Pärnu

Pärnu (Pernau in German, Пярну in Russian) is a 39,784 inhabitants town by river Pärnu, in the southwestern part of Estonia. It's the capital of the county of Pärnu and the 4th most inhabited town in Estonia, as well as the main Estonian holiday destination.

How do I arrive to Pärnu?

  Pärnu is quite communicated and connected with the rest of Estonia. 

• Plane: there are only flights to the islands of Kihnu and Ruhnu in winter. It's located 4 km north from Pärnu and there are 2 daily buses.
• Boat: there are between 2 and 4 daily ferries to Pärnu that goes from Munalaid and Pärnu (although it takes much longer than the bus to Munalaid and then the ferry). They arrive in Kihnu at a harbour in the middle of Sääre and Lemsi villages. There are also ferries to Ruhnu (aprox 4.5 hours) from Munalaid.
• Train: there is three daily trains to Tallinn (aprox. 2 hour 15 minutes) and Viljandi (aprox. ). The train station is 5 km east from Pärnu Old Town.
• Bus: from Pärnu Bus Station there are 11 daily buses to Viljandi (aprox. 1.5 hours), 12 daily buses to Tallinn (aprox. 2 hours), a daily bus to Haapsalu (aprox. 2 hours 30 minutes), 12 daily buses to Tartu (aprox. 2 hours 45 minutes) and 4 times every day to Kuressaare (aprox. 3 hours 30 minutes). There are also buses to international destinations like Vilnius (Lithuania) and St. Petersburg (Russia).
• Car: if you rented a car, it's a 40 minutes journey from Riisa at Soomaa National Park, 50 minutes from Penijõe at Matsalu National Park,1 hour 10 minutes from Viljandi, 1 hour 20 minutes from Haapsalu, 1 hour 40 minutes journey from Tallinn, 1 hour 50 minutes from Valga and 2 hours 15 minutes from Tartu. The town isn't far from the Latvian border so it can be reach in a 1 hour 30 minutes journey from Ainaži.

Once in Pärnu it's a good idea using bicycles or just walk to move within the town.

History

The first settlement was called Perona (Vana-Pärnu in Estonian, Alt-Pernau in German), founded by the bishop of Ösel-Wiek around 1251 (destroyed around the year 1600). Nearby the Livonian Order built Ordensburg in 1265 and a called called Embeke (Uus-Pärnu in Estonian, Neu-Pernau in German), later known as Pärnu and became member of the Hanseatic League and an important ice-free harbour in Livonia. Between 1560-1617 Pärnu was under the contro of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, being later part of Swedish Livonia and then to the Russian Empire (since 1721). During the Great Northern War, the University of Tartu was relocated here (and nowadays a branch campus is here too). Pärnu became part of independent Estonia in 1918 but it was occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Red Army (and its German population left the town), then Nazi Germany from 1941 and then again the Soviet Union, being part of the Estonian SSR till Estonian independence in 1991.

 

What can I visit in Pärnu?

Pärnu is an interesting and charming town with nice 18th century buildings and whose streets are worth to be walked. Some of the most important festivals in Pärnu are Grillfest and Pärnu Film Festival.

These are Pärnu's main attractions:

• Pärnu Beach: long and wide sand beach that is the reason why this town is so visited. There are a lot of infrastuctures for beach sports, cafes and changing rooms. Ranna puiestee goes parallel to the beach and has beautiful buildings and close to the beach it's located Rannapark with its nice gardens.
• Museum of Modern Art (9-21 from Jun to Aug; 9-19 from Sep to May; 4€/ 2€  adults/ retiree, students and kids): avant-garde gallery founded by the filmmaker Mark Soosaar in the former seat of Pärnu Communist Party. Its collections are very interesting and every summer there's an exposition about nudist international art.
• Tallinn Gate: one of the entrances of the former Swedish star-shape fortress, the only one that remains the way it was in those times.
• St. Eliisabeti Lutheran Church (12-18 Tue-Sat, 9-12 Sun from Jun to Aug): Baroque church from 1747 whose candelabra lamps hung low, a Gothic wooden pulpit and an altarpiece done in Rotterdam in 1854.
• St. Ekatarina Russian Orthodox Church: nice Barroque church from 1768 named in Catherine the Great's honour.
• Pärnu Town Hall: Neoclassic 1797 building with a small exposition and the tourist office of Pärnu.  
• Seegi Maja: building that is considered the oldest in Pärnu, being built in 1658. Nowadays it hosts a hotel and a restaurant.
  
