Things to Do in Lahemaa, Estonia

Quick facts: A Baroque manor surrounded by a sprawling English park was once the center of a vast noble estate that included more than 50 villages. Today you will find not only richly furnished interiors but also its own distillery, where local vodka and liqueurs are distilled according to historical recipes.

Highlights: A distillery still operates in the manor's cellar, producing vodka and herbal liqueurs exactly according to 18th century recipes, which visitors can not only view but also taste. The magic of the place is enhanced by the fact that you can sit in the original manor tavern with wooden ceilings and candles on the table.

Quick facts: Inside the 24 rooms of this manor estate you can see original Baroque furniture and hunting trophies collected over four centuries. The sprawling 20 hectare park hides several rare trees, including a 300 year old oak.

Highlights: In the cellar spaces of the estate there is a wine cellar with its own museum, where you can taste wines made from grapes grown right in the adjoining orchard. A wooden Baroque gazebo surrounded by rhododendrons boasts perfect acoustics, and local musicians regularly hold informal chamber concerts there.

Quick facts: Originally a 16th century water mill, it was transformed into a grand manor residence only in the 19th century. Today it operates as a hotel and restaurant offering its guests a tasting of local spirits in historical cellars.

Highlights: Part of the complex is a unique tannery converted into stylish baths, where you can enjoy a bath in barrels overlooking a pine forest. In the old sheepfold, meanwhile, there is a museum with more than 300 historical irons, one of the largest collections in Europe.

Quick facts: With a height of over 8 meters, it is the most powerful waterfall in Estonia. On average, 20 to 30 cubic meters of water flow through it every second, with the greatest flow occurring during the spring snowmelt.

Highlights: In spring, masses of water rush over the limestone ledge with such force that the surrounding air vibrates and the spray can be felt dozens of meters away. In winter, by contrast, the waterfall freezes into a monumental ice column that forms a blue green wall of cracking crystals.

Quick facts: Originally serving as a lookout tower for Soviet submarines, today it offers visitors more than 800 maritime artifacts. The tower offers a view of the Baltic Sea from 24 meters, and in its depths you will find an original World War II torpedo.

Highlights: The rarest piece of the collection? A handwritten diary of a ship's captain, who kept records during a voyage around Cape Horn in 1883. You will also see with your own eyes a bottle with a message that the sea washed onto the Estonian coast in 1964.

Quick facts: The bog reaches up to 7 meters in depth, and beneath the moss carpet hides water thousands of years old. Along a wooden walkway over 3 kilometers long, you can walk directly above the surface of the swamp.

Highlights: In the middle of the bog you will come across a lookout tower, from where, on a windless day, you will see a perfect reflection of the sky in the dark water. The peat bog is so acidic that pollen samples more than 10,000 years old have been preserved in it.