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Valga Museum
Housed in an art-nouveau building which was once a theatre and bank, this museum focusses on the local area, with displays on natural history, archaeology, Soviet-era deportations, everyday Soviet life and local hero Alfred Neuland, winner of the gold for weightlifting at the 1920
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City Museum
Tallinn’s City Museum is actually split over 10 different sites. This, its main branch, is set in a 14th-century merchant’s house and traces the city’s development from its earliest days. The displays are engrossing and very well laid out, with plenty of information in English, mak
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Kõpu Lighthouse
With its pyramid-like base and stout square tower, the inland Kõpu lighthouse is the best-known landmark on Hiiumaa and some claim it to be the oldest continuously operational lighthouse in the world. A lighthouse has stood on this raised bit of land since 1531, though the present
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Sacrificial Stone
In pagan times, offerings used to be left in the cup-shaped depressions carved into this stone and the hundreds like it that are scattered throughout the country. Actually, offerings are still left; you’ll often find coins or flowers, even on those stones that have made their way i
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Kassari Lutheran Chapel
Theres no electricity supply to this pretty, whitewashed, thatch-roofed chapel (1801) at the east end of Kassari island, meaning that services are still held in enchanting candlelight. The main distinguishing feature of the interior is an unusual pulpit positioned above the altar.
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Tarvas Statue
Looming large near the castle, 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 might be forgiven for thinking that’s a lot of bull, but actually it’s an aurochs – a large, long-hor
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Luhasoo Nature Reserve
Set in untouched swampland on the border with Latvia (just outside the boundaries of Haanja Nature Park), this reserve provides a fascinating glimpse into Estonia’s primordial past. A well-marked 4.5km trail passes over varied bogs and along a velvety black lake, with Venus flytrap
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GoodKaarma
Run by an English-Estonian couple from their farm outside the village of Kaarma, about 15km north of Kuressaare, GoodKaarma makes organic soaps from local ingredients such as juniper, pine and sea-buckthorn berries. If you’re interested in getting your hands dirty (or should that b
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St Catherine’s Cloister
One of Tallinn’s oldest buildings, St Catherines Monastery was founded by Dominican monks in 1246. In its glory days it had its own brewery and hospital. A mob of angry Lutherans torched the place in 1524 and the monastery languished for the next 400 years until its partial restora
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Hill of Crosses
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 Ukraine on the false promise of a better life. This mound (only in flat Estonia could it be called a hill) beside the main road
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Rakvere Oak Grove
Covering the next hill along from the castle, this 23-hectare expanse of mature oak and lime forest is a wonderful place for a leafy stroll. Although there probably was a sacred oak grove here in ancient times, the forest has been clear-felled on several occasions, most recently in
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Presidential Palace
Echoing the style of Kadriorg Palace, this grand building was purpose-built in 1938 to serve as the official residence of the Estonian president – a role it once again fulfills. It’s not open to the public, but you can peer through the gates at the honour guards out the front. Sadl
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Sääre Tirp
Southern Kassari narrows to a promontory with some unusual vegetation and ends in a thin 3km spit of land, the tip of which juts out into the sea. It’s a beautiful place for a walk and there’s a small but surprisingly popular reedy beach on the way. Legend has it that the rocky out
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Sillamäe Museum
Until very recently, this little museum was jam-packed with fascinating Soviet-era relics, including uniforms, flags and large portraits of Lenin and Stalin. Now Lenin and his mates have been banished to a branch in the Sillamäe Cultural Centre (Kesk 24) and displays of dolls and t
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Tartu University Art Museum
Within the main university building, this collection comprises mainly plaster casts of ancient Greek sculptures made in the 1860s and 1870s, along with an Egyptian mummy. The rest of the collection was evacuated to Russia in 1915 and has never returned. Admission includes entry to
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Angla Windmill Hill
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 century there were already nine windmills on this hill. Now there are four small ones, mainly dating from the 19th century, and one l
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Narva Hermann Castle
Built by the Danes at the end of the 13th century and strengthened over successive centuries, this imposing castle, along with Russia’s matching Ivangorod Fortress across the river, creates an architectural ensemble unique in Europe. The outer walls enclose the Castle Yard , a larg
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St Marys Lutheran Cathedral
Tallinns cathedral (now Lutheran, originally Catholic) was founded by at least 1233, although the exterior dates mainly from the 15th century, with the tower completed in 1779. This impressive building was a burial ground for the rich and titled, and the whitewashed walls are decor
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Oru Park Landscape Reserve
Majestic Oru Castle was built in 1899 by notable St Petersburg businessman Grigory Yeliseyev, one of Russias richest merchants. In 1935 it became the summer palace of the Estonian president but, sadly, it was completely destroyed during the war. Although the building is gone, the s
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Viidumäe Nature Reserve
Founded in 1957, Viidumäe Nature Reserve covers an area of 26 sq km, with a 22m observation tower on Saaremaa’s highest point (54m). The tower (about 2km along a dirt road off the Kuressaare–Lümanda road at Viidu) offers a panoramic view of the forest and the wonders of the island
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