For many residents of the region, a trip abroad is essentially an everyday affair. You are more likely to run into a Kaliningrader in a shop in the Polish towns of Elbląg or Gdańsk than in Kaliningrad itself. To say nothing of the shops in Grzechotki. There, in the car parks, a car with Polish number plates is a rarer sight than one with Russian plates. And again, at a weekend restaurant in Nida you simply get the impression of a Kaliningrad banquet.
But then the holidays come. What does a resident of our region do if he is not burdened with work or personal problems at that time? He goes away on holiday. The recent New Year holidays were no exception. Judging by the photos and comments our fellow countrymen posted on social media, most of them headed to Europe. On the one hand, it is safe there, despite all the horror stories diligently spread by the federal TV channels. On the other hand, it is close by.
Judge for yourself: from Kaliningrad to Moscow it is 1,200 kilometres. If we draw a circle with a radius of 1,200 kilometres centred on Kaliningrad, it will take in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, part of France, all of Germany, Austria, part of Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, as well as the Balkan states.
Between these countries and our region there is only one border, and the quality of European roads needs no further description. An energetic driver can cover the distance in a day. And here there are two categories of traveller. The traveller I place in the first category puts a dot on the map, charges there at the highest possible speed and only then gives himself over to rest. The other category, to which I count myself, drives without hurrying, stopping for a coffee and a bite to eat, and also to look at a town, a river, a castle, a park and a host of other interesting places. This, of course, stretches out the journey, but on the other hand the journey itself becomes a holiday. True, if you are behind the wheel and your companions order beer or, say, mulled wine with lunch, you begin to think that a fast transfer is not always without its point.
Another topic in any journey is shopping. But this topic deserves a separate, thoughtful account. Most of the men I know regard shopping as an inevitable and important part of travelling and stoically endure all its hardships and privations. Everyone takes the time their better halves spend combing the shops, and the carrying of bags, perfectly calmly. The heaviest burden lies in having to answer the question “How do I look?”.
But shopping is only a detail of the journey. The purposes of travel vary widely. Some go skiing, others to wander around cities. One thing unites them all – Kaliningraders seek, at least for a while, an atmosphere of peace of mind and harmony. And each finds it in something of his own. In good old Europe, which has seen a great deal in its history, people live without bitterness and hysteria. An atmosphere of benevolent calm reigns here, one that makes it attractive for travel.
Another popular topic for social-media posts was the queues at the borders. This, too, confirms the idea that residents of the Kaliningrad region fully indulge their wanderlust over the holidays. True, during these holidays many said that one should go now, because it is unclear whether we will still be able to afford it in the summer. Then again, Lithuania and Poland are not going anywhere.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
