Most famous travelers shrug their shoulders: Nida is the most expensive resort on the planet, there are no such taxes in the world

Increased by a third

From June 20. The entrance to Nida is much more expensive than before. Guests arriving by car will be charged EUR 30. The mayor of Neringa, Darius Jasaitis, assured that this is not the end. If this year you don’t discipline tourists and control vehicle traffic, this tax will only increase each year.

According to the mayor, Neringa simply does not handle the flow of incoming cars.

For example, in the eight months of 2019, 161,877 cars arrived at a local toll, compared to 150,231 in the same period in 2018. During the summer season, trends in car traffic are even more pronounced: from 1 May to August 31 of last year. 128,267 vehicles entered, and during the 2018 summer season, 111,569, i. and. 16,698 more cars.

D. Jasaitis ensures that Neringa is open to all people who arrive by all means of transport. However, he expects the € 30 fee to decrease the flow of incoming cars. By the way, don’t forget the ferry fare: you will transfer your car from Klaipeda to Smiltyne for 12.7 euros. Therefore, to get to Nida by car from Klaipeda in summer, you will have to pay 42.7 euros for the ferry and the permit.

It is too early to draw conclusions, but during the first 10 days, when Neringa’s guests paid higher taxes, 7,240 cars entered. In the same period in 2019, Neringa had reached as high as 10,194.

According to city spokeswoman Sandra Vaišvilaitė, this year there are significantly fewer foreign tourists traveling independently. Also, last year’s San Juan weekend was long and it’s clear that during that period last year, before the long weekend, car traffic was much higher than at the same time this year.

Incidentally, the highest toll applies for only two months – during the high season of the summer season from June 20 to August 20, when the parking problem is the most troublesome. At other times of the year, the car toll is 5 euros.

Doubt if this will solve the problem

The most impressive national parks in Iceland, Croatia, Slovenia, and neighboring Poland cannot match Nida, which is a solid leader in terms of entrance fees to the national park.

Travel experts are convinced that even a one-third increase in the entrance fee will not deter those who are ready to rest in Nida in the summer.

Dainis Kinder, who has mixed half the world and has written several books on travel, has questions about the revenue collected from the toll.

“I think if the tax is increased then it would be interesting to know where that money is going.” Once it was 20 litas or 6 euros, then he increased the rate to 20 euros.

In our case, the environment is perhaps understandable. Nida is stuck and the infrastructure is not adapted to such resort flows, it is no wonder that there is nowhere to go when you arrive by car.

I had this situation. There is a small parking lot near Dead Dunes, maybe several places, we drove with the Taiwanese and there was nowhere to park it.

The police are standing nearby, I ask the officials, what to do? I let those Taiwanese go for a walk by themselves, and I traveled to Preila myself so I could stop and wait a good hour for my guests to walk the Dead Dunes.

If a higher fee is charged, allow them to install at least a slightly larger site. Yes, it may be necessary to cut some trees, but that simple tax increase does not limit those flows.

Whether they are 20 or 30 euros, those who can will continue traveling. The amount of such would not deter and 50 euros, because accommodation only during the summer season costs from 100 to 150 euros.

If people travel for a week and are ready to pay that money, then that entrance fee does not have a big impact ”, D. Kinder is convinced.

According to him, it is very bad for low-income people for whom Nida becomes a forbidden paradise.

Visit Nida in the fall? But I don’t know what the weather will be like anymore, “adds the traveler.

The famous traveler D. Kinder Neringa reminds the region of the Florida Keys in the US state of Florida with the Key West resort, the entire promontory is like a strip of the Curonian Spit.

“I had to travel there. Of course, there are more people living there, there is no shortage of luxury villas and the like. But admission is not charged, although you could easily add $ 100 to incoming tourists.

It is true that there are tolls, but there is no toll to limit traffic. They have the impression that they just want to promote tourism so that people can travel there, “recalls D. Kinder.