• Pärnu Museum (10-18 Tue-Sun; 8€/ 6€  adults/ retiree, students and kids): regional museum with pieces from pre-History to Soviet times, with a reconstruction of a Soviet apartment. The highlight of the exposition is the Stone Age Virgin (8,000 years old).  
• L. Koidula Memorial Museum (10-18 Tue-Sat from Jun to Aug; 10-17 Tue-Sat from Sep to May; 2€/ 1€  adults/ retiree, students and kids): small museum that pays tribute to Lydia Koidula, one of the most outstanding Estonian poets, located in her former house.
• Very close to Pärnu there's the area called Valgeranna. This place has a beach with the same quality than Pärnu but less crowded, Valgeranna Beach.
  

Tallinn Gate

St. Ekatarina Orthodox Church

Kabli Beach

In case of wanting to gosouth from Pärnu, towards the border with Latvia, there are many nice beaches close to Riga-Tallinn motorway. One of the nicest villages is Kabli, 236 inhabitants only 10 km far from the border with Latvia, that has a very beautiful beach, Kabli Beach. Here it's also located Kabli Nature Reserve, a reserve created to protect the rich bird-life as well as the coastal waters and fragile water meadows lining the Gulf of Riga.

 

Traditional ceremony in Kihnu

Getting 40 km in the Gulf of Riga there's the 7 km long and 16.4 km² island of Kihnu, a life museum of Estonian culture. The island was placed in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2003 because it preserves perfectly its cultural traditions thanks to the fact of being so isolated: songs, dances, religious festivals (they are among the minority of Estonians who are Orthodox Christians) and craftswork. Kihnu's economy is still based on fishing and farming (that were done by men, while women used to rule the society); one of the most authentic activities is being host by locals (despite the language barrier) and to move within the island the best idea is renting a bicycle. Some of the sightseeing points in the island are Kihnu Museum (10-17 from May to Aug; 10-14 Tue-Fri from Oct to Apr; 3€/ 1.50€  adults/ retiree, students and kids), ethnographic museum about the island of Kihnu and its most popular inhabitant, Kihnu Jõnn, an Estonian sailor who travelled around the world; St. Nikolaose Orthodox Church (10-15 from May to Sep), small and cute 1786 church and Kihnu Lighthouse (10-18 from Jun to Aug; 10-15 Sat-Sun May and Sep; 3€/ 1.50€  adults/ retiree, students and kids), 29 m high lighthouse from 1864 done with pieces brought from England and that has great views.

St. Magdaleena wooden Church

Getting 60 km south in the Gulf of Riga, closer to Latvia than to Estonia, there's the 6 km long and 11.9 km² island of Ruhnu (Runö in Swedish and German, Roņu sala in Latvian), the southermost island in the country. Before 1944 the island was inhabited by ethnic Swedes and traditional Swedish law was used, having nowadays only 97 inhabitants. There are some interesting sightseeing point here like St. Magdaleena Church (11-13 Tue-Sat from Apr to Sep; booking on advance from Oct to Mar; 5€), oldest known wooden church and building in Estonia (from 1643); it's located next to Ruhnu New Lutheran Church (11-13 Tue-Sat from Apr to Sep; booking on advance from Oct to Mar; 5€), 20th century stone church. The island also has a very special lighthouse, Ruhnu Lighthouse (Wed-Sun from May to Aug; booking on advance from Sep to Apr; 3€/ 2€  adults/ retiree, students and kids), designed by Gustav Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel tower in Paris) and prefabricatd in France. Ruhnu has a very nice beach too, Limo Beach.

Where can I buy and what can I do in Pärnu?

Hedon Spa

One of the most interesting places in Pärnu to buy local craftsworks is Maarja-Magdaleena Gild (Uus 5). Pärnu has an interesting cultural offer too, with halls such as Pärnu Concert Hall (Aida 4), one of the best in Estonia, and Endla threater (Keskväljak 1). Here you can also do some sport at Pärnu beach or going to Tervise Spa & Waterpark (Side 14). One of the most popular activities here is Hedon Spa (Ranna puiestee 1), spa resort specialised in mud treatments located in a Neoclassic building.
 

Where can I eat in Pärnu?

Pärnu has one of the most outstanding culinary offers in Estonia. Some of the recommendations if your budget is low are the veggie cafe Piccadilly (Pühavaimu 15), the Old Market (Suur-Sep 18), the pizzeria Steffani (Nikolai 24 and Ranna puiestee) or supermarkets like Konsum. If your budget is medium your may try Vehverments (Munga 9), the cafes Supelsaksad (Nikolai 32) or Mahedik (Pühavaimu 20). For higher budgets the main choices are the international restaurant Lime Lounge (Hommiku 17), the modern restaurant Raimond (Ranna puiestee 1) or the Russian restaurant Trahter Postipoiss (Vee 12).
To have a drink or go out there are many choices like the pubs Veerev Õlu (Uus 3a), Sweet Rosie (Munga 2), Pärnu Kuursaal (Mese puiestee 22), the bar Romantic (Tervise Paradiis), the clubs APTEK (Rüütli 40) and Kultuuriklubi Tempel (Akadeemia 7) or the disco Sunset (Ranna puiestee 3).

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