Palanga

Lithuania as it emerged from the First World War was landlocked: Klaipėda on the Baltic was the German port of Memel, while points north belonged to Latvia. Lithuania then annexed Klaipėda and exchanged territory with Latvia to acquire a coastline. Palanga lacked a harbour - its unusual L-shaped pier was constructed to compensate, but there was no shelter from wind, waves and ice, and the town was altogether better suited to be a summer beach resort. Its visitors are almost all domestic tourists and few foreigners come here.

1 Palangos turizmo informacijos centras is the tourist office, at Vytauto g 94, corner with Kretingas g. It's open M-F 08:00-18:00, Sa Su 10:00-16:00.

1 Palanga International Airport (PLQ IATA), Liepojos pl., ☏ +370 612 44442. This has limited seasonal destinations, which include London Stansted and Dublin by Ryanair, Oslo by Norwegian, Riga by Air Baltic, and Copenhagen by Scandinavian. The airport has the usual facilities including car rental. (updated Jul 2023)

Palanga is the closest airport to Klaipėda 36 km south so many arrivals are heading there. Bus 31 runs from the airport to Palanga town and Klaipėda bus & railway station every 30 min. Bus 31 and licenced taxis stop close to the terminal building. Other buses and ride share services stop at the bus stop 30 metres outside of the airport. If a ride share driver has to message you that you are waiting in the wrong location, you may be charged extra.

Vlasava, Kautra and Toks buses run hourly from Vilnius and Kaunas to Klaipėda, where some continue north to Palanga town, the airport and Šventoji. Buses between Klaipėda and Riga rush past on A13 and don't stop at Palanga town or airport. For timetables and fares see Autobusubilietai.

2 Palangos autobusų stotis the bus station is fairly clean and modern.

By car from Kaunas follow A1 west then take the coast highway A13.