Where to go
in Kaliningrad

The garden is on the site of the former Königsberg city nursery and covers 13.57 hectares. Its collection numbers more than 2,500 plants, including tropical ones. The garden has a café, a playground, gazebos, many benches and a lake with ducks. A quiet, beautiful place, ideal for leisurely walks. The garden is open from 1 April to 30 September. For current ticket prices and opening hours, call ahead. A detailed review is here.

LESNAYA ST., 12

+7 (4012) 21-44-24

Founded in 1805. Today the park is run by the Regional Children’s and Youth Centre of Ecology, Local History and Tourism. A little more about its history is here (in Russian). The park has more than 350 species, forms and varieties of plants, 183 of which are trees and shrubs. There is also a mini zoo with tropical animals, exotic fish, reptiles, birds and rodents. It is better to check by phone before visiting.

BOTANICHESKAYA ST., 2

+7 (4012) 46-44-86

The park was founded in 2000 as a gift from the city administration to veterans of the Great Patriotic War, next to the monument to the 1,200 Guardsmen (1945). A quiet, clean, peaceful place with a lake where you can feed the birds, and secluded benches. There are no children’s rides or fast-food stalls. The park holds a mass grave and a monument to the reconnaissance soldiers. Right next to it are the mid-19th-century city and railway gates and (across the road) a recently opened monument to the heroes of the First World War.

GVARDEYSKY PROSPEKT

An amusement and recreation park in the city centre next to Upper Lake. In the park there are mini-cafés, a boat station and rides for children and adults. In winter an indoor ice rink is open. A popular place for a walk among locals and visitors.

TELMANA ST., 3

In the park stands the Queen Louise Memorial Church, built in 1899–1901, which now houses the Kaliningrad Regional Puppet Theatre, as well as several monuments — to Vladimir Vysotsky and to Baron Munchausen. The park has several fountains, a summer stage, rides for children and adults, a rope adventure park and mini-cafés. You can find the park’s history, as well as current information on events and the rides’ opening times, on its website (in Russian).

POBEDY AVE., 1B

Locals know the pond as “Lake Khlebnoye”. It is a very picturesque and peaceful place. An embankment runs around the lake, with places to rest, a playground and little bridges over the channels of the pond.

MIRA AVE., 93

It lies on the bank of the Pregolya River from Lesopilnaya St. to the Wooden Bridge, which connects Moskovsky Prospekt with Oktyabrsky Island. Built relatively recently. Equipped with benches, steps down to the water and free Wi-Fi. The embankment offers a view of the Cathedral.

The exhibition shows the domestic life of the family of Gustav Grossmann, a merchant and grocery shop owner, and tells the history of the Hufen district. The building was built in 1912 as an apartment house. The authentic interior, original furniture and household items let you look back 100 years and feel like a resident of East Prussia.
Tours without prior booking — Monday to Saturday, sessions at 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00.

KRASNAYA ST., 11, APT. 1

+7 (4012) 335-060

Here you can learn about the history of water supply and sewerage in Königsberg-Kaliningrad. The museum is in the tower of the Hardershof water station, built in 1894, an architectural monument of municipal significance.
Free entry! Opening hours: 10:00 to 18:00, closed on Monday and Tuesday. The last Friday of the month is a cleaning day.

SOVETSKY AVE., 120

+7 (4012) 936-158

The only Amber Museum in Russia opened in 1979. It is in the centre of Kaliningrad on the shore of Upper Lake, in a fortress tower from the mid-19th century (the Dohna Tower). The exhibition is spread over three floors with a total area of about 1,000 sq. m, and the collection holds about 16,000 items. More details can be found on the museum’s website (in Russian).

MARSHALA VASILEVSKOGO SQ., 1

Built around 1855–1860. The name comes from the observatory that stood opposite, built by F. Bessel in 1813. In 1910, during the construction of the railway, the forward part of the bastion was demolished; only the semicircular caponier redoubt and the redoubt for flanking fire on the moat survived. Today you can play laser tag in the bastion (in Russian), and in summer the courtyard hosts street-food events.

GVARDEYSKY PROSPEKT, 22

One of the 12 fortifications of the Königsberg fortress. Built in 1879. It is not only the first but also the largest fort in Königsberg, and the best preserved to this day. The communication is built as a gallery, at the end of which is an enclosed stone passage (coffre). You can enter it from the moat or through an underground passage beneath the moat. Fire could be opened from the coffre’s embrasures. The fort always held a lot of explosives and ammunition. More information here (in Russian).

A. NEVSKOGO ST., 232

One of the seven surviving gates in Kaliningrad was built in the 17th century and became part of the rampart fortifications of Königsberg. In Soviet times it was used as a warehouse and a basketball court, and discos were held here. Today the building houses the “Gate” art platform, with a contemporary art gallery, a coffee shop and a co-working space.

LITOVSKY VAL ST., 61

A national park and an open-air museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The spit begins in Zelenogradsk; it is 98 km long, and the Lithuanian border is at km 49. At km 14 there is the “Museum Complex” visitor centre, where you can learn about the history of this unique natural monument and its inhabitants’ crafts, visit the museum of superstitions and the Viking village, and take a trip on the Curonian Lagoon. At km 23 is the world’s first ornithological station, “Fringilla”, founded in 1901. At km 32 is Müller’s Height, a 3.5 km trail with a viewing platform at 44.4 m. At km 37 is the Dancing Forest. At km 42 is Efa’s Height, a 2.8 km trail near the village of Morskoye, the most picturesque village on the spit. At km 47 is Lake Lebed (Swan). You can read more about the spit here (in Russian).

A resort town of federal significance, set on a large sandy amber hill 36 m high on the Baltic coast. You can get down to the shore for a walk along the promenade and beach either on foot, by special steps (there are several), or by funicular. The main sights of the town are the Lutheran church building (now the Church of St Seraphim of Sarov), the water tower with a pump room next to it offering free mineral water from a 330 m well, the house-museum of Hermann Brachert and his sculpture “Nymph”, and the sundial. Besides the coast, Svetlogorsk has several parks and Lake Tikhoye. The town has many cafés, souvenir shops and the “Yantar-Hall” variety theatre, which hosts concerts and film screenings.

This small seaside village is named “Amber” for good reason — 90% of the world’s amber reserves are concentrated here, and it is home to the Amber Combine (in Russian). On its grounds there is a museum devoted to the “sun stone”, and the enterprise also organises tours to the viewing platform at the amber quarry. But the place is famous for more than amber. The beaches here are the widest in the region and have repeatedly received the Blue Flag, an international award for meeting high quality standards. For leisurely walks there is Morris Becker Park and a wooden promenade along the seashore. You can read more about Yantarny here (in Russian).

The westernmost city of Russia. It has a ferry terminal, a large seaport and a railway station. Baltiysk is also home to the largest naval base on the Baltic Sea. Every year on Navy Day a parade of naval vessels passes along the shipping canal. A ferry from Baltiysk takes visitors every hour to the Baltic Spit, a place of amazing wild nature. After the war a Soviet air base was located on the spit; it was disbanded in 1995, and the hangars of the military airfields, a concrete runway and other echoes of the past have survived to this day. You can find out more here (in Russian) and here (in Russian).