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…
Must-see attractions in Estonia
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Western Estonia & the Islands
This working ostrich farm is a decent diversion for families, with opportunities to feed the birds, learn about their habits and buy feather dusters, eggs…
Western Estonia & the Islands
This quaint museum has relics, photos, old fishing nets and a marvellous tapestry tracing the 1000-year history of Swedes in Estonia, up to their escape…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Tucked away within pine forest, Tuhkana is one of Saaremaa’s best sandy beaches, due in large part to its remoteness. To get here from Leisi, head west…
St Catherine’s Orthodox Church
Western Estonia & the Islands
Built in 1768, this superb baroque church is named after Russian empress Catherine the Great, while also name-checking the early Christian martyr. If it's…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Local craft and artworks adorn the walls and shelves of this meticulously restored thatched longhouse in Koguva.
Schloss Fall & Keila-Joa Castle
Western Estonia & the Islands
Flat Estonia isn't known for its waterfalls and, at 6m, this one in Meremõisa isn't all that high. It's particularly picturesque, however, partly due to…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Estonia has one of the world’s highest concentrations of documented meteor craters. At Kaali, 18km north of Kuressaare, is a 100m-wide, 22m-deep,…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Located in an old limestone lodge that once formed part of the local manor, and making up one-quarter of the dispersed Hiiumaa Museum, this small…
Western Estonia & the Islands
On the western edge of Käina, the early-19th-century wood-and-thatch birthplace and childhood home of Rudolf Tobias (1873–1918), Estonia’s 'first…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Lending its name to the sleepy, surrounding settlement, this soberly symmetrical manor was built between 1755 and 1760 by Countess Ebba Margaretha…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Nineteenth-century Russian toffs, like their counterparts in Victorian England and Paris’ belle époque, liked nothing more than a good see-and-be-seen…
Estonia
This massive 7-tonne, 3.5m-high, 7.1m-long statue was completed by local artist Tauno Kangro to commemorate the town’s 700th anniversary in 2002. You…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Although this large, single-naved, dolomite church was rebuilt in its present form in 1836, its prized feature is considerably older: a medieval stone…
Railway & Communication Museum
Western Estonia & the Islands
Haapsalu’s attractive former train station, with its wooden-lace ornamentation and grand colonnade, opened in 1907 to transport the Russian nobility to…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Just inland from Sõru sadam (port) where the ferry to Saaremaa docks, this little community museum is worth a look. Downstairs you might find art from the…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Kõpu Peninsula’s second lighthouse stands 29.5m high, in all its blazing red glory at the western tip of the peninsula, only 200km from Stockholm. In 1874…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Based in former Soviet border-guard barracks, this ramshackle museum showcases military detritus, much of which was scavenged from the surrounding area…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Even in a nation where people still leave offerings in sacred groves, Orissaare's most famous landmark is, well, a little weird. Winner of the 2015…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Northern Hiiumaa had a population of free Swedish farmers until they were forced to leave on the orders of Catherine the Great, with many ending up in the…
Lahemaa National Park
The former Soviet border-guard barracks at Käsmu now shelters this eclectic museum, displaying artefacts relating to sailing, fishing, smuggling and other…
Tehumardi Night Battle Monument
Western Estonia & the Islands
On the night of 8 October 1944 a gruesome battle took place in the coastal village of Tehumardi between retreating German troops and a Soviet Estonian…
Sõrve Lighthouse & Visitor Centre
Western Estonia & the Islands
The first lighthouse on Sõrve promontory, just a primitive beacon, was built in the 17th century; the current 52m erection dates to 1960. To climb it, it…
Tallinn
This shallow beach is in Pelguranna, a neighbourhood favoured by Tallinn's Russian community. Broad and shallow, there’s a distinct local buzz in summer,…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The outline of the 17th-century, star-shaped Swedish ramparts that once surrounded old Pärnu can still be discerned on maps. The one remaining section and…
Estonia
At Valaste a viewing platform and metal stair faces Estonia’s highest waterfall (varying from 26m to 30m), which, depending on the month, may be a torrent…
Estonia
There are many historic wooden and stone buildings on Pikk street, including this 18th-century home, restored and furnished to reflect Rakvere town life…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The German knights built this castle, 4km north of Orissaare, during the 14th to 16th centuries and using the forced labour of the conquered locals. It…
Western Estonia & the Islands
On the western edge of town, beyond the train station, this shady park has a popular beachfront which, despite being a bit swampy, attracts plenty of…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Vormsi’s Swedish heritage is kept alive in this restored farmstead, also known as Pears Farm. It's a fascinating insight into the ways of a population…
Lahemaa National Park
Split into several pieces over millennia, this gigantic 7.8m-high erratic boulder, hidden within a lovely stand of forest, is still an impressive sight…
Estonia
Named after the Russian tsar assassinated while it was being built (1881–84), this Lutheran church is the largest religious building in Estonia. It was…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The islanders are among the minority of ethnic Estonians who adhere to the Russian Orthodox religion. This pretty little church at the centre of the…
