Palanga is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea.

It is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has beaches of sand (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 1000ft wide) and sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Butinge, Palanga International Airport and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.

According to a legend, there was a pagan shrine at the foot of a hill in Palanga where a beautiful priestess named Birute used to tend the ceremonial fires. Having heard of Birute's beauty, Kestutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, came to make her his wife. It is written in the Lithuanian Bychowiec Chronicle that Birute "did not consent, and answered that she had promised the gods to remain a virgin as long as she lived.

Kestutis then resorted to take her by force, and with great pomp brought her back to his capital, Trakai, where he invited his kinsmen and celebrated with a lavish wedding..." Kestutis was later murdered and Birute returned to Palanga and resumed serving at the shrine until her death. The legend claimed that she was buried in the hill which is now named after her.

In the summer, a multitude of tourists stay in Palanga, both for its beaches and to enjoy the maritime atmosphere. There is a carnival centered on Jonas Basanavicius Street, which is a pedestrian-only thoroughfare during the high season. There are dozens of restaurants, bars, rides, and other forms of entertainment.

The aforementioned Palanga Amber Museum is open to the public, as are as the museum's extensive botanical gardens. Anaiciai Ethnographic Cemetery holds a collection of 19th- and early 20th-century graves. In the Sculptures Garden, one can find 28 contemporary Art statues by artists from Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Also found in Palanga is one of the oldest operating pharmacies in Lithuania. It was established in the mid-19th century.

The city is also home to a regional radio station, FM Palanga.