Alytus, Lithuania

Capital City

With a population of just 22,500, Alytus is a sleepy backwater that offers little to entice foreign transplants. Though steeped in history, the city is divided into two halves, with the smaller Alytus I part lagging far behind the more developed Alytus II center. Bureaucracy is a persistent headache, and the chilly continental climate means long, gloomy winters. Alytus is hardly a cosmopolitan hub - this is a place for the hardiest of souls who can overlook its many shortcomings.