Museum and aquarium

The maritime museum in Smiltynė, at the northern tip of the Curonian Spit, is housed in the Nerijos fortas fortress. One ticket covers the aquarium, the exhibitions on marine mammals and birds (seals, penguins), marine nature and the history of shipping, and in the warm season also an ethnographic fisherman's homestead and an open-air display of old fishing boats. This takes about 1.5 hours; the dolphinarium hosts dolphin and sea lion shows of about 35 minutes, which need a separate ticket. Getting there: by ferry from Klaipėda – the Old Ferry carries only pedestrians and cyclists (1.6 km to the museum), and by car you take the New Ferry. In the cold season the museum is open only Friday to Sunday; on the last Sunday of the month the exhibitions are free.