Alytus straddles the Nemunas, Lithuania's largest river, in the southern part of the country. The city is divided into two halves by the river valley, connected by the Bridge of White Rose — one of Lithuania's longest pedestrian bridges — which also serves as the main promenade for evening walks above the forested banks below. It is not a destination that many international travellers seek out, but Alytus has a quiet appeal rooted in its natural setting and its sobering 20th-century history.
The city's WWII past weighs heavily. The Vidzgiris Forest memorial marks the site where thousands of Jewish residents were murdered during the Holocaust, and the local museum addresses this history directly. On a different note, Alytus has reinvented itself as something of a beer town — it hosts an annual beer festival and is home to several craft breweries that have put Lithuanian brewing on the map.
The Nemunas riverbanks and surrounding pine forests offer good walking and cycling, and the Dzukija National Park is within easy reach to the east. If you are travelling through southern Lithuania between Vilnius and the coast, or heading toward the Polish border, Alytus provides a worthwhile pause with more character than the highway rest stops suggest.