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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 a late-18th-century building, this excellent museum showcases dolls, model trains, rocking horses, toy soldiers and tons of other
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Käsmu
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 every Käsmu family had at least one captain in their midst. In the 1920s a third of all boats in Estonia were registered to this vi
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Tartu Art Museum
If you’re leaving one of the plaza’s pubs and you’re not sure whether you’re seeing straight, don’t use this building as your guide. Foundations laid partially over an old town wall have given a pronounced lean to this, the former home of Colonel Barclay de Tolly (1761–1818) – an e
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St Catherines Lutheran Church, Karja
The pagan and Christian meet in this fortress-like 14th-century church. Outside there’s an interesting panel about pre-Christian symbols with particular reference to some of the 13th- and 14th-century trapezoidal gravestones found here. Inside, oak leaves curl along the top of the
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Kaali Crater
Perhaps proof of its powers of attraction, 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, curiously round lake formed by a meteorite at least 4000 years ago. There are a further eight
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Altja
First mentioned in 1465, this fishing village has many restored or reconstructed traditional buildings, including a wonderfully ancient-looking tavern which was actually built in 1976. Altja’s Swing Hill (Kiitemägi), complete with a traditional Estonian wooden swing, has long been
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St Mary’s Church
Pöide, 3km south of the main highway, was the Saaremaa headquarters of the German Knights of the Sword and this church, built in the 13th and 14th centuries, remains an imposing symbol of their influence. Nowadays it serves Lutheran, Methodist and Orthodox congregations and its cru
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Kiek in de Kök
Built around 1475, this tall, stout fortress is one of Tallinn’s most formidable cannon towers. Its name (amusing as it sounds in English) is Low German for ‘Peep into the Kitchen’; from the upper floors medieval voyeurs could peer into the houses below. Today it houses a branch of
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Old Town
The little that remains of Narva’s war-pummelled Old Town is in the blocks north of the castle. Most impressive is the baroque Old Town Hall on Raekoja plats, built between 1668 and 1671. The striking building next to it is the Narva College of the University of Tartu . A large mod
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Muhu Museum
Koguva, 6km off the main road on the western tip of Muhu, is an exceptionally well-preserved, old-fashioned island village, now protected as an open-air museum. One ticket allows you to wander through an old schoolhouse, a house displaying beautiful traditional textiles from the ar
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Sagadi Manor & Forest Museum
Completed in 1753, this pretty pink-and-white baroque mansion is surrounded by glorious gardens (which are free to visit), encompassing a lake, numerous modern sculptures, an arboretum and an endless view down a grand avenue of trees. The house ticket includes admission to the neig
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Tallinn Town Hall
Completed in 1404, this is the only surviving Gothic town hall in northern Europe. Inside, you can visit the Trade Hall (housing a visitor book dripping in royal signatures), the Council Chamber (featuring Estonia’s oldest woodcarvings, dating from 1374), the vaulted Citizens’ Hall
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Linnahall
Built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and originally christened the Lenin Palace of Culture and Sport, Linnahall contains a vast concert arena within its crumbling, much-graffitied concrete hulk. It’s fair to say that the city doesn’t know quite what to do with it. The temple-like str
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Great Guild Hall
The Estonian History Museum has filled the striking 1410 Great Guild building with a series of ruminations on the Estonian psyche, presented through interactive and unusual displays. Coin collectors shouldn’t miss the display in the old excise chamber, while military nuts should he
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Dr F R Kreutzwald Memorial Museum
Võru’s most interesting museum is set in the house where the great man lived and worked as a doctor from 1833 to 1877. Built in 1793, its one of the oldest houses in town and there’s a lovely garden at the rear. Displays cover the doctors life and career focussing, naturally, on hi
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St Marys 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 and an impressive crucifixion scene (1880) above the altar. It was here in 1884 that the Estonian Students’ Society consecrated
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Suur Munamägi
At a less-than-overwhelming 318m, Suur Munamägi (literally Great Egg Hill) still manages to be the highest peak in the Baltic. In fact, the tree-covered ‘summit’ is easy to miss if you’re not looking out for it. Crack the Great Egg with an ascent of its 29m observation tower, built
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Freedom Square
This large paved plaza is used for summer concerts, skateboarding, impromptu ball games and watching heats of Estonian Idol (Eesti Otsib Superstaari) on the big screen at the southern end. The square sits just outside one of the former town gates, the remains of which are preserved
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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 by the Swedish king Gustaf II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) to train Lutheran clergy and government officials. It was modelled on Up
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Tallinn TV Tower
Opened in time for the 1980 Olympics, this futuristic 314m tower offers brilliant views from its 22nd floor (175m). Press a button and frosted glass disks set in the floor suddenly clear, giving a view straight down. Once youre done gawping, check out the interactive displays in th
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