Must-see attractions in Estonia

  • Wind mill isolated on the sky; Shutterstock ID 184358495; Your name (First / Last): Lauren Gillmore; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online-Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: 65050/ Online Design /LaurenGillmore/POI

    Estonian Open-Air Museum

    Tallinn

    This sprawling ethnographic and architectural complex comprises 80 historic Estonian buildings, plucked from across the country and resurrected in…

  • Kuressaare Episcopal Castle

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Majestic Kuressaare Castle stands facing the sea at the southern end of the town, on an artificial island defended by stone-faced earth bastions and…

  • Narva Castle

    Estonia

    Begun by the Danes at the end of the 13th century and strengthened by successive owners including Germans, Swedes and Russians, this castle, along with…

  • Muhu Museum

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Koguva is an exceptionally well preserved, traditional Muhu village, now protected as an open-air museum. One ticket allows you to wander through an old…

  • Pärnu Beach

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Pärnu’s long, broad, sandy beach – sprinkled with volleyball courts, pop-up bars, cafes and changing cubicles – is the city’s main draw in summer. A…

  • Museum of New Art

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Pärnu's former Communist Party headquarters now houses one of Estonia's edgiest cultural spaces, established in 1992 as the country's first museum of…

  • Matsalu National Park

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    A twitcher’s paradise, Matsalu is a prime migration and breeding ground for the Baltic and Europe generally: some 282 bird species have been counted here…

  • Haapsalu Episcopal Castle

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Haapsalu’s crumbling heart is its bishop’s castle, which was western Estonia’s centre of command from the 13th to the 16th centuries but now stands in…

  • Palmse Manor

    Lahemaa National Park

    Fully restored Palmse Manor is the showpiece historic building of Lahemaa National Park, housing the visitor centre in its former stables. The pretty…

  • Tallinn Zoo

    Tallinn

    Boasting a broad collection of rare goat and sheep species, plus around 350 other varieties of feathered, furry and four-legged friends (including lions,…

  • Käsmu

    Lahemaa National Park

    Known as the 'Captains’ Village', from 1884 to 1931 tiny Käsmu was home to a marine school that churned out ship captains. At one stage it was said that…

  • Sääre Tirp

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Southern Kassari narrows to a promontory with some unusual vegetation and ends in the thin, 3km spit of land known as Sääre Tirp. An end-of-the-world kind…

  • Oru Park

    Estonia

    Oru Park was built around a grand palace in 1899 by Grigory Yeliseyev, at the time one of Russia's richest merchants. In 1935 it became the summer palace…

  • Tagamõisa Peninsula

    Western Estonia & the Islands

    Much of the beautiful and rarely visited western coast of the Tagamõisa Peninsula is protected as part of Vilsandi National Park, including the Harilaid…

  • Narva Museum

    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…

  • Mihkli Farm Museum

    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…

  • Oandu Nature Centre

    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…

  • Vormsi Landscape Reserve

    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…

  • Suur Töll & Piret

    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…

  • Padise Monastery

    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…

  • Pühtitsa Convent

    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…

  • Saaremaa Museum

    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…

  • Tahkuna Lighthouse

    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…

  • Rakvere Castle

    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…

  • Kolga Manor

    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…

  • Viinistu Art Museum

    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…

  • Sagadi Manor & Forest Museum

    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…

  • St Mary’s Church

    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…

  • Viidumäe Nature Reserve

    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)…

  • Altja

    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…

  • Angla Windmill Hill

    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…

  • Kassari Chapel

    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…

  • Kõpu Lighthouse

    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…

  • St Michael’s Lutheran Church

    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…

  • Long House

    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…

  • Mihkli Farm Museum

    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…

  • Birdwatching Tower

    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…

  • Rakvere Oak Grove

    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…

  • Holy Trinity Church

    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…

More destinations you need to see