One of the alternatives to get to Neringa is by ferry and boat from the other side of the Curonian Lagoon. During the period when a higher toll is applied to motor vehicles, it is possible to enter Neringa by water from Dreverna, Šilutė, Klaipėda, Kaunas.

“On the other hand, those who come from the capital to the beach with small children without a car feel uncomfortable.

It would be clear to everyone if the Neringa government or environmentalists said that we would collect an additional million from the toll, so we would do that and that. I think it would be fair, because the current increase in the entrance fee will not solve the problems as far as I have driven, since I will drive ”, D. Kinder does not hesitate.

According to him, when a summer vacation in Nida is a matter of luxury, a good opportunity for the other side of the Curonian Lagoon, the region of Pomerania, Rusne, Šilutė, Dreverna. “It just came to our attention then. Sometimes people don’t even know it’s possible to rest in the Curonian Lagoon from the Pomeranian side,” said D. Kinderis.

Liudas Dapkus: Why do we have to be like everyone else?

“How much I had to travel in the Old Continent, nowhere did I have to pay so much to enter a particular area or national park. Neringa can be expensive and the first in Europe ”, says Liudas Dapkus, journalist, traveler and author of travel books.

“I recently visited Jūrmala, there is an entry fee of 2 euros. So we excel in Europe with our approach to enter the Neringa resort, but why do we have to be like everyone else? Maybe just what we need to show Concern for our natural gems. Next is where that money will go.

Will it really go to ecology or to a common boiler? It would be interesting to know where the municipality intends to put that income, “said L. Dapkus.

The entry fee of 30 euros is no lower than the most famous national parks in the United States.

For example, in national parks like Yellowstone, Zayon’s car costs $ 35 per week, and a car without a car costs $ 20.

Most US national parks are free, and paid tickets range from $ 3 to $ 25. If your vacation plans include multiple national parks, then it pays to buy an annual ticket for all the paid parks $ 80.

“As far as we’ve traveled, we’ve always bought an annual ticket that’s valid pretty much everywhere, except in Arizona for some private parks that aren’t members of that National Park Association.”

There are no questions or discussions about paid parks in the US Americans know that from an early age, they pay money, and no one is surprised. For this in the parks: well-organized infrastructure, where necessary, wooden pathways, benches, picnic spots, ranger salaries paid with the income received, in other words, what is beautiful must be preserved.

On the other hand, there are many free places, such as the Grand Canyon ”, L. Dapkus shared his experience.

“It just came to our attention then. In many cases, protected natural parks are free, and there aren’t as many natural wonders on the Old Continent as there are in North America.

But perhaps the most expensive object is the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, among other things, known and visited by Lithuanians.

It is famous for its emerald-colored lakes. In the low season, a park ticket costs 8 euros per person, and in the high season, a day ticket is approximately 24 euros per person.

If a family of four is traveling, the visit will cost almost 100 euros.

Then I remember that there is a Triglava Mountains National Park in Slovenia, where the entrance is 9 euros, which is more like a normal price.

Or Iceland, which is rich in natural wonders and otherwise a cheap country, perhaps the most expensive in Europe, has a geyser and the Vatnajökull Mountain National Park, where the entrance is approximately 800 Icelandic kroner, that is, about 5 euros. Real laughter compared to Icelandic income.

The closest to us is a well-known paid national park: the Białowieża Forest, part of which is located in Belarus and part of Poland, one of the largest surviving wildlife reserves in Europe. There, the ticket costs 10 zlotys (about 2.3 euros). There are more interesting areas in the park, where you can see the beast up close, it costs several zlotys to enter that area again, the price of admission to the museums of that park is also a few additional zlotys, ”said L. Dapkus.

“As for the uniqueness of the Curonian Spit, it is enough to look at the map and we will see such horns rising towards the North Sea.” One of them is the Polish complex of Hel, accessible from Gdansk.

Another is Krynica Morska, another Polish-owned complex. Only in this country, two resorts of a similar nature to Neringa, which are not subject to taxes, are not treated as a special and unique territory, ”says the traveler.

