The new hot spot for travelers to Europe is the diverse Baltic country of Lithuania, renowned for its history, culture, culinary offerings — and amber. Known as Lithuanian gold, an ancient route for the amber trade once led throughout Europe and Asia as far as Egypt. Today’s Amber Road is a popular tourist route that wends along the Baltic coast from Kaliningrad to Latvia. Stops along the way include:

The Mizgiris Amber Gallery-Museum in the seaside resort town of Nida, where the extensive amber collection includes pieces in a wide range of colors. Visitors can even have a piece of amber jewelry created for them by a local artisan while they watch.

Amber Bay in Juodkrante is the location of the world’s largest archaeological discovery of amber ware dating to the Neolithic period. The discovery was made in the 19^th century, with more than 400 jewelry pieces and animal figurines pieces known as the Juodkrante Treasure.

Amber Bay © Milllda | Dreamstime.com

Learn all about amber history while admiring necklaces from the fifth and sixth centuries at the Lithuania Minor History Museum. The necklaces of amber beads were once used as a form of currency.

The beaches in Karkle are popular with “amber catchers” who walk the shoreline searching for pieces of amber tossed ashore by the waves. You can join them and may even be lucky enough to find a piece of your own.

At the Amber Museum in Palanga, 15 exhibit halls detail the processing, traditions and history of this stone, along with amber items that showcase a wide array of “inclusions” — insects, spores and wood splints trapped within amber (we don’t suggest trying to grow your own dinosaur).

Also in Palanga, visitors watch as skilled amber artisans craft the stone into an array of goods.