SPAtacular Estonia!

Estonia offers wellness holidays for travelers of all types. Spend quality time with your children in a shallow pool or zoom down slides in a water park. Here on business? Relax with quality health and beauty treatments after a stressful day. Enjoy a romantic weekend away with your special someone at a secluded spa.

Estonia has been a spa and health resort destination for hundreds of years. Estonian spa hotels and health resorts are located along the coast, in the remote Estonian countryside, or deep within verdant forests, as local culture is so closely tied to the natural world. Spas take advantage of the surrounding nature by using local ingredients, such as mineral-rich mud, juniper leaves and berries, natural spring water, and peat for their treatments. No Estonian spa experience is complete without a sauna, a tradition so deeply rooted in Estonian culture that the smoke sauna ritual is on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Pärnu attracts visitors from Estonia, Scandinavia, and further afield who come to enjoy the romance of its wooden resort architecture, long sandy beach, and excellent sanatoriums, spas, and medical centers. Pärnu's reputation as a resort destination is nearly two hundred years old: the first mud bath opened here in 1838, the city was added to the list of imperial Russian resorts in 1890, and Pärnu became Estonia's top spa destination during the first republic. Pärnu is currently a member of the Union of European Historic Spa Cities, which includes more than 50 cities and regions in 16 European countries.

The modern Hedon SPA is located in the historic building that was once home to the mud baths. There you will find a quiet spa designed for contemplative relaxation and swimming areas with a variety of pools and saunas. Like Wasa Resort, the four-star hotel Tervise Paradiis SPA Hotel & Water Park is located in the beach area of ​​Pärnu. The sunlit atrium of Hestia Hotel Strand's new and intimate spa area features three swimming pools and a hot tub where guests and visitors can relax all year round. Pärnu also has a number of medical and rehabilitation SPAs.

Near Pärnu, you'll find the surfing beaches, SunCity Waterpark, bike paths, and two high-quality golf courses. Enjoy an active holiday — take a nature tour, hike, camp, and explore — then top it off with a relaxing massage at one of the city's excellent spas. 

Once a summer destination favored by Russian monarchs and celebrities, Haapsalu enchants visitors with its fresh sea air, beautiful wooden Old Town, waterfront promenade, and castle ruins. Haapsalu is a great place for walking and bird watching; Old Town's narrow streets lead to the sea again and again. Haapsalu's Paralepa Beach is famous for its warm seawater — it's nicknamed the Chocolate Coast in honor of the locals who apply the beach's healing mud to relieve joint pain.

The Estonian tradition of mud therapy originated in Haapsalu, where the healing properties of mud have been carefully studied and their benefits have been scientifically proven. The local spa hotel Fra Mare Thalasso is the only one in Estonia that uses thalassotherapy and seawater for medical purposes. The sea surrounds Hestia Hotel Haapsalu SPA on three sides, so you can enjoy beautiful views from the wonderful sauna and water center.

Due to the number of spa hotels on Saaremaa, Estonia's largest island is known as SPA-remaa. There you find a relaxing paradise, offering a wide range of wellness services, from medical treatments to beauty treatments, and from mud therapy to luxury services. Islanders are proud of their sustainable lifestyle. Explore the island's unique cultural heritage or simply step into unspoiled nature and smell the juniper or stroll along rocky beaches. Fresh air, seawater, and the sound of waves are nature's best stress relievers. 

Island spas are where tradition meets innovation, such as at Hotel GOSPA, which has developed special KENA body treatments and relaxing wellness treatments using Estonian herbs. At the popular Grand Rose SPA, located in the center of Kuressaare, you will be invited to pamper yourself and forget about everyday worries. Hotel Asa SPA is an ideal place for family vacations, offering various rest and relaxation options for children, young people, and adults alike. In addition to the large spa complexes, Kuressaare has several cozy romantic boutique SPAs.

