Tartu
This former KGB headquarters and prison, known as the ‘Grey House’, was donated to Tartu City Museum by the family to which they were returned after the…
Must-see attractions in Estonia
Estonia
Narva Museum occupies the Hermann Tower and east wing of the castle. Climb the tower's 51m to a wooden viewing gallery, checking out the exhibits on each…
Kalamaja & Telliskivi
A sea fort built in the classicist style in 1840 as part of the defences of the Russian Empire, Patarei was subsequently used as a prison by the Estonian…
Old Town
The blue-and-gold clock on the facade of this striking 13th-century Gothic church is the oldest in Tallinn, dating from 1684. Inside are exquisite…
Tartu
Aparaaditehas (the Widget Factory) is an old 14,000-sq-metre Soviet-era industrial complex where refrigeration equipment and secret submarine parts were…
Southern Estonia
This dignified, compellingly picturesque 17th-century church, with its pale-grey walls and stone altar, has been restored since its Soviet incarnation as…
Pirita
Set on 1.2 sq km in the Pirita River valley and surrounded by lush conifer woodlands, these delightful gardens boast over 8000 species of plants,…
Western Estonia & the Islands
In a pretty setting southeast of Kihelkonna, this early-18th-century farm has been preserved in its entirety, complete with thatched-roof wooden…
Lahemaa National Park
Housed in a 19th-century forestry office, with displays on Lahemaa's flora and fauna, outdoor exhibits including a plant trail, hay barn and ice-cellar…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The 3km-long peninsula south of Rumpo, plus the 30 islets in Hullo Bay, are protected as the Vormsi Landscape Reserve. It's a haven for rare lichens and…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Kuressaare's jauntiest statue, created in 2002, features Saaremaa's legendary gigantic hero, Suur (meaning 'the great') Töll and his wife, Piret, carrying…
Kalamaja & Telliskivi
Resembling a cross between a nuclear bunker, a WWII sea-fort and some inscrutable temple to a vanished god, the Linnahall is in fact a covered concrete…
Southern Estonia
Sitting on a band of sandstone nearly 500m thick, Piusa was the site of a major quarry from 1922 to 1966 when it was discovered that the stone contained…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The great hulking shell of this burnt-out, 14th-century Cistercian monastery practically insists on exploration. Stairs lead up into the ruins, where you…
Estonia
Built between 1885 and 1895, the five green onion-domed towers of Pühtitsa Convent, crowning Kuremäe (Crane Mountain), are visible for miles. Murals by…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Occupying the keep of Kuressaare Castle since the late 19th century, this museum is devoted to Saaremaa’s nature and history. A large part of the fun is…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Dating from 1874, this 43m lighthouse watches over Tahkuna Peninsula’s northwest tip. Beyond the lighthouse stands an eerie memorial to the victims of the…
Estonia
Originally a Danish stronghold of the 13th century, Rakvere’s star attraction is a hulking, atmospheric semi-ruin that now aims to transport visitors back…
Kadriorg
This open-air amphitheatre is the site of Estonia’s quinquennial National Song Festival, assorted blockbuster rock concerts and other momentous events…
Southern Estonia
This museum is spread over an 18th-century parish clerk's house and focuses on the life of rural schoolchildren in 19th-century Estonia; the schoolhouse…
Southern Estonia
According to legend, 3.5km-long, 8.5m-deep Pühajärv (Holy Lake) was formed from the tears of the mothers who lost their sons in a battle of the Kalevipoeg…
Lahemaa National Park
The photogenically tumbledown, neoclassical manor house at Kolga dates from 1642, but was largely rebuilt between 1768 and 1820 by the wealthy Stenbock…
Tartu
Fronted by six Doric columns, the impressive main building of Tartu University was built between 1803 and 1809. The university itself was founded in 1632…
Kadriorg
The principal feature of the dispersed Estonian History Museum's Maarjamäe History Centre is the restored 19th-century Maarjamäe Palace, now a museum. An…
Lahemaa National Park
It's extraordinary that an obscure, remote village near the top of the Pärispea peninsula should be home to one of the country's best galleries, yet…
Kadriorg
Perched on the bluff next to Maarjamäe Palace, this large Soviet-era monument consists of an elegant bowed obelisk set amid a large crumbling concrete…
Dr F R Kreutzwald Memorial Museum
Southern Estonia
Võru’s most interesting museum is the house where Dr Kreutzwald, the physician and scholar who compiled Estonia's national epic Kalevipoeg, lived and…
Pirita
Opened in time for the 1980 Olympics, this futuristic, 314m tower offers brilliant views from its 22nd floor (175m). Press a button and frosted glass…
Lahemaa National Park
Completed in 1753, this pretty pink-and-white baroque mansion is surrounded by glorious gardens (which are free to visit), encompassing a lake, numerous…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Pöide, 3km south of the main highway, was the Saaremaa headquarters of the German Knights of the Sword and this fortress-church, built in the 13th and…
Southern Estonia
Otepää’s Gothic hilltop church dates from 1671, although it was largely reconstructed in 1890. Inside there’s intricate woodwork, low-hanging chandeliers…
Tartu
A big hit with the under-eight crowd (and you won’t see too many adults anxious to leave), this is a great place to while away a few rainy hours. Set in…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Founded in 1957, this reserve covers an area of 26 sq km, with a 26m observation tower at Saaremaa’s highest point, Raunamägi (a vertigo-inducing 54m)…
Lahemaa National Park
First mentioned in 1465, this fishing village has many restored or reconstructed traditional buildings, including fishing sheds on the rocky point and an…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Charge up those camera batteries: this is the site of the largest and most photogenic grouping of wooden windmills on the islands. By the early 16th…
St Catherine's Lutheran Church, Karja
Western Estonia & the Islands
The pagan and Christian meet in this fortress-like 14th-century church. Outside there’s an interesting panel about pre-Christian symbols with particular…
Old Town
Tallinn's cathedral (now Lutheran, originally Catholic) was initially built by the Danes by at least 1233, although the current exterior dates mainly from…
Old Town
Tallinn’s City Museum is actually split over seven different sites. This location, its main branch, is set in a 14th-century merchant’s house and traces…
Western Estonia & the Islands
There's no electricity supply to this pretty, whitewashed, thatch-roofed, Lutheran chapel (1801) at the eastern end of Kassari island, meaning that…
Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
Old Town
The permanent exhibition here, ‘Freedom Without Borders’, is divided into five sections examining the suffering of Estonians over five decades of…
