Estonia Trips of Three to Five Days

October 18, 2026

Most trips of three to five days in Estonia follow one of two shapes: out to the western islands by ferry, or inland through Lahemaa, Tartu, Soomaa and Pärnu. The ferries decide how smooth the island route is, so this page starts with them and then builds each route from its stops. Fares and times are the published ones, in euro, and they can change.

Ferry facts for the islands

The main crossings are run by TS Laevad, whose contract continues to 2033, and tickets are sold on praamid.ee .

Virtsu to Kuivastu (for Muhu and Saaremaa): 27 minutes. An adult is €4.30, a bicycle €1.20 and a passenger car €12. Departures run about every 35 minutes from 05:00 to roughly 23:00, with some gaps.
Rohuküla to Heltermaa (for Hiiumaa): 1 hour 15 minutes. An adult is €4.85 and a car €14.30. Expect about six sailings on a weekday, such as 06:30, 08:30, 11:30, 14:30, 17:30 and 20:30, plus a few extras.
Sõru to Triigi (Hiiumaa to Saaremaa): a small ferry of about an hour that depends on the weather and makes between one and four crossings a day. No fare is confirmed. Treat it as a bonus and build the trip around the two mainland ferries.

Car tickets cost 20 percent more on mainland-to-island sailings after 13:00 on Fridays and on island-to-mainland sailings after 13:00 on Sundays. Passenger tickets stay the same. Booking is recommended but not compulsory, since up to 70 percent of each sailing is sold online and the rest goes to the queue.

Getting to the ferry: Tallinn to Virtsu is 135 km, about 1 hour 45 minutes by road, and Kuivastu to Kuressaare is 76 km, about 50 minutes. Coaches to Kuressaare take roughly 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 50 minutes on aggregator timetables, from about €16 to 19, and it is not confirmed whether the fare includes the ferry.

Building the island trip (3 or 4 nights)

Muhu. The Muhu Museum in Koguva village is open from 10:00 to 17:00, with adult tickets from about €5, concessions from about €4 and families from about €10. Tickets and a village map are at Tooma farm. A causeway, the Väinatamm, links Muhu to Saaremaa.
Saaremaa, two nights. Kuressaare Episcopal Castle costs €12 for adults and €28 for a family, and opens daily from 1 June to 31 August and Wednesday to Sunday from 1 September to 30 May. The Kaali crater field, about 20 km from Kuressaare, has nine craters, the largest about 110 m across. Panga cliff is 21.3 m high and about 2.5 km long. The Georg Ots Spa Hotel in Kuressaare is open all year, with 92 rooms and pools and saunas in the room rate.
Hiiumaa, one night. Kõpu Lighthouse dates from 1531 and has been an official lighthouse since 1649. It is visited by advance booking, with adults from about €5. Return by Rohuküla and finish in Haapsalu, whose castle charges €12.

Building the heartland trip (4 or 5 nights)

Start in Tallinn, then spend a day in Lahemaa for the Viru Bog boardwalk and the Palmse and Sagadi manors. The Elron express to Tartu leaves from Balti jaam and takes about 2 hours 5 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes, since works on the line add around 20 minutes. Online fares have been about €10, with a reported ceiling of €13.50, and Elron gives a 10 percent saving online. Check Elron for the current timetable.

Tartu rewards two nights: the Estonian National Museum, AHHAA and Toomemägi hill. In spring and summer, add a bog-shoe or canoe trip in Soomaa. To reach Pärnu, Lux Express runs six departures a day via Viljandi from 9 July 2026, at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, 12:45, 16:45 and 18:30. Journey times were not published, so allow generously. From Pärnu, the coach to Tallinn takes about 1 hour 25 minutes to 2 hours. No passenger train serves the city.

Winter and budget notes

December and January have about 6 hours of daylight, and many manor restaurants shorten their hours, so keep driving days short. Winter tyres are compulsory on cars between 1 December and 15 March. Official ice roads open only in some winters and are not an activity to plan around. The Museum Card, at €75 for 130 or more museums, helps on the heartland route.

