Southern Estonia

With rolling hills, picturesque lakes and vast woodlands, the southeast boasts some of Estonia’s most attractive countryside. It also contains one of Estonia’s most important cities, the vibrant university centre of Tartu.

No matter which direction you head from Tartu, you’ll find resplendent natural settings. In the south lie the towns of Otepää and Võru, the gateway to outdoor adventuring: hiking and lake-swimming in summer and cross-country skiing in winter. Quaint towns set on wandering rivers or in picturesque valleys add to the allure. For a serious dose of woodland, head to the crisp lakes and gently rolling hills of Haanja Nature Park or Karula National Park.

To the east stretches Lake Peipsi, one of Europe’s largest lakes. Along its shores are beautiful sandy beaches and a surprisingly undeveloped coastline. Aside from swimming, boating, fishing and soaking up the scenery, you can travel up its western rim stopping at roadside food stands and in tiny villages.

One of Estonia’s most intriguing regions is also among its least visited. In the far southeast, clustered in villages near Lake Pihkva, live the Setos, descendents of Balto-Finnic tribes who settled here in the first millennium.

If you plan only to dip into the region, then you’ll be fine getting around by bus. For more in-depth exploring – particularly around Haanja Nature Park, Setomaa and Lake Peipsi – services are infrequent and you’ll save loads of time by renting a car.

Explore Southern Estonia

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Southern Estonia.

  • Castle

    Vastseliina Episcopal Castle

    Strikingly set on a bluff above the Piusa River in western Setomaa, the photogenic ruins of one of Estonia's greatest medieval strongholds and places of…

  • Museum

    University of Tartu Museum

    Atop Toomemägi are the ruins of a Gothic cathedral, built in the 13th century by the knights of the Livonian Order after driving the pagan Estonians from…

  • Museum

    Estonian Print & Paper Museum

    A treat for word nerds, design hounds and print junkies alike, this interactive museum focuses on the history of printing and paper-making. Machinery from…

  • Museum

    Estonian National Museum

    This immense, low-slung, glass-clad building is arresting – both Estonians and architecture lovers purred when it opened in late 2016. The permanent…

  • Castle

    Viljandi Teutonic Order Castle

    Set within a lush park on the natural defensive prominence of Lossimäed, the scant-yet-evocative remains of Viljandi's powerful castle form a picturesque…

  • Observatory

    Tartu Old Observatory

    Built as part of Tartu University in 1810, this intriguing observatory on Toomemägi is a must for fans of astronomy and the history of scientific…

  • National Park

    Karula National Park

    Fairies, ghosts and witches abound in the 123 sq km of wooded hills, small lakes and ancient stone burial mounds that form Karula National Park, at least…

  • Gallery

    Tartu Art Museum

    If you've been socialising in Tartu's pubs and can't really see straight, don’t use this building to anchor your eye. Subsidence caused by the nearby…

  • Nature Reserve

    Luhasoo Nature Reserve

    Set in untouched swampland straddling the border with Latvia (just outside the boundaries of Haanja Nature Park), this 800-hectare reserve encompasses…

  • Museum

    KGB Cells Museum

    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…

  • Area

    Aparaaditehas

    Aparaaditehas (the Widget Factory) is an old 14,000-sq-metre Soviet-era industrial complex where refrigeration equipment and secret submarine parts were…

  • Church

    St John’s Lutheran Church

    This dignified, compellingly picturesque 17th-century church, with its pale-grey walls and stone altar, has been restored since its Soviet incarnation as…

  • Mine

    Piusa Caves

    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…

  • Museum

    Palamuse Museum

    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…

  • Lake

    Pühajärv

    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…

  • University

    Tartu University

    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…

  • Museum

    Dr F R Kreutzwald Memorial Museum

    Võru’s most interesting museum is the house where Dr Kreutzwald, the physician and scholar who compiled Estonia's national epic Kalevipoeg, lived and…

  • Church

    St Mary's Lutheran Church

    Otepää’s Gothic hilltop church dates from 1671, although it was largely reconstructed in 1890. Inside there’s intricate woodwork, low-hanging chandeliers…

  • Museum

    Tartu Toy Museum

    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…

  • Museum

    Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum

    Chronicling more than just Estonian Olympic excellence (although the glittering medal display serves that purpose admirably), this offbeat museum has a…