“We are not Poland, we are a much smaller country, we no longer have anything like this and it should be protected.” Palanga, Šventoji or Karklė perfectly satisfy and satisfy the needs of the masses.

But if someone wants a fragile beauty, they must pay for it. Once a year, you can really walk away knowing how much it costs. On the other hand, if a person wants to stay in Neringa for a longer period of time and if he needs to return to Klaipeda for a short period of time to buy and return, it is dark to pay 30 euros cruelly.

I think it would be logical to pay for the time spent in Neringa and not for a single entry. But it is necessary to understand that people’s incomes are growing and they can pay more, the additional 10 euros are a laugh for many who plan a summer vacation in Nida, ”says L. Dapkus.

The tax is called “inappropriate and cosmic”

Delphi Travel Ambassador Orijus Gasanov is also convinced that the € 30 fee will not discourage those who want to rest in Nida.

“It just came to our attention then. If Neringa is deterred by car travel in this way, then I think such a tax will have no effect. The amount of 30 euros is very large for Lithuania, the space. But the fact is that it must protect their national parks. I don’t know how to stop the heavy flow of traffic, “said O. Gasanov.

“I was in Peru, Machu Picchu, only accessible by train or on foot. Cars drive to a certain place, then transfer and travel by train.

Here it is a bit outside the realm of fiction, but in Neringa, a similar system can also be implemented using eco-trains. Instead of asphalt road – train tracks. Such a train would stop in all the cities of Neringa. Or electric buses, which stop at all the resort’s settlements, on every main street, ”says O. Gasanov.

Rimvydas Širvinskas – Makalius has no doubts that the steady increase in the entry price should have been one of the ways to stop the uncontrolled flow of cars.

“It just came to our attention then. Of course, the price just for admission is inadequate, but if people pay and will pay even when the price rises, and the flow of guests and tourists does not decrease as a result, why the Shouldn’t the government further increase this rate? Maybe we would really enjoy more fresh air and beautiful nature if there weren’t that many cars during the season, “said Makalius.

“On the other hand, many compatriots still do not fear the tax and go to Neringa by car. I do not think that those who decide to rest in the Curonian Spit will be discouraged by the 30 euro fee.

Perhaps public transport is too infrequent, inconvenient, or the like, which is popular with Lithuanians, or too few people know about its convenience; here we should discuss with the representatives of the municipality how to try to solve the problem of the number of cars in another way, not to increase the entrance fees, “said Makalius.

Revenue: millions, road and event expenses

According to the municipality, it is difficult to predict how much local tolls will be charged this year: in the 5 months of this year, around 249 thousand local tolls have been collected to enter Neringa. and that’s around 80 thousand. less than last year

“We attribute this to the situation caused by the global coronavirus pandemic and the fact that, as usual, we do not receive tourist buses that bring travelers from foreign countries to Neringa,” Sandra Vaišvilaitė, a spokesperson for the municipality of Neringa, told the portal.

Last year, local tolls raised just over $ 2.4 million. euros

The funds from the local toll are destined to the budget of the municipality of Neringa and, according to the representative of the municipality, are used for the maintenance and development of the infrastructure of the complex and for the partial financing of events.

“The small community of Neringa has to take care of the infrastructure, which is designed to serve more than half a million visitors a year. Around 2 million euros a year are spent only on urban management and maintenance, including the maintenance of public spaces , free public toilets, maintenance of a rescue team and the like.

During the summer, additional funds are allocated to the Neringa Primary Health Care Center, for the maintenance of an ambulance post and for outpatient medical care after family doctors.

The infrastructure of the trails is renewed every year, and we will continue to do so in the future, new public toilets will be renewed or installed, but in the near future it is planned to install a new public toilet next to the Nagliai Nature Reserve. Currently, project proposals for the construction of the Juodkrante bus stop are presented to the public. After the construction of the station, a closed waiting room, premises for a tourist information center, an ATM room and sanitary facilities will be installed.

In addition, several infrastructure management works have been started in large tourist centers, to which the budget of the municipality of Neringa will have to contribute, ”said a municipal spokeswoman.