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Winter holidays in Estonia
In winter the snow and many cheerful events compensate for the cold and dark.
Picture knee-thick snow glittering in the sun, a walk in the quiet and pure winter forest and snow topped medieval castles and buildings in Tallinn’s Old Town. While being in Tallinn be sure to visit Europe’s best Christmas market .
An Estonian’s favourite winter pastime is cross country-skiing. Cross-country Skiing World Cup Series take place in Otepää - the winter capital of Estonia. Downhill skiing and snowboarding are becoming more and more popular with youngsters.Younger children get excited about sledging and snowtubing down snowy slopes and skating or playing ice-carousel on frozen lakes and rivers.
If you’re not a big ski fan, try tracking Estonian wild animals like lynx, bears, wild boars, deer or wolves. You could go on a bloodless hunt and capture a snow owl or an otter dragging its prey across the field.
You can drive your car to an island on an ice road to see seals, bog-shoe across a snowy bog, fish through a hole in the ice, take a horse sleigh ride or go extreme and get the adrenalin flowing with ice-climbing.
After a day of refreshing winter activities, it is nice to sit down in front of the chimney and sip a cup of hot tea or mulled wine or do what the Estonians do – heat up in a 100 degree steam room, whip yourself with birch branches (braver ones use juniper!), then run outside and roll in the snow. The temperature difference gets your blood running and invigorates your senses. Estonians say that a sauna cleanses the soul.
See also - what to do - winter 2009/2010