The main attraction in Narva is one of the most powerful fortresses in the Baltics and Northern Europe: Narva Castle. From the castle, you can admire the view across the border to Russia and learn what it feels like to stand at the point where East meets West. Stroll along the river promenade, visit the historic Narva bastions, and take a self-guided tour through the historic Kreenholmn Textile Factory complex.

In Narva-Jõesuu, in addition to the extensive sandy beach, you can see wooden houses decorated with lace-style carvings, bask in the sounds of the birds and waves, or marvel at the silence of the pine forest. Spa and wellness centers have a long history in Narva-Jõesuu, as nobility from Saint Petersburg and Moscow once spent their summer holidays there.

The Noorus SPA Hotel has a Three Apples SPA with a fitness center, sauna center, a waterpark, a VIP oasis, and a wellness center. Meresuu SPA & Hotel's luxurious sauna center has seven different saunas: aromatic, steam, salt, and Turkish saunas, plus a brand new juniper sauna and two wood-fired outdoor saunas. Among the many treatments at Narva-Jõesuu's Medical SPA, you can choose different types of water treatments and massages — water treatment procedures use pure water from their very own artesian well. At Toila Spa Hotel, you will find all kinds of saunas: steam, infrared, aromatic, and salt saunas, as well as warm benches for relaxing, whirlpools, sunbathing areas, and a wood-fired sauna on the roof.

Estonia's second-largest city and home to Tartu University, Tartu is a hotbed of creative and scientific thought. Throughout the year there are interesting festivals, exhibitions, and performances, and the main attractions are all located an easy walk or bike ride away from the city center. At Tartu's V SPA, you can forget your worries and recharge your mental batteries. That's why V Spa offers 11 different pools and jacuzzis, as well as 13 saunas!

In Estonia's far southeastern corner, you'll find Setomaa, an area with its own unique culture, language, and traditions. The region's untouched nature makes it a great destination for wellness tourism. There you can learn about ancient singing traditions, folk costumes, and local history. You can also get acquainted with Seto cooking traditions at small-scale tourist farms, cafes, and home restaurants.

Värska is the only place in the Baltic States where you can enjoy a full-body mud bath. Clean mineral water fills the jacuzzi in the sanatorium's water center. Every day, the center uses about a ton of therapeutic mud, and three types of mineral water are used for drinking water and procedures at the spa. West from Värska, at Kubija Hotel's nature spa and sauna center, you will find five pools of different sizes, depths, and temperatures, as well as four saunas. West of Kubija on the outskirts of Otepää, Pühajärve is an ideal place for those who want to improve their health, as well as for lovers of luxurious spa holidays — there's something for every one among their wide range of treatments.

The historic Wagenküll Castle SPA promises a luxurious, romantic stay. The rituals offered at the spa complex invigorate the senses and relax the body at the same time, while a variety of pools and saunas relieve stress and fatigue.

South Estonia is home to the traditional Võro smoke sauna, and the entire ritual is included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The smoke sauna is where locals go to have a good time with family and friends and let go of mental and spiritual blocks while cleansing the body.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is the perfect holiday destination if you want to combine modern conveniences, diverse nightlife, and culinary adventures. The medieval Old Town is the capital's true treasure, and the coast is lined with promenades and sandy beaches. Summer brings white nights, autumn is rife with color, and winter has a festive Christmas atmosphere — Tallinn is a top destination at any time of the year.

At the four-star Kalev SPA Hotel, you can take some time for yourself or relax with the whole family — kids, especially, will love the water park's slides. At Tallink SPA, you can relax in five different saunas, as well as enjoy four indoor pools or a heated outdoor pool. Although Tallinn Viimsi SPA is officially located outside of Tallinn it is only 12 kilometers away. The Tallinn Viimsi SPA complex has a sauna center, a cinema, and Estonia's largest interactive water park — the Atlantis H2O water park with eight slides.

Outside of Tallinn, there are many more excellent spas. To the west is LaSpa, a place where you can relax both body and soul. The sauna center offers a wide range of saunas: an aromatic sauna, steam saunas, an outdoor wood-heated sauna, and even a pinecone sauna.

