# Essential Birštonas Travel Guide: What to See & Do

**Discover Birštonas: Lithuania’s Riverside Spa Town**

Birštonas is a peaceful spa town in southern Lithuania, located within the sweeping bends of the Nemunas River. Surrounded by the forests, meadows, and flowering landscapes of Nemunas Loops Regional Park, the town combines wellness, nature, and local history in a tranquil setting.

## Mineral Waters and Spa Traditions

Birštonas is closely associated with the mineral-rich waters beneath its streets. These natural springs helped the town develop into a resort during the period of Imperial Russia, when the area received official permission to establish spa facilities.

The tradition of therapeutic treatments continued after the First World War. In the 1920s, the Red Cross helped create Birštonas’s first mud baths, giving the town’s wellness culture new momentum. The historic Tulpės sanatorium still reflects this long-standing spa tradition.

## The Legend of Birštonas’s Underwater Whale

Birštonas is also connected with a distinctive local legend. According to the story, an underwater whale protects the town’s valuable mineral springs.

A concrete whale sculpture once marked the site where the important Vytautas spring was discovered. It disappeared beneath the Nemunas in 1959, after the construction of a downstream hydroelectric plant raised the river level. The story has since become an unusual chapter in Birštonas’s folklore.

## What to See and Experience in Birštonas

For travelers wondering what to see in Birštonas, the town’s appeal lies less in a crowded list of attractions than in its atmosphere. Riverside scenery, wooded parkland, mineral-water traditions, and a quiet Lithuanian spa lifestyle define the experience.

Birštonas offers a compact setting in which to enjoy Lithuania’s natural beauty and restorative character, making it an appealing destination for travelers seeking relaxation, local history, and the peaceful surroundings of Nemunas Loops Regional Park.

## Walk Birštonas with Neywo

Neywo turns Birštonas into a self-guided audio tour. Stories arrive as you reach the place they belong to, and the route reshapes when you wander off it.

## More in Kaunas County

- [Kaunas](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/kaunas-county/kaunas.md)
- [Kėdainiai](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/kaunas-county/kedainiai.md)

## Elsewhere in Lithuania

- [Juodkrantė](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/klaipeda-county/juodkrante.md) — Klaipėda County
- [Klaipėda](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/klaipeda-county/klaipeda.md) — Klaipėda County
- [Nida](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/klaipeda-county/nida.md) — Klaipėda County
- [Palanga](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/klaipeda-county/palanga.md) — Klaipėda County
- [Anykščiai](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/anyksciai.md)
- [Plateliai](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/plateliai.md)
- [Trakai](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/trakai.md)
- [Vilnius](https://neywo.com/destinations/lithuania/vilnius.md)

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