Parnu Estonia
Estonia
Frequently Asked Questions
At the river port, within walking distance of the centre. Expedition ships and smaller vessels come up the mouth of the Pärnu river: a few minutes on foot brings you to the first old houses. Taxis are available if needed.
Because the whole country seems to head there from late June. Estonians say suvepealinn: open-air cafés, a vast beach of pale sand and days that never quite end on the Gulf of Riga.
Rüütli street, pedestrianised, with its painted wooden houses, galleries and terraces. Around a corner, the Red Tower, the last remnant of the medieval fortifications, and the Tallinn Gate cut through the earth ramparts raised in the Swedish era.
Two, both from the eighteenth century, that shape the town's skyline: St Elizabeth's with its slender baroque steeple, and St Catherine's, crowned with verdigris Orthodox domes.
Nearly three kilometres of fine sand, edged by a promenade alternating cafés, volleyball courts and playgrounds. The bay is shallow and warms quickly in summer, which explains the families settled there from morning on.
Yes. The wind sculpts the low dunes and sunsets stretch out over the Baltic. The functionalist pavilions of the 1930s, white and rounded, are a reminder that the resort was also a laboratory of modern architecture.
Yes, the resort has about a dozen. Pärnu owes its reputation to the mud baths opened in 1838, which drew visitors from across the Russian Empire. In summer, book ahead: demand is high.
A district of ornate wooden villas between the beach and the centre, built for the summer visitors of another age. Glazed verandas, turrets, peony gardens and doorsteps worthy of an open-air museum, best crossed on foot or by bicycle.
The triangle of old town, beach and villa quarter can be walked or cycled without hurrying. Distances are short, lime-shaded parks follow one another, and kiosks sell strawberries and cinnamon buns in season.
The euro. English is widely spoken by shopkeepers, as are Russian and Finnish: nobody needs Estonian, but a polite tere is always well received.
