Svetlogorsk

Svetlogorsk was Rauschen, a German seaside resort that grew from the mid nineteenth century, and it kept most of its buildings because the fighting of 1945 passed it by - so there are half-timbered villas, wooden verandas, brick guesthouses and a water tower of 1908 with a sundial and a rounded top, standing among tall pines on a bluff above the Baltic. The town sits on the cliff and the beach is at the bottom, so a funicular and a cable car connect the two levels, along with long flights of steps. A promenade runs along the sand. Hermann Brachert, a sculptor who lived nearby, left work around the town including a bronze nymph in a mosaic niche on the promenade, and his house in Otradnoye is a museum. Newer building has been heavy in places and the pines are giving way to hotels, but the older core is intact and walkable.

What you actually see

• The German villas - half-timbered and brick houses of the resort period among pines.
• The 1908 water tower - the town's landmark, with a sundial on its face.
• The funicular - the lift down the bluff from the town to the beach.
• The Brachert bronzes - sculpture around the town, with a museum in Otradnoye.

When to go

May to September for the sea; the town works out of season too and is quieter. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The Baltic is cold and the beach is narrow, with erosion in places. Summer weekends bring heavy crowds from Kaliningrad. New hotel building has damaged parts of the old town. The funicular breaks down and the steps are long.

Nearby

Zelenogradsk is along the coast; the Curonian Spit begins beyond it.