Old Town
Nobody's too sure of the exact date it opened, but by 1422 this pharmacy was already onto its third owner, making it the oldest continually operating…
Must-see attractions in Estonia
Pirita
Only the massively high Gothic stone walls remain of Pirita, completed in 1436 as the largest convent in Old Livonia. The rest was destroyed in 1577 by…
Old Town
Erich Carl Hugo Adamson, a towering figure of 20th-century art in Estonia, is celebrated in this reverent little museum in a historic house with which he…
Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum
Tartu
Chronicling more than just Estonian Olympic excellence (although the glittering medal display serves that purpose admirably), this offbeat museum has a…
Western Estonia & the Islands
With its pyramid-like base and stout square tower, the inland Kõpu lighthouse is the best-known landmark on Hiiumaa, and supposedly the third oldest in…
Tartu
This popular centre's interactive exhibits are liable to bring out the mad scientist in kids and adults alike. Allow at least a couple of hours for button…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Kihelkonna's tall, austere, early-German church dates from before 1280. It’s dark and gloomy inside, partly due to the wooden supports holding up the roof…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Built in the 1830s, this handsome, 60m-long timber house once lodged the directors of the Hiiu-Kärdla textile factory, burnt out in WWII. It's now perhaps…
Kadriorg
This handsome, two-storey weatherboard, the former kitchen for Kadriorg Palace, now displays a small but interesting assortment of paintings, porcelain…
Southern Estonia
Housing vibrantly colourful works by local painter Paul Kondas (1900–85) and other self-taught artists working outside the mainstream, this is Estonia’s…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Hidden away in the forest at Malvaste, 2km north of the Kärdla–Kõrgessaare road, this farm complex, founded by Swedes deported in 1781, is preserved as…
Old Town
This state puppet-museum's collection is a wonderful introduction to the art of puppetry from many different cultures and eras. There's enough interactive…
Southern Estonia
The pretty tree-covered hill south of the church was an ancient Estonian stronghold for around 800 years before it was topped by an episcopal castle in…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Broad, shallow, reedy Haapsalu Bay is a key habitat for migrating waterfowl in Estonia, and is listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance…
St Catherine’s Orthodox Church
Southern Estonia
Like its nearby Lutheran contemporary, Võru's main Orthodox church is dedicated to St Catherine as a nod to the town's founder, Russian Empress Catherine…
Estonia
Thought to have been a sacred site to pre-Christian Estonians, this 23-hectare expanse of mature oak and lime forest is a wonderful place for a leafy…
Old Town
Formerly producing hushed dread in Tallinn's Soviet-era citizens, the KGB headquarters at Pagari 1 is now a historical site, and the Museum of Occupations…
Old Town
Old Thomas (Vana Toomas), Tallinn’s symbol and guardian, has been keeping watch from his perch on the town hall's weathervane since 1530, although his…
Estonia
Dating from around 1430, although it’s been damaged and repaired several times since, this lovely, whitewashed Lutheran church has a 62m steeple (a 19th…
Tartu
Built between 1782 and 1789, this graceful building was designed by German architect JHB Walter, who modelled it on a typical Dutch town hall. The clear…
Western Estonia & the Islands
This fairy-tale wooden confection, painted pale green and white, sits plumb on the waterfront, surrounded by rose gardens. Stepping into the airy spa hall…
City Centre
With impressive contemporary architecture wedged between 19th-century brick warehouses, this development has transformed an outmoded (if historically very…
Old Town
Attached to the Great Coast Gate, this rotund 16th-century cannon tower once protected a major entrance to Old Town. It's now one half of the Estonian…
Southern Estonia
Presided over by a wooden carving of the god/king Peko, this museum consists of a 19th-century farmhouse complex, with stables, a granary and the former…
St Elizabeth’s Lutheran Church
Western Estonia & the Islands
Consecrated in 1750, this dignified, rust-coloured Lutheran church was named for Russian Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna, who gifted Pärnu's Lutherans 8000…
Western Estonia & the Islands
This museum covers 11,000 years of the Pärnu region's history, from prehistoric relics, right up to a reconstruction of a Soviet-era apartment. Pride of…
Pirita
Tallinn’s largest and most popular beach, Pirita is only 6km from the city. In summer, bronzed sun-lovers fill the sands and hang out in the laid-back…
Estonian Museum of Natural History
Old Town
Beginning as the collections of Estonian naturalists in the 19th century, the holdings at this natural history museum exceed 300,000 examples of the…
Kadriorg
Opened in the grounds of Maarjamäe Palace in 2017, and with big plans for the future, this rust-red, semi-subterranean museum on the grounds of the…
Southern Estonia
Occupying two floors of a late-18th-century pharmacy on the old market square, this modest museum has displays tracing Viljandi’s history from the Stone…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Despite limited English captions, this small museum in a former Soviet border guard station is quite engrossing, providing insight into the battles fought…
Southern Estonia
This museum is devoted to Juhan Liiv (1864–1913), a celebrated writer, poet and nationalist figure, of sorts. Even in the likely event that you haven’t…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Showcasing the works of Estonian-Swedish illustrator Ilon Wikland, who spent her childhood in Haapsalu and is best known for her illustrations for the…
Tartu
Tartu’s main square is lined with grand buildings and echoes with the chink of glasses and plates in summer. The centrepiece is the town hall itself,…
Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God
Estonia
This cute 19th-century church was originally a two-storey house, bought by Tsar Nicholas I in 1839 to provide a house of worship for Rakvere's Orthodox…
Tartu
Dating to at least 1323, this imposing red-brick church is unique for the rare terracotta sculptures placed in niches around its exterior and interior …
Western Estonia & the Islands
You can learn more about Kihnu Jõnn (the locally famous skipper who sailed all the world's oceans) and the island's unique history and culture at this…
Kadriorg
This surprisingly modest cottage was where Peter the Great and Catherine I lived on their early-17th-century visits to Tallinn, while Kadriorg Palace was…
Tartu
Looking like something from The Wizard of Oz, the Upside Down House is exactly that: a regular house tipped on its head, with everything inside – ceilings…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Built by Catherine the Great in 1790, Saaremaa's oldest Orthodox church has twin steeples and an impressive dolomite and wrought-iron gate. A faint image…
