Estonia holidays

Estonia is the Baltics' most-digitally-advanced country — one of the world's first nations to offer e-residency, with 99% of public services online, the home of Skype's original development, and a young government-and-startup culture that punches above its weight. But the headline for travellers is Tallinn's UNESCO Old Town — the most-intact medieval city in Northern Europe, surrounded by its 14th-century city walls with 20 surviving towers, the Town Hall Square as the heart, the cobbled streets connecting Toompea Castle on the upper city to the Lower Town's merchant guildhalls. Add the resort coast at Pärnu (Estonia's summer beach capital), the Lahemaa National Park's manor houses and bog walks (Estonia's largest national park, 90 minutes from Tallinn), the Saaremaa and Hiiumaa islands in the Baltic with their windmills and lighthouses, and the south-eastern Setomaa cultural region (the Orthodox-and-Lutheran Seto people with their distinctive folk traditions).

A 5-7 day Estonia trip: Tallinn (3-4 nights — Old Town walking — Toompea, Town Hall Square, Long Leg Gate Tower, the medieval defensive towers, the Kiek in de Kök Fortifications Museum, St Olaf's Church climb, the Kadriorg Palace and KUMU art museum, the Telliskivi Creative City and the Balti Jaam Market — plus dinner at Olde Hansa for medieval-themed dining or Restaurant 180 for modern Nordic) → Lahemaa National Park day-trip (1 night optional at Palmse Manor) → Pärnu Baltic coast (1-2 nights — beach, the Pärnu Mud Baths, the colonial-summer-resort heritage) → optional Saaremaa Island (2-3 nights — Kuressaare Bishop's Castle, the Sõrve Peninsula lighthouses, the meteorite crater at Kaali). Estonia is small — Tallinn to anywhere in the country is under 4 hours by bus or car.