A weekend in Klaipėda
A port city with an old town, the Lithuanian Sea Museum at Smiltynė and a ferry across the lagoon, from 3 h 45 min by bus from Vilnius.
Contents
Klaipėda in brief
Klaipėda is a port city where the old town, the museums and the sea fit into one weekend. In 2023 the city had 162,292 residents, and the name Klaipėda was first mentioned in a description of the castle in 1252–1328 (VLE, history, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07). The bus from Vilnius takes about 4 hours, so leave on Friday morning and you can be strolling through the old town in the afternoon. The city tourism website lists a dozen or so restaurants and cafés in its gastro section, and across the lagoon, in Smiltynė, the Lithuanian Sea Museum awaits.
Autumn and winter are quiet here: they suit museums, long walks and a ferry ride across the lagoon. In summer the Lithuanian Sea Museum is open on more days. To see how the seasons differ, read the section “What to do by season”. A plan with prices for two is in the weekend in Klaipėda (in Lithuanian) article (in Lithuanian).
How to get there
From Vilnius by bus. FlixBus runs direct services from Vilnius to Klaipėda (FlixBus, in Lithuanian). Allow for the service fee that FlixBus adds. Check the services and the price for your day on the route page.
From Vilnius by train. On Friday 6 November LTG Link sells six direct services, for example 05:20 → 09:49 (4 h 29 min), a 2nd-class ticket for one person €13.40, and 06:38 → 11:19 (4 h 41 min), 2nd class €11.00, 3rd class €7.35 (checked 2026-10-29; LTG Link, in Lithuanian). For a comparison, see Vilnius–Klaipėda by train or bus.
From Kaunas. On Friday 6 November direct buses take 2 h 30 min–4 h 30 min, for example 07:30 → 10:00; a ticket on the 13:30 bus costs €15.50 (visimarsrutai.lt, in Lithuanian, timetable and price checked 2026-10-28). By train with a change in Kaišiadorys, the 12:20 service costs €8.45 (LTG Link, checked 2026-10-29). More trips: weekend trips from Kaunas (in Lithuanian).
If you live in Vilnius, you will find other ideas in the list of weekend trips from Vilnius (in Lithuanian). For people who live in Klaipėda there are trips from Klaipėda (in Lithuanian).
Getting around
Buses and shared minibus taxis run in the city, managed by the public body Klaipėdos keleivinis transportas. An electronic single ticket costs €0.70, or €0.35 with a 50 % discount. An electronic single ticket for a minibus taxi costs €1.30, and at night €1.90 (ticket price table, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06). You must validate the ticket in the reader as soon as you board.
The table has no day ticket, so single tickets are enough for a short weekend. In the old town and by the ferry you will mostly walk. We did not check the distances from the stations to the old town, so we do not give them.
Where to stay
The official sources we checked have no descriptions of the districts, so we describe only what we checked. The old town is where Theatre Square, the restaurants on Žvejų, Kepėjų and H. Manto streets and the Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor are. Smiltynė is on the other side of the lagoon: the Lithuanian Sea Museum is there, and we did not check places to stay.
The old town has Hotel Bohema (Galinio Pylimo g. 16), but we do not give its room prices: they are shown only in the hotel’s price interface, which we do not use (hotel website, in Lithuanian). The Aismarės guest house (Tilžės g. 9, in the old town) states that a standard double room costs from €45 out of season, without breakfast; breakfast in its café is €10 per person (prices, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-09). The page does not say for how long that price applies, so check it with the guest house for your dates. How to choose a place to stay: guide to choosing a place to stay for a weekend (in Lithuanian).
What to see
The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor (Didžioji Vandens g. 2) is open Tuesday–Saturday 10:00–18:00 from 17 September to 14 June and closed on Sunday. An adult ticket costs €4, and a combined ticket with the Blacksmithing and Castle museums costs €9 (museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06). A tour lasts 1 h 30 min and costs €25 for a group of up to 25 people, tickets not included. Themed tours tell the story of Klaipėda’s lighthouses and the secrets of the museum courtyard (registration on +370 46 410 527, checked 2026-10-07).
