Estonia Holidays

Family Holidays

October 17th, 2007
If you are looking to escape the nightlife in Tallinn and experience something completely different, then Soomaa National Park will be a breath of fresh air for you, literally. Things you may want to do that you never thought you would:

  • explore the vast wetlands in a canoe, trying to find witches allegedly living there
  • go nuts and build your own haabia – a boat made out of a single aspen tree
  • take your haabia to a test ride in the bog – why wouldn’t you?

For the less daring kind who prefers to walk rather than paddle – Lonely Planet suggests walking on the bogs as one of the greatest activities in Estonia. You can either get the help of a local guide or take a self-guided tour yourself.

You can also catch the park during the so-called Fifth Season – a local pet name for spring floods. Supposedly, this was a time that young Estonian girls and boys used to look forward to since it indicated the start of a two-week-long holiday, full of fishing, boat-rides and rendezvous.

Since 1998, Soomaa National Park is in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites of UNESCO.

Related links: Soomaa National Park, Soomaa on YouTube, Soomaa National Park on Wikipedia

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