Why Estonia Should Be on Your List
- Danielle Dybiec
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
I'm putting the finishing touches on my next overseas journey: a return to Scandinavia and Arctic Europe, which is quickly becoming a favorite summer destination. It will be my first trip to Finland, and I'll be spending several days based in Helsinki to see the city and take day trips. I'll fly further north to Oulu (2026 European Capital of Culture), take a train to Rovaniemi (home to Santa Claus), and attend an Arctic Europe travel conference in Inari, where we'll also learn about Lapland's indigenous Sami people. Before I fly home, I'm excited for the day trip I planned by ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia, and the article below may inspire you to visit Estonia too!
Article below produced by Virtuoso with Visit Estonia from 9/1/2023 can be found here.
From Tallinn’s Michelin-starred restaurants to mud baths on the island of Saaremaa, this northern European gem is ready for your next adventure. Perched on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, Estonia is one of Europe’s least populated countries – in fact, more than half of the republic is covered in forest – yet Estonia contains multitudes. Located at the confluence of Scandinavia, Russia, and Eastern Europe, its multilayered influences have included everyone from Viking invaders and Scandinavian royalty to medieval merchants of German, Swedish, Danish, and Russian descent. While the Baltic state – which declared its independence from the Soviets in 1991 – is packed with history, it also very much embraces a modern mindset.
While you could dedicate an entire trip to exploring Estonia, the country is also an easy addition to a Scandinavian jaunt. Tallinn, its capital city, is a two-and-a-half-hour ferry ride across the Baltic from Helsinki or a one-hour flight from Stockholm – and both the airport and ferry port are quick tram rides from the city center.
The prime time to visit Estonia is during the height of festival season in late spring and summer, when days slip into light-drenched white nights. From tours of ancient fishing villages and fairy-tale-inspired old towns to nature-fueled adventures foraging the country’s wild terrain, here are four experiences that promise pure Estonia.
Island-hop through the West Estonian Archipelago.
More than 2,000 islands sit huddled together off Estonia’s west coast, and while most are uninhabited, quick ferry rides connect travelers to the larger ones – Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Kihnu, Ruhnu, and Vormsi. On Saaremaa, Estonia’s largest island, travelers can sunbathe on Jarve beach, set off with a picnic basket to Panga Cliff, and visit Kaali, where a meteorite collided with Earth just after 1530 to 1450 B.C. In Kuressaare, the island’s capital, public saunas share the street with the fourteenth-century Kuressaare Castle, one of the country’s best-preserved fortresses. Neighboring Hiiumaa, Estonia’s second-largest island, is home to one of the world’s oldest lighthouses (Kopu), plus a burgeoning culinary scene, celebrated each year in August at the Home Café Days food festival.
Forage for berries in Lahemaa National Park.
Nearly three-quarters of the country is blanketed in forest or bog, and the climate is so diverse that Estonia claims a “fifth season” between late March and early April, when melting snow causes annual flooding. That influx of water supports the growth of mushrooms, herbs, and berries, which can be harvested from July through October. Areas such as Lahemaa National Park, Estonia’s oldest and largest national park, yield lingonberries, bilberries, cowberries, cranberries, wild strawberries, wild raspberries, and cloudberries, which travelers are free to pick. Ask your Virtuoso advisor to arrange a foraging tour with a local guide.
Get lost in Tallinn’s Old Town, then find the city’s cool creative pockets.
Crowned with Gothic spires, medieval churches, and lavish manor homes, the cobblestoned streets of Tallinn’s Old Town feel like something out of a fairy tale and have remained practically intact since the city was mapped in the thirteenth century. Just a few blocks away from Old Town, Kalamaja, one of Talliin’s neighborhoods, is a hot spot for saunas such as the one underneath the taproom at the Põhjala Brewery and the Kalma sauna, one of the oldest public saunas in Estonia. But once travelers venture beyond the UNESCO World Heritage site’s city walls, up-and-coming districts such as Noblessner, Telliskivi, and Rotermann showcase why Tallinn is quickly becoming one of Europe’s hippest capital cities.
Repurposed factory buildings now house trendy bars, avant-garde art exhibitions, and design shops. Telliskivi’s cutting-edge contemporary Fotografiska museum doubles as a meeting place for the community to gather over craft cocktails and summer concerts on the backyard patio, while the circular Kumu Art Museum incorporates local traditions and natural materials such as wood and copper into its ultra-modern architecture. For one of the city’s best views, take the glass elevator up the Niguliste Museum’s church tower to its skydeck for 360-degree vistas of the Old Town and Tallinn Bay.
Find your favorite slice of leib.
Nature drives Estonia’s blossoming dining scene, which is anchored by food foraged from its forests and fresh catches from the Baltic. Start a tasting tour with a staple of the country’s cuisine, leib, a black bread baked with rye flour and topped with Baltic herring or slathered with soir, a soft, caraway-flavored quark cheese.
Tradition and seasonality are the backbones of Estonia’s culinary philosophy: Summer is when produce is pickled and preserved, while fall is the time for foraged forest mushrooms and wild game such as elk. While true to its roots, the small country is following in the gastronomic footsteps of its Nordic neighbors, thanks to a crop of creative young chefs putting their spin on Baltic fare. In Tallinn’s seafront Noblessner neighborhood, for example, 180° by Matthias Diether holds two Michelin stars for its internationally influenced tasting menus that champion Estonia’s traditional techniques. At Lore Bistro, chef-sommelier duo Janno Lepik and Kristjan Peaske serve a menu of revamped comfort-food classics (think farm quail with grilled cabbage, jalapeño-pecan butter, and parsnip-cashew cream). And don’t skip Michelin-starred Harg, revered for its signature “dirty steak” – a rib eye cooked directly atop charcoal.
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Nine Muses Travel designs journeys to inspire artists, arts lovers and the culturally curious.
Danielle Dybiec
Founder & President
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