Gastronomic tour to Kaliningrad for the New Year holidays

In the morning we have breakfast at the hotel and set ourselves up for a very busy, beautiful day! 

We are waiting for a sightseeing tour of Kaliningrad — the former Konigsberg, the center of East Prussia. 

We will walk around the city and see all the main sights of Kaliningrad: University Square, the ruins of the Royal Castle, Kant's grave, synagogue, sculpture Alley, Wooden and Honey Bridges. Let's take a walk around Kneiphof Island, located right in the center of Kaliningrad, and find out how it developed and who its most famous inhabitants are. 

We will be able to understand the character of the city and immerse ourselves in its interesting Russian-German history. 

After the walk, we are expected to attend the gastronomic master class "Cuisine of East Prussia", where, under the guidance of the chef, we will prepare authentic dishes and learn the gastronomic history of Kaliningrad. 

For an aperitif, meat and fish snacks are waiting for us, accompanied by a glass of sparkling wine. Chin chin!

Then we will cook mussels in a creamy sauce with crispy ciabatta and tender lamb with author's sauce and grilled vegetables. Enjoy it! 

After lunch, we go to see the preserved Lutheran church of the 14th century and the restored Order castle of the 13th century, which bore the proud name "The Great Russian Embassy", and Peter I and Catherine the Great visited its walls. 

There will be a guided tour for us at the castle. 

After the tour, we are already waiting for a cheese tasting at the craft family cheese factory, which is located here, in the historical ensemble. 

The cheese factory produces 12 varieties of cheese and is aged on average for up to a year. The factory also produces handmade chocolate. 

They will tell us and show us how cheese is made and ripens, what conditions are needed for this and due to which each type of cheese has its own flavor. 

And then we will head to the tasting room, where we will try different types of cheese with a glass of dry wine. We will also taste handmade chocolate! 

After the cheese factory, we go to the ancient German brewery, once the largest in East Prussia! During the tour, we will find ourselves in one of the rooms of the old factory, where modern production is now located, and descend into the dungeons of Konigsberg. 

And, of course, we will learn everything about how beer is brewed, how malt grows, what it tastes like, what hops look like and what types of hops there are. We will finish the tour with a tasting of five varieties of freshly brewed beer! 

In the evening we return to our cozy hotel and relax.

Tomorrow the fresh sea air of the Baltic awaits us!

Today, after breakfast at our hotel, we leave for the Curonian Spit National Park — the highlight of the Kaliningrad region! 

Sand dunes, snow—white sand, forests inhabited by moose and wild boars, the sea on one side and the bay on the other. 

We alternate small walks with traveling by minibus. 

We will learn the history of the dunes, admire them from the heights of Muller and Eph and walk through the mysterious Dancing Forest. 

Then we go to the resort town of Zelenogradsk, the former German Krantz. Beautiful old villas, sea air and beautiful views! 

We are immediately heading for lunch at the Baltic cuisine restaurant, which is located in the building of the former German Post Office of the 19th century! 

The chef will offer us to try his author's recipes from local products. First, we will taste the Baltic creamy fish soup with salmon and walleye. 

For the hot meal, the chef will serve us a famous dish from the cuisine of Eastern Prussia - Koenigsberg bedbugs made of beef, fragrant venison and tender fillet of Baltic herring. Contrast and originality in every piece! 

And it's time to taste branded tinctures of our own production, which will be served with perfect gastronomic pairs! Cherry with cinnamon, Marzipan, Black currant and Borodino — we try! 

After lunch, we will walk along the main street with Prussian houses and along the promenade along the sea. The walk will take us back to the heyday of Krantz, where the Koenigsberge people improved their health. 

We will see the water tower, taste the water from the pump room of Queen Louise and understand why Zelenogradsk bears the title of "capital of cats". 

We will definitely taste the warming marzipan coffee with the most delicious pretzels! With cinnamon, almonds, white or milk chocolate. It's very tasty! 

In the late afternoon we are going to Svetlogorsk — the most central resort of the "Russian Baltic"! It is more like European resorts with their high service, first-class hotels and leisurely strolling tourists. 

Let's go to dinner! They will be waiting for us in the chamber restaurant, which serves fish delicacies and traditional German cuisine. 

For an aperitif, we will be served sprat pate with tapioca chips. 

In the second course, we will try Baltic eel with two types of rice and sesame cream sauce. The dishes are accompanied by fragrant German Riesling wine. 

We will finish the dinner with a traditional apple strudel, which is served with ice cream with Borodino bread. 

After dinner, we check into the 4* spa hotel in the center of Svetlogorsk. The hotel opened in 2021 and is located 5 minutes from the waterfront. We will spend two nights here.

Today, after breakfast at our hotel, we will go to get acquainted with Svetlogorsk. 

We will take a walk and see the city together with a local guide, who will give us an eventful tour. A leisurely walk will take about two hours. 

Winding through the narrow streets, let's talk about the historical value of this place, about the traditions and distinguished guests of the elite German resort. There will also be places of worship: a water tower, sculptures and the world's largest sundial. 

Then we leave for Yantarny, the only place in the world where commercial amber mining is carried out. 

We will visit the interactive museum of the amber plant and learn more about the extraction of amber, its properties and how to distinguish the original from the fake. 

Here, in Yantarny there is a unique amber museum-restaurant!

The restaurant is incredibly beautiful, and amber is literally everywhere: it is used not only in the decoration of facades and interiors, but even in the decoration of dishes here adhere to the "amber theme". 

For an appetizer, we will try a spicy stroganina from pelamida and an assortment of local cheeses. As a main course, we will be served Baltic pike perch with smoked eel sauce with confit potatoes and dried cherries.

Our lunch will be perfectly complemented by Pinot Grigio white wine. Enjoy it! 

Dessert time! Let's try the signature "lingonberry symphony" on a poppy seed sponge cake with a light white chocolate cream. It's impossible to break away! 

After lunch, we will visit the only Blue Flag beach in Russia — wide, clean, equipped. We are enjoying the fresh sea air of the Baltic Sea! 

In the evening we return to Svetlogorsk, where they will be waiting for us for a beautiful Christmas dinner! Renowned chef Rustam Tangirov, executive president of the St. Petersburg Chefs Club and a regular presenter of culinary programs on TV, will offer us to try dishes from local products. 

The first course we will be served Baltic tapas — these are mini snacks with smoked eel, lightly salted walleye, sprat and horse mackerel on Estonian toasted bread. 

For the second course, we will try trout steak with beetroot risotto and spinach leaves, accompanied by a delicate dry Verdejo wine (Spain). 

And for dessert, a cheesecake made of fried chocolate in velour with meringue and meringue. Chin chin! 

Merry Christmas! After dinner, we go to our hotel and relax after a busy day!

You will have free time after breakfast today. 

You can relax in the spa complex in our hotel or relax on the equipped beach (located 400 meters from the hotel).

Or take a walk through the beautiful Svetlogorsk: walk along the promenade and breathe the sea air

Then we leave for the airport, happy and full of new experiences! 

Have a great journey, and see you soon in new bright journeys!