South Estonia: Lake Peipus, Setomaa and the Hills of Haanja
A week in the south-east of Estonia, a land of wooden villages, Old Believer churches and small round hills between dark spruce forests and lakes. From Tallinn the road crosses Virumaa past the ruins of Rakvere castle to the shore of Lake Peipus, one of the largest lakes in Europe, where Old Believers who left Russia some three centuries ago still grow onions in street villages that stretch for kilometres along the water. Alatskivi’s white castle, modelled on Balmoral, and the university city of Tartu lead on to Setomaa, home of the Seto people, with their Orthodox chapels, the farm museum at Värska and leelo, a polyphonic song that UNESCO lists as living heritage. Further south lie the sand caves of Piusa, the castle ruins of Vastseliina, Estonia’s deepest lake at Rõuge and Suur Munamägi, the highest hill in the Baltic states, before Otepää and its holy lake close the loop. Fast chargers stand in Tartu, Võru and along the main roads; Setomaa is quiet and rural, so arrive there with a full battery.
