Seaside Regional Park

The Seaside Regional Park was founded on 24 September 1992 and stretches from old Palanga to the edge of Klaipėda. More than half of its 5,865 hectares is the Baltic Sea, so the park also protects what you cannot see from the shore: coastal waters where long-tailed ducks spend the winter, and where more than 10,000 birds gather on the sea in the cold months.

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On land it protects a rare stony, cliff-lined shore, dunes and dune grasslands. The least moonwort fern grows here and nowhere else in Lithuania. About 140 bird species have been recorded in the park.

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Since 2023 the park has been run by the Lithuania Minor Protected Areas Directorate. The park’s old website no longer works, so look for current information on mlietuva.lrv.lt and saugoma.lt.

Olando kepurė (the “Dutchman’s Cap”) is a Baltic shore cliff about a kilometre long between Karklė and Giruliai, formed 12–15 thousand years ago. Its top stands about 24 metres above sea level, and the slope drops 16–18 metres to the beach. For a long time it was a landmark for sailors: navigation signs went up here at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1818 the Prussian engineer C. Wutzke put the name on maps and in sailing directions.

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Nobody knows for sure where the name comes from. One story says that, seen from the sea, the hill looks like a Dutch-style fisherman’s cap. Another links it to Dutch settlers in 16th-century Klaipėda. Either way, in 2025 the counter on the viewing platform logged 362,946 visits, making it the most visited site the park directorate looks after.

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Waves and groundwater wear the cliff back by about 50 cm a year. They have also washed out mammoth bones some 23,000 years old, and two of those finds are on show at the visitor centre in Karklė.

Karklė was first mentioned in 1253. In the mid-19th century its farmsteads were laid out so that every yard had its own way down to the sea. Today it is the only surviving fishing village on Lithuania’s mainland coast where nets are still used, and every year it holds the fishermen’s festival Menkinė, named after the cod. Amber is still caught along this coast too: by hand, in the waves, with small nets.

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Nemirseta is at the park’s northern end, already within Palanga. In German it was called Nimmersatt, and until the First World War it was the northernmost point of the German Empire. What remains is the old lifeboat station and a partly ruined Kurhaus, built on the site of a 15th-century tavern. The Nemirseta dunes are the closest wild nature to the hotel: about 6 km by bike.

• By bike. The coastal cycle path runs from Palanga through Nemirseta, past Plazė, Karklė and Olando kepurė to Giruliai and Klaipėda. It is about 16 km to Olando kepurė, roughly an hour of easy riding. In 2025 the stretch between Karklė and Nemirseta alone counted almost 150,000 bike passes.
• By car. About 18 km and 22 min to the Olando kepurė car park, 16.5 km to the visitor centre. From the car park it is about 500 m on foot to the viewpoint.
• By bus. There is no direct bus from Palanga to Karklė. Take route 31 to the Klaipėda stop “Universiteto st.”, change to city bus no. 24 and get off at “Olandų kepurės st.” or “Pajūrio regioninio parko lankytojų centro st.”. Check the timetables the day before: stops.lt.

• Parking. The Olando kepurė car park is paid all year round, 8.00–20.00. In 2025 it cost €2.50 an hour from 1 May to 15 September and €1 an hour the rest of the year. The Placio Street car parks in Karklė are paid in season only. Fully electric cars and cars with a disability parking card do not pay.
• The visitor centre is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Out of season it is worth calling ahead: +370 46 412 483.
• No swimming in Plazė. The lake lies in a strict reserve and can only be enjoyed from the bird hide.
• Campfires and tents only at designated sites, such as the Lake Kalotė rest area. Sleeping or cooking in campervans in the protected area is not allowed, except at campsites.
• The visitor ticket is voluntary: €1 a day. It helps pay for the upkeep of the trails.