom of the tower.

Neringa seaside resort is famous far outside Lithuania for the Baltic Sea beaches. They are some of the cleanest and broadest sandy beaches in the entire Baltic Sea Region. Not surprisingly, the beaches of Neringa are regularly listed among the TOP 100 best beaches in the world in various selections (by Lonely Planet, The Sunday Times, TripAdvisor, etc.) along with beaches in Brazil, Australia and other exotic destinations.These are very wide, clean and medium-grained sandy beaches stretching for almost 50 km along the Baltic Sea on the Curonian Spit, ideal for passive and active leisure. Contrary to our beliefs, sandy beaches are not very widespread in the world. Gravel or pebble beaches are more common yet less attractive for leisure than clean, wide sandy beaches are.Two Baltic Sea beaches in Neringa – the central beach of Nida and the central beach of Juodkrante – regularly receive international Blue Flag awards, which testify to the exceptional quality of the environment of these beaches. Furthermore, in the TOP 100 lists of the world’s best beaches, Neringa’s beaches are often presented as the best place for a variety of family activities or activities of wellbeing enthusiasts, as well as an ideal place for active seekers to “hang a hammock in the seaside pine forest” and enjoy the smells of the forest, tranquillity and waves.Another unique feature of the beaches of Neringa is that they are backed by a high protective dune ridge with natural “solariums” interlaced with fences, where holidaymakers can enjoy the seaside on windy but sunny days in compliance with the requirements of nature protection.

In addition to its idyllic tranquillity, Neringa can offer a physically active outdoor leisure side too. Besides sailing on the lagoon or jogging along the sea, Neringa provides plenty of opportunities for hiking and Nordic walking in the forests and the dunes. Neringa has long been considered a mecca for orienteers. International orienteering competitions are often held here. More than ten years ago, Nordic walking became popular in Neringa as well. Nordic walking can be practised by non-sports people as a health-promoting physical activity. Nordic walking requires special walking sticks similar to ski poles. Nordic walking in Neringa is an excellent form of physically active leisure for people looking for fun and health benefits, combining these benefits simply with the bliss of being in the open air and enjoying the most beautiful Lithuanian landscape. Nordic walking sticks can be rented at many holiday homes in Neringa.More and more people are discovering this form of active leisure as a superb form of active leisure, wellbeing and health promotion, suitable for people of all ages. Self-guided nature trails, the coastal promenade, forest trails on the Curonian Spit are ideal places for Nordic walking. The Nordic way of walking is much more efficient than normal walking without sticks because the upper part of the body is also “employed”. If a walker is appropriately dressed, Nordic walking can be practised in any weather, at any time of the year, by walking on forest trails, the seaside or the lagoon coast.In Nida, holidaymakers are offered two signposted Nordic walking routes: Green route (ca. 4 km) and Red route (ca. 6 km). The Green route stretches in the forests over the Urbo Hill and Parnidis dune observation deck and returns along the Parnidis Bay to the centre of Nida. The Red route winds through the woods over the Angių Hill towards the seaside. From there, it returns to the centre of Nida along the Parnidis Bay.Another picturesque and signposted Nordic walking route is in Pervalka. It starts in the centre of the village and winds along the lagoon coast. The walking trail goes along the lagoon capes of Pervalka, Žirgų and Birštvynas. The walker then must ascend the dunes and return to Pervalka on the main footpath. However, despite the availability of the signposted Nordic walking routes, you can practice Nordic walking wherever it is convenient, except for strict nature reserves.