MORNING
Fifty miles east of Tallinn,
located within Lahemaa
National Park, Palmse Manor is
one of several grand, baroque
estates dotted around the
country. It ’s existed in one form
or another since the early 16th
century; the current incarnation
dates from 1785. Its gorgeously
symmetrical exterior wouldn’t
look out of place in a Wes
Anderson film. Take a tour of the
sumptuous grounds and house
and, if you’re not driving, finish off
with a tasting of wine and various
Estonian spirits.
Heading south, it ’s a two-hour
drive to the coastal city of Pärnu,
so break the journey up with
lunch at Põhjaka Manor, near
the town of Paide. Dedicated
to seasonal, local produce, the
menus depend on what’s arrived
from the restaurant ’s suppliers
that morning.DAY TWO STATELY HOMES & SPAS
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AFTERNOON
Soomaa National Park is an
expanse of rivers and forests,
and perhaps the best place in the
country to watch the river banks
burst and fields flood, creating new
waterways. The park is also home
to huge areas of peat bog, and if
that doesn’t sound appealing, a
guided tour with charismatic guide
Aivar Ruukel may well change
your mind. Aivar offers walks out
across the bogs to help visitors
understand this remarkable
ecosystem. Ungainly snowshoes
are used to stop you sinking, but if
you don’t fancy that, there’s also
a series of wooden walkways, too.
Growing at just 1mm a year, the
sphagnum moss captures huge
amounts of carbon, making it a
vital part of the landscape. Yet
these tours aren’t dry, biology
lectures — they also offer the
chance to go wild swimming and
try wild berries along the way.EVENING
In late summer, Pärnu Beach
throngs with domestic tourists,
drawn here by its golden sands
and the rows of colourful, historic
houses behind it.
The city’s other major draw
is its excellent spas. Hedon Spa
& Hotel is perhaps the town’s
grandest, offering a wide selection
of different treatments, including
silent spas and even a night spa.
Don’t miss the on-site Restaurant
Raimond, which offers fine dining
tasting menus featuring the likes
of caviar, venison, and Jerusalem
artichoke ice cream. Although,
if you fancy one more mansion
for the day, you could always eat
instead at the lavish, art nouveau
Villa Ammende, a 10-minute walk
northwest. The à la carte options
include roast beef heart with
garlic, pickled apple, dried onion
and salty blackcurrant, and roast
chicken broth.Palmse Manor, Lahemaa National Park
RIGHT: Soviet art at Hara HarbourTOP 3
Soviet relicsHARA HARBOUR
The former Russian
submarine base at Hara sits
on the northern coast and
has become a strangely
serene site for watersports.
It’s not always been this
way, however — built in
the 1950s, the now-forlorn
structure still has plenty for
history buffs to marvel at,
including Soviet artwork,
photographs from the era
and no shortage of stories
from locals who lived under
the regime.HOTEL VIRU &
KGB MUSEUM
Given its astonishing history,
the very fact that Tallin’s
towering Hotel Viru is still a
working hotel is one of its
most surprising features. At
the height of the Cold War,
the KGB spied on guests,
whose rooms were riddled
with surveillance equipment.
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been dedicated as a museum
to the city’s paranoid period
of history.SOVIET STATUE
GRAVEYARD
Statues — many created
between 1945 and 1990 by
Estonian artists — salvaged
from squares, plinths and
buildings in Tallinn have
now been amassed in a plot
behind Maarjamäe Palace,
part of the Estonian History
Museum. It’s an eery feeling
to wander among oversized
icons of the Soviet area,
including Stalin and Lenin.
The scowling, ground-
level, head of the latter is
particularly unsettling.Jan/Feb 2022 63WEEKENDER