Railway Dog

Since 2020 there have been no trains running across the border between Latvia and Lithuania. Seat61 is the most likely place to update on this, but the situation may not change for years. For those of us travelling by Interrail or Eurail, or who simply prefer trains, this is a hurdle to get over. Travelling with a dog limits options further. Here are the options I and a guy I spoke to considered:

• Take a bus. These are more regular between international cities. They do not take dogs, so I did not investigate further.
• Take a train as close as you can to the border, then get a taxi or lift to the nearest station the other side. My favoured DIY option.
• Join local Facebook groups and lift sharing services about ride sharing.
  • There are Lithuanian Facebook groups “from / to Klaipėda” (važiuoju, vežu į Klaipėdą) and similar for general or specific travel
  • Also you can try BananaCar, there’s a website and app (Blabla Car does not seem to be used much in Lithuania)
  • I was told that Lithuanians and Latvians see little reason to cross the border except for visiting relatives. There aren’t that many connecting roads for sure. So none of these online options worked in my time frame. It might be different in high season.
• Ask in your campsite or hostel if anyone is driving that way and would like to give a lift in exchange for fuel and costs.
  • This is more realistic if travelling alone or just 2 of you. With a dog it can help if they have a dog too, as long as the dogs get along.
  • I put up a notice in the ladies bathroom and within 6 hours I got a call (see below)
• Hitching. I have not yet witnessed this in the Baltic States so I don’t know how successful it is. Though these are low crime countries, there are the usual risks. Apparently hitching is quite acceptable in Latvia.

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A lift over the Lithuanian Latvian border from Nida to Liepaja

My realistic options from Nida/Klaipeda were:

1) going to Vilnius (the train from Klaipeda arrives there near midnight), and a day or two later head on one of the more frequent trains north to the border with Latvia and try to get a Bolt car to Daugavpils. That would mean seeing the capital but a lot of travelling for Railway Dog.

2) getting a lift from fellow campers wherever they were headed over the border.

I went for the lift over the nearest border option. This was mainly because the request I put up in the campsite ladies bathroom worked out well and a lovely German campervan couple with a dog offered me a lift the next morning. I was looking forward to travelling with them and experiencing campervan travel. It also meant I’d go to Liepaja, not known for tourists. I’d discovered there are two passenger trains a week from Liepaja to Riga. Woohoo!