To the east, you'll find Rakvere, a real gem on the road from Tallinn to Narva. It is worth spending at least one night here to really enjoy everything this city has to offer — the medieval architecture at the castle, museums, restaurants, and, of course, the wellness treatments at Aqva SPA. Eight different saunas are on offer to visitors to the sauna center. If you want, you can always cool off in the year-round outdoor pool or cold water barrel, while the kids can race down the water slides.

Try a traditional sauna...

In many local tourist farms, you can bathe in the same way as the ancestors of today's Estonians did. Usually, a traditional sauna visit lasts at least three hours. The rich smell of wood smoke alternates with aromas of smoked meat, birch whisks, and sauna honey. If the sauna is located on the shore of a pond, lake, or river, then in winter you can dive into the hole. Here you will find a list of farms that would be happy to heat the sauna for you.

Or explore an eco-spa...

Estonians have used local plants and mud for medicinal purposes for centuries. Modern eco-spas try to revive ancient procedures and also use cosmetics created according to ancient recipes while taking into account the latest scientific knowledge. Such spas will appeal to those who value a lifestyle close to nature and ancient, traditional wisdom.

Harmoonikum Eco-spa Center, located near Tallinn in Viimsi, offers beer baths, sauna rituals, and hay baths, as well as an eco-cosmetic-making workshop. Energia Eco-spa Farm uses only natural, fresh raw materials, which are specially prepared for the client right before the procedure. It offers saunas, wraps, and massages, as well as master classes in the collection of medicinal plants.

Eco-spa in Vihula Manor, located in Lahemaa National Park, combines the luxury of a manor home with traditional and modern treatments, ecological knowledge, and ancient spa rituals.

Visit an urban spa...

Urban spas are a great place to relax and unwind on the weekends, especially after walking around in cool or rainy autumn weather. Follow up a relaxing morning in the spa with a sumptuous Sunday brunch. A luxurious selection of body and facial treatments will help you find harmony between mind, body, and soul.

For example, you can relax in the 15-meter swimming pool, jacuzzi, and saunas of the Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel Eforea SPA. Recharge with spa treatments, nibble on fresh fruit in the lounge area, or sunbathe on the terrace. Spend a charming romantic vacation at the Metropol SPA Hotel in the center of Tallinn — immerse yourself in the luxurious jacuzzi, relax in the sauna, or indulge in spa treatments. Meriton Wellness SPA is located on the second floor of Park Inn by Radisson Meriton Conference & Spa Hotel Tallinn. Guests have access to a water and sauna center with four saunas (steam, salt and aroma saunas, as well as a Finnish sauna), two swimming pools and two massage baths.

Or relax without the kids!

If comfort and privacy are important to you, then check out the 18+ spa complexes where you can relax without the noise of children and drink a cocktail in the pool. The most famous SPA18+ , which was intended only for adults, is located in Viimsi. It offers six saunas and private relaxation areas, sauna rituals, and a bar. Sometimes there are pool parties. In Tallinn, one of the largest spa and sauna centers in Estonia, Elamus, surprises its guests with 21 different saunas, and the brand new Ring SPA and sauna center has an 18+ zone where you can also celebrate an important event. Kalev SPA also offers visitors an 18+ zone.

How to create your own spa experience at home

Looking for the perfect souvenir to remind you of your visit to Estonia? Want to recreate that feeling of total relaxation? Most spas sell the products they use at the spa, and many of them are made right here in Estonia. Even if you forget to pick one up after your treatment, pharmacies, supermarkets, and souvenir shops often sell locally-made beauty and health products.

Here are a few ideas that will fit in your suitcase:

• Masks and scrubs made with therapeutic mud
• Natural soaps made with organic plant products, such as sea buckthorn, lavender, and peat
• Värska mineral water
• Products made from juniper, such as sauna whisks or creams
• Natural cosmetics made in Estonia (Joik, Hoia, Nurme, Aesti, Luuv, and more!)