Europe Travel Guide

Haapsalu Travel: Estonia

Haapsalu (Swedish & German: Hapsal) is a resort town on the west coast of Estonia. It has been well-known for centuries for its warm seawater, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere. Narrow streets with early twentieth century wooden houses bring you to the sea again and again. Haapsalu has been called the ‘Nordic Venice’ due to this plentitude of water.

The town dates back to 1279, when it was chartered and became the centre of the Saare-Lne Bishopric, as it remained for the next 300 years. Buildings from those early days remain today, including the Episcopal castle which has the biggest single-nave cathedral in the Baltic states.

For many years, the sea mud has been claimed by locals to have a curative effect. A military doctor, Carl Abraham Hunnius, founded the first mud cure resort in 1825. News of the curative mud quickly reached the aristocracy of St. Petersburg. Ever since then, Haapsalu has been a popular summer destination where people from all around the world come for medical treatment. Today, there are three mud cure establishments in Haapsalu varying in size and location.

Kohtla-Jrve Travel: Estonia

Kohtla-Jrve is a city in northeast Estonia, founded in 1900 and incorporated as a town in 1945. It has a population of 47,679 as of 2000. The city is very industrial, and both processes oil shales and is a large producer of various petroleum products. The city is also very diverse ethnically; it contains people of nearly 40 ethnic groups and only 21% of the population is Estonian. Many ethnic Estonians in the city have adopted Russian as their primary language.

Kuressaare Travel : Estonia

Kuressaare (Swedish and German: Arensburg) is both the capital of Saaremaa, an Estonian island, and of Saare County.

The town is located at the Bay of Livonia. It has a territory of about 15 sq. km and a population of about 16,000.

Kuressaare obtained the freedom of a town in 1563 and has been called by different names throughout its existence. Its historic name of Arensburg was replaced by Kuressaare in 1917. During the Soviet period, from 1952-1988 it was called Kingissepa after the Bolshevik Viktor Kingissepp who was born there.

In October 1990 Kuressaare was the first town in Estonia to regain its self-governing status. Today, Kuressaare is a safe and healthy town, open for international cooperation and communication and having eight twin-towns.

Maardu Travel: Estonia

Information will be available soon…

Narva Travel : Estonia

Narva (Russian ?????) is an Estonian city located on the Russian border. The Narva River, which drains Lake Peipus, flows through the city. On January 1, 2002 it had a total population of 70,178 (31,377 males and 38,801 females). The total area is 84.54 km which gives a population density of 830 inhabitants per km. The famous chess player Paul Keres was born in the city. 95% of the population are Russians.

Prnu Travel: Estonia

Prnu (German: Pernau, old Russian: ??????, Polish Parnawa) is a city on the Baltic Sea coast in southern Estonia. Some consider the city a great summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants and large swimming beaches. Through the city flows a river having the same name, Prnu.

Tourism

Prnu is a health resort of international stature. In addition to guests arriving from around fifty countries, it is also proved by its membership in the European Spas Association (since 2000) and the European Blue Flag that has been flying at the beach of Prnu since 2001. Most tourists in Prnu are Finnish or Estonian. Hotel and restaurant staff speak English and some Finnish in addition to Estonian.

Rakvere Travel: Estonia

Rakvere (Wesenberg in German) is a town in North Estonia, county seat of Lne-Viru County, 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland. Rakvere is mainly known for its historical stone castle in Vallimgi Hill. The castle was built before 1226 at the place of Tarwanpe fortress of ancient Vironians, known as Rakovor in Russian sources.

Rapla Travel : Estonia

Rapla is a city in Estonia, the centre of the Rapla County and the rural municipality of Rapla.

Saue Travel : Estonia

Saue is a little city near Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, in the Harju County, constituting a separate municipality. Saue is on a very favourable position because of its location near Tallinn. It lures a lot of medium rich people, who like to live in a small town close to the nature and at the same close to all kinds of entertainment, jobs etc. that Tallinn has to offer.

The territory of Saue is 3.50 km and population about 5000. Closest centres are Tallinn – 18 km, Keila – 7 km, Saku – 7 km and Laagri – 7 km. 93 % of the people living in Saue are ethnic Estonians. Average age of people is 35. Over the years census of the population has shown, that the population is slowly growing – 1959 there was 1088 people living in Saue, 1970 it was 1979, in year 1979 it was 3293, in 1989 the population was 4395, in 1995 it was 4492 and 2000 it was 4996.

Sillame Travel : Estonia

Sillame is a town in in Ida-Viru County in the northern part of Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland.

During the Soviet regime in Estonia, Sillame was a closed town mainly because of the chemical factory in there which produced fuel rods and nuclear materials for the soviet nuclear power plants and weapon facilities. At first, uranium was mined in the same location, later it was imported from various locations from the Eastern Bloc, mainly Czechoslovakia. Rumors are that the first Soviet nuclear bomb was created from the uranium mined at Sillame. The radioactive byproducts were thrown into an open waste-pool by the sea, which is an environmental hazard even now.

The city was also a beach and spa for Communist Party members and leaders.