Best time to visit Estonia

May through to the end of August is the best time to visit Estonia if you want to make the most of its Baltic beaches, inland lakes and offshore islands. Winter has a magical charm of its own though, with fairytale forests covered in snow. And the best thing about winter in Estonia? The saunas, of course - where you can purify your skin and spirit at the same time as thawing out.

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Best time to visit Estonia

Pack an eye mask if visiting in June. Long days and short ‘white nights’ mean there’s not much darkness as the North Pole tips towards the sun.

May to late August is the best time to visit Estonia for warmth, especially in June and July, with Baltic beaches and inland lakes both popular escapes when the sun shines. Spring is ripe for bird watching with Steller's eiders, long tailed ducks, Bewick's swans, and thousands of geese occupying the islands and shallow bays from Feb-April. Autumn can be incredibly rewarding with deep, dark forests and marshlands colliding in a clash of warm colours, although the same can't be said for temps which seem to plummet no sooner September's started.

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Estonia Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

-7

-2

FEB

-8

-2

MAR

-5

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

-4

Things to do in Estonia

Things to do in Estonia...

Whether you’re trip trapping over wooden boardwalks or squelching across peat in purpose built ‘boots’, bog walking is the best way to unearth the mires, marshes and mosquitoes of mainland Estonia. Many of the nation’s indigenous plants, mosses and lichen can only be found within this sort of habitat with wild berries glowing like fairy lights to tempt bog walkers from well tramped spongy trails and onto territory that’s a bit more ‘sinky’. Cycling tours. Wind your way around the relatively flat tarmac of Estonia and you’ll be met with a blend of forest, coast and lakeside trails that incorporate many of the country’s historic old town centers and traditional rural villages. The Otepää region is Estonia’s most undulating with lots of lakes, rivers and narrow rural roads offering some delightful cycle routes over hills that in winter are associated with cross-country skiing. Remember your binoculars. From the rat-a-tat-tat echo in forests to the swooping cloak of ascending wings on the coast, Estonia is one of Europe’s top bird watching regions and an ideal staging area for migratory species using the East Atlantic Flyway. The west coast, especially, is home to a variety of reed beds, coastal meadows and floodplains with Matsalu National Park and the Luitemaa, Nigula and Nedrema nature reserves, prime twitching territory for those in the know.

Things not to do in Estonia…

Search for the Soviets . Although Estonia was once under Soviet rule it’s not really a part of history that local people feel they need to brood over. Several former factories have been turned into trendy offices or hipster hang outs and although it’s easy to visit the graffiti daubed sites from the 1980s Olympics or the dank walls of Patarei prison there’s so much more to Estonia than this ill-famed era implies. Tear it up in Tallinn. If you’re worried about bawdy Brits in Estonia’s capital city you might be happy to hear that in recent years things have calmed down. Cheap drinks, nightlife and, ahem, cheap drinks, once made Tallinn a magnet for stag parties; however, an active police presence and a ban from several bars and hotels have, in the main, managed to stem the tide of beer bikes and pub crawls. Miss out on a sauna. There's no need to make the two hour ferry crossing over the Gulf of Finland to enjoy a sauna; exfoliating in Estonia, particularly in the southern county of Võrumaa, has been a cultural obsession for well over 800 years. Purifying your flesh and spirit in ancient wooden saunas is an all-year round experience and definitely worth working up a sweat for, with or without a light beating with a birch twig.

Travel Team

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Estonia travel advice

Go bog walking

Simon Clifford, from our supplier Exodus shares his Estonia travel advice:

“The production of peat in Estonia used to be a big industry however, these days, it is peat bog walking that's better known. Basically, you walk over peat bogs in footwear akin to snow shoes. It's a great activity if you're looking for a unique way to explore Estonia's beautiful national parks.”

Go bog walking

Food tips

Simon Clifford, from our supplier Exodus:

“The main square in Tallinn is a great place to sit with a verivorsti (blood sausage) hot dog covered in lingonberry jam and a glass of Saku, the local Estonian beer."

Tallinn tips

Jenny Aitken, from our supplier Tucan Travel, shares her experiences of traveling in Estonia:

“The UNESCO world heritage site of Tallinn Old Town is super charming and features plenty of windy cobbled streets, cosy restaurants and old churches. I’d definitely recommend taking some comfy trainers or walking shoes as there’s so much to fit in on a city sightseeing tour.”

Tallinn tips

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Written by Chris Owen

Best time to visit Estonia