Klaipėda Castle Museum (Priešpilio g. 2). An exhibition on the history of the castle and the city is in the bastion vaults. From 17 September to 14 June it is open Tuesday–Saturday 10:00–18:00, and tickets are sold until 17:30. An adult ticket costs €6 and a concession ticket €3 (museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07).
Klaipėda Castle Museum
An exhibition on the history of the castle and the city in the vaults of the castle bastions.
Blacksmithing Museum (Šaltkalvių g. 2). It is open the same hours as the Castle Museum, and a ticket costs €3, concession €1.50. It offers a €5 workshop, “Baltic Jewellery”, and the workshops run Tuesday–Friday 10:00–16:00 (museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07).
Sculpture Park. The park between K. Donelaičio, Liepų, Trilapio and S. Daukanto streets is always open and entry is free. The museum also offers a tour that lasts 1 h 30 min and costs €25 for a group of up to 25 people (tours Monday–Friday 10:00–16:00, museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07).
Clock Museum. It is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10:00–18:00, Thursday 12:00–20:00 and Sunday 10:00–16:00, and closed on Monday. An adult ticket costs €5 (museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06).
Old town sights. The city tourism website KlaipėdON shows other old town places: models of the old city of Klaipėda at the crossing of H. Manto and Liepų streets, the Old Warehouses (Žvejų g. 12) and the castle site at Priešpilio g. 2. Memorial “Footprints” mark the traces of prominent Klaipėda people at Vežėjų g. 4, Sukilėlių g. 8 and Liepų g. 11. The same website mentions the coastal artillery battery “Memel-Nord” and the Hagen dune (KlaipėdON, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07). We found no opening hours or prices for them.
Theatre Square. An old town square by the Drama Theatre where the sculpture of Anikė from Tarau stands. You need no ticket to stroll here.
You will find every place in the categories what to see in Klaipėda and what to do in Klaipėda. Another coastal destination: Neringa (in Lithuanian) and a weekend in Neringa (in Lithuanian).
What to do by season
Autumn and winter. The Lithuanian Sea Museum (Smiltynės g. 3) is open Friday–Sunday 10:30–17:00 in October and November. On 16–31 December it is open Wednesday to Sunday, and closed on 25 December. At present a ticket to the aquarium and exhibitions costs €10 and one to the dolphin show costs €12 (opening hours, prices, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06).
The museum ship “Sūduvis”. The M52 “Sūduvis” stands on the Danė river at the Royal Quay. From October to February it is open Friday–Sunday 11:00–17:00, and from Wednesday on 16–31 December, and on 11 March entry to the ship is free. The Baltic Sea animal rehabilitation centre admits only organised groups, who arrange a time by e-mail at [email protected] (Lithuanian Sea Museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07).
Summer. From June to August the museum is open Tuesday–Sunday 10:30–18:30. In July and August the dolphin shows are at 11:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 16:00 (checked 2026-10-06). We did not check summer ticket prices here.
The ferry to Smiltynė. From 1 October to 12 April the Old Ferry (Senoji perkėla) ferries run every hour from 08:00 to 21:00 daily (keltas.lt, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06). The crossing takes 10 min (ferry timetable data, seen 2026-10-24), and a return passenger ticket costs €1.70 (price list, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06). We did not check the spring and summer ferry timetable.
We found no events with an organiser’s source, so we do not list any. Another coastal destination: a weekend in Palanga (in Lithuanian).
Lithuanian Sea Museum
An aquarium and sea mammals at Smiltynė, in a former nineteenth-century fortress building.
If it rains
On a rainy day in Klaipėda choose two indoor museums in the old town. Hours and prices are in the section “What to see”.
- Clock Museum. Closed on Monday and on public holidays (museum, in Lithuanian).
- Castle Museum. Tickets are sold until 17:30 (opening hours, in Lithuanian).
On the eve of a public holiday both museums close an hour earlier (Clock Museum, Castle Museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-29).
Clock Museum
The history of clocks in a nineteenth-century suburban villa: the only museum of its kind in Lithuania.
What to eat
The city tourism website lists the Falstaff and Michelin guide restaurants in its gastro section. The Falstaff guide marks “Navalis” (H. Manto g. 23), “Dock” (Žvejų g. 4) and “KUA” (Kepėjų g. 17). The Michelin guide marks “Alba bistro” (Sukilėlių g. 6) and “Monai” (Liepų g. 4) (KlaipėdON, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06). We did not check opening hours or prices, so look at the restaurant’s website before you go. We do not describe dishes because we found no source for them.
Practical information
Currency. In Lithuania you pay in euros. If you are continuing to Poland, read about the currency in zloty or euro in Poland (in Lithuanian).
Tourist tax. Since 1 January 2025 Klaipėda has charged a €1 tourist tax per night of accommodation. The accommodation provider collects it (KlaipėdON, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-06). More: the tourist tax.
Museums with a pet. The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor, the Blacksmithing Museum and the Castle Museum are pet-friendly, and the Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor has free audio guides in Lithuanian and English. These museums are closed on public holidays and open an hour shorter on the eve of a public holiday (museum, in Lithuanian, checked 2026-10-07).
Opening days. The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor is closed on Sunday, and the Lithuanian Sea Museum is open only Friday–Sunday in October and November.
Ferry to Smiltynė
A short ferry ride across the Curonian Lagoon to Smiltynė, where the Curonian Spit begins.
Weekend plan
Friday, 6 November. Take the 07:05 train from Vilnius and you are in Klaipėda at 11:19 (LTG Link, timetable checked 2026-10-28). In the afternoon walk around the old town as far as Theatre Square, and in the evening pick a restaurant from those listed above.
Saturday. In the morning take the ferry across the lagoon to Smiltynė and the Lithuanian Sea Museum. Return to the city in the evening.
Sunday. In the morning take a walk around the old town. The Clock Museum is usually open on Sunday. For the way back to Vilnius, see the LTG Link search.
FAQ
Is a weekend enough for Klaipėda?
Yes. The bus takes about 4 hours one way, and the Lithuanian Sea Museum, the old town and a few city museums fit into two days of sightseeing.
How much is the ferry to Smiltynė?
A return passenger ticket costs €1.70 and the crossing takes 10 min (checked 2026-10-06; crossing time from ferry timetable data, 2026-10-24).
Do I have to pay the tourist tax?
Yes, €1 per night. The accommodation provider collects it.
What is open on Sunday?
The Lithuanian Sea Museum in October and November and the Clock Museum. The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor is closed on Sunday.
Things to see and do in Klaipėda
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By car: distance, time, fuel
By car
- From Vilnius: 306 km, 2 h 46 min one way. Fuel there and back: €77.61 per car, €38.81 each for two people.Calculation: 2 × 306 km = 612 km; 612 km ÷ 100 × 6.5 l/100 km = 39.78 l; 39.78 l × 1.951 €/l = €77.61.
- From Kaunas: 212 km, 1 h 54 min one way. Fuel there and back: €53.77 per car, €26.89 each for two people.Calculation: 2 × 212 km = 424 km; 424 km ÷ 100 × 6.5 l/100 km = 27.56 l; 27.56 l × 1.951 €/l = €53.77.
From Šiauliai, Panevėžys is not calculated yet: we do not have map data for this route.
This is an approximate calculation, not a price. Travel time without traffic or border queues. Fuel price: Lithuanian average, Euro-super 95 with taxes, 2026-10-19, the European Commission's Weekly Oil Bulletin (CC BY 4.0); consumption 6.5 l/100 km. Routes: MOTIS, car profile, no traffic conditions, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extracts, calculated 2026-10-29. There are no road tolls for passenger cars in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia; for Poland, see here (in Lithuanian).