Underfoot, the Baltic Seabed Is Ridged, the Sea So Clear and Shallow That Every Ripple Is Visible

With great beaches, culture and nature, the resort town of Palanga and the wild Curonian Spit offer an affordable – and cooler – alternative to the Med. The water off Palanga’s sandy white beach is tinged pale green – the colour of the feathery clouds of Furcellaria lumbricalis that occasionally brush against my calves. Underfoot, the Baltic seabed is ridged, the sea so clear and shallow that every ripple is visible.

The water deepens very gradually – making it ideal for families. I’m quite far from the coast, but still only thigh deep, the sea still cool as I duck beneath the surface. Elsewhere in Europe, another heatwave has prompted health warnings and school closures.

But here in Lithuania, children scamper on the sand and splash in the shallows as temperatures remain, if not cool, bearable. I’ve come to explore some of the Baltic beaches – here and on the Curonian Spit – which are fast gaining popularity as the Med heats up and prices in southern Europe remain stubbornly high. Palanga has been drawing Lithuanian holidaymakers since the wealthy Tiškevičiai family transformed it into a seaside resort in the mid-19th century.