Cycle Tour Kaliningrad and into Pomerania

Ten days cycling holiday including two transport days (Aarhus-Klaipeda and Gdynia-Aarhus) from June , 26 to July, 5, 2018 for my sons Alexander and Simon. The type of accommodation is mixed: Tent at camp sites two places in Poland, private apartment in Kaliningrad and hostel in Gdansk. Besides two nights on the Baltic Sea ferries.

The core of the trip is the attendance of the England-Belgium World Cup football match in Kaliningrad on June, 28. I'll attend it myself, but for private reasons I'll miss the bike part (except for a sightseeing trip in Kaliningrad on a rented bike) and fly iinto Kaliningrad the day before and immediately after the match.

The plan is as follows: Rail transport Aarhus-Karlshamn (with shift in Copenhagen central station), short cycle ride from the station to the ferry port in Karlshamn, night sailing Karlshamn-Klaipeda, after which the bicycle part starts with stage 1 Klaipeda-Zelenogradsk, which means half the day in Lithuania and the other half in Russia (Kalinngrad regioin). The bike stage ends in the seaside town of Zelenogradsk, where the commuter train will take its  passengers into Kaliningrad's southern railway station (Kaliningrad Yuzhny). From here, a short ride to the rented apartment in the suburb of Ponarth. In the evening we will be united the three of us and on the next day we will have a sightseeing trip of the city  and watch the football match in the evening. After my departure for the airport in the very night after the match, the youngsters will spend the night in Kaliningrad and continue the bike trip into Poland with the second stage to Frombork. The night is spent in tents at the camp site. The following day offers some sightseeing in Frombork, e.g. the Catheddral Hill and the planetarium, where Nicolas Copernicus himself used to work. The Polish currency of zloty has to be withdrawn, before the Wisla Lagoon is crossed by boat to Krynica Morska as part of stage 3, which ends near the coast north of Stegna. The day after offers a visit to the concentration camp memorial and the Stutthof museum and a relatively short stage 4 to Gdansk, where two rest days are planned, the first one in order to visit the old German city of Danzig and simultaneously the modern Polish city of Gdansk and the second day for visiting Hitler's headquarters for the eastern front during WWII, the so-called Wolf's Lair near Ketrzyn approx. 230 km from Gdańsk. Hereafter only a relatively short stage remains to the neighbouring city of Gdynia with the ferry port and ferry to Karlskrona in Sweden. After the arrival in Sweden in the morning a short bike trip from the ferry port to Karlskrona's central station. From here, the Oeresund train will take my sons to their homes in Aarhus with a change to the intercity train at Copenhagen Central Station.

REMARKS:

Apart from the two ferries on the outbound and homebound journeys the bike holiday comprises three ferry crossings: Klaidpeda-Smiltyne (Curonian Spit), Frombork-Krynica Morska and a small ferry across the main branch of the Vistula.

The first and the third ferry ply to and fro constantly. For the cruise boat "Monica" from Frombork to Krynica Morska on the Vistula spit the departure time is 3.10 pm and arrival time to Krynica Morska is 4.40 pm. The price is 37 zloty/ps. incl. bicycle. Se more at https://www.zegluga.pl/cruise-krynica-morska-frombork

Time zones: Denmark, Sweden, Russia (Kaliningrad region) and Poland: GMT + 1 hour,.

Lithuania: GMT + 2 hours.

Currency rates: 1 euro = about 7.45 dkr., 1 dkr. = 13 eurocent (Lithuania)

1 rouble (rb.) = 0.10 dkr, 1 dkr. = 10.27 rb. (Russia)

1 zloty (zl) = 1.76 dkr., 1 dkr. = 0.57 zl.

Alternative: Friday, June, 29i it's possible in stead of cycling 73 km from Kaliningrad to Frombork to take the commuter train from Kaliningrad Yuzhnyi/Калиниград Южный at 9.35am with arrival at Mamonovo/Мамоново very close to the Russian/Polish border at  10.45am. The distance from Mamonovo to Frombork is 20 km There's also an evening service at 6.00pm with arrival at Mamonovo/Мамоново at 7.09pm. The price is 102.5 rb./person. incl. bicycle or about 10 dkr.

On the first day, Wednesday, June, 27, it's possible to sail from Klaipeda to Nida, a Lithuanian town on the Curonian spit, not far from the Russian border. One needs to hurry up a bit, because the boat to Nida leaves the pedestrian- and bike ferry terminal near Klaipeda's old town, just less than 4 km from Central Klaipeda Ferry Terminal at 9.30am, i.e. half an hour after the ferry from Karlshamn has arrived. Possibly too little time to make it. The distance from Nida to Zelenogradsk is 55 km. See more at https://www.keltas.lt/en/timetable/

Dunes on the Curonian Spit, desolate agricultural land and wastelands in the Kaliningrad region, coastal landscape with dunes and forests on the Vistula Spit, flat, Polish agricultural land in the Vistula delta Cities Kaliningrad, Gdansk and Gdynia, medium town Zelenogradsk,, small towns Nida, Mamonovo, Braniewo, Frombork and Krynica Morska.

Outbound journey:

Tuesday, June, 26.:

Dep. Aarhus H at 10.14 am. by Intercity 51040

Arr.. Copenhagen Central at 1.08 pm. Change to Øresund train.

Dep..Copenhagen Central at 1.47 pm. by IC 1058

Arr. Karlshamn C at 4.19 pm.

Bicycle trip 5,5 km to Karlshamn Ferry port. Last check-in time on the DFDS ferry Optima Seaways is 5.30.pm. Departure towards Klaipeda is at 7.00 pm.

Wednesday, June, 27

Arrival to Central Klaipeda Terminal at 9.00 am. (Lithuania time is plus 1 thour!)

Ferry crossing to Smiltyne on the Curonian spit (Kursiu Neringa).

Bicycle stage 108 km to Zelenogradsk/Зеленоградск. Roughly halfway down the spit the Lithuanian/Russian border is crossed. On the Russian side it's good to exchange currency to Russian roubles by means of EURO IN CASH. The clock is set one hour back to "Danish" daylight saving time.

At the railway station in Zelenogradsk/Зеленоградск jump on the commuter train to Kaliningrad southern railway station, Kaliningrad Yuzhnyi/Калининград Южный. The times for departure and arrival are respectively: 5.19pm/6.01pm, 7.49pm/8.31pm or 8.40pm/9.21pm. It's the terminal stop. Before the train calls at the northern railway station Kaliningrad Severnyi/Калиниград Северный. Mind the direction: Svetlogorsk/Светлогорск is the opposite direction!

Price: 66.50 rb./person incl. bicyle corresponding roughly to 6.50 dkr.

Homebound journey: 

Wednesday, July, 4

Latest check-in time for the Stena Line-ferry Stena Spirit at the  Stena terminal in Gdynia is 6.30pm. Departure for Karlskrona at 7.30pm.

Thursay, July, 5

Arr.. Karlskrona ferry port at  7.00am.

Bicycle ride 11.3 km to Karlskrona station.

Dep. Karlskrona at 9.47am by the Øresund train

Arr. Copenhagen Central at 1.08pm. Change to Intercity train.

Dep. Copenhagen Central at 1.52pm.

Arr.. Aarhus H at 4.43pm.