Western Estonia & the Islands
Southwestern Estonia contains the country's most popular resort town, as well as charming country villages, a vast national park and two remote islands that see few foreign visitors every year.
Southwestern Estonia contains the country's most popular resort town, as well as charming country villages, a vast national park and two remote islands that see few foreign visitors every year.
Set with rolling hills, picturesque lakes and vast woodlands, the southeast boasts some of Estonia's most attractive countryside.
Tartu lays claim to being Estonia's spiritual capital.
One of Europe's most enchanting cities, Tallinn is a heady blend of medieval and modern, with narrow, cobbled streets set beneath the spires of 14th-century churches, and a wild mix of restaurants, cafés, boutiques and nightclubs hidden in the...
Estonia's largest island still lies covered in thick pine and spruce forests, while old windmills, slender lighthouses and tiny villages appear as if unchanged by the passage of time.
The crown jewel of Estonia's national parks, Lahemaa occupies an enormous place - literally and figuratively - when talk of the northeast arises.
Boasting golden-sand beaches, lush sprawling parks and a historic, picturesque centre, Pärnu (pair-nu) is Estonia's premier resort town.
Saaremaa's star attraction, Kuressaare is a picturesque town with peaceful leafy streets, charming guesthouses and cafés, and a magnificent castle rising up in its midst.
Set on a fork-shaped peninsula that stretches into Haapsalu Bay, this quaint, peaceful town makes a pleasant stopover en route to the islands.
Estonia's largest rahvuspark (national park), Lahemaa is an alluring, unspoiled section of rural Estonia with varied coastal and inland scenery.
Set with a magnificent castle - and very large bull sculpture - Rakvere is a small city, the tiny centre of which contains pleasant streets, nicely manicured parks and a lively, youthful population.
The small hilltop town of Otepää, 44km south of Tartu, is the centre of a picturesque area of forests and lakes, scenic hillsides and crisp rivers.
Estonia's easternmost town is separated only by the thin Narva River from Ivangorod in Russia.
At Viki on the road to Kihelkonna, about 30km from Kuressaare, a 19th-century farm has been preserved as the Mihkli Farm Museum (Talumuuseum; adult/concession 15/10Kr; 10am-6pm).
A small town 27km from Tartu in a hilly, forested landscape on the Tartu-Valga road, Elva is set between two pretty lakes, Verevi and Arbi.
If you are arriving on the ferry from Hiiumaa, this region provides a bucolic introduction to the island.
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