Baltiysk is Russia's westernmost port and the country's gate onto the open Baltic, a naval town of about thirty-four thousand people at the tip of the Sambian Peninsula, where a narrow channel connects the Vistula Lagoon to the sea. Until 1945 it was Pillau, in East Prussia, and the grid of tidy streets, the old brick buildings near the harbour and the lighthouse on the waterfront all date from that earlier life. The Baltic Fleet is based here, so the harbour is full of grey ships, and you should treat anything with a gun on it as a subject for your eyes only, not your camera.
The road from Kaliningrad runs west through a mix of farmland, pine woods and small towns, and it is among the flattest rides in Russia. The asphalt is mostly good, curves are gentle, and the interest comes from the landscape rather than the gradient: wide skies, sandy forest, and glimpses of the lagoon on one side and the sea on the other. Traffic is heavier on summer weekends, when Kaliningrad families head for the beaches, and on a hot Saturday the road can be slow. An early start or an autumn day makes it far more pleasant. The wind off the Baltic is a constant, and it can be cold even in July.
With a town of this size, practicalities are easy. There are petrol stations, shops, cafes and a few hotels, and you will not need to plan around supplies. Svetlyy, with twenty-two thousand people, lies fifteen kilometres back toward the city, while Primorsk, a smaller place of about two thousand, lies eleven kilometres away along the coast, with the dunes and the old German streets of a seaside resort. Both are worth a quick look if you have time. In summer, smoked fish and cold beer are the staples at roadside stalls.
The coast around Baltiysk belongs to the amber country. The Sambian Peninsula holds most of the world's known amber, and pieces still wash up on the beaches after storms, so if you have a patient eye and a cold morning, there is a chance to find some. The sea is grey and cold, the sand is pale and wide, and the pine forest behind smells of resin. Walk to the end of the mole at the harbour mouth if it is open, and watch ships pass through the channel. It is the end of one of Europe's long coastal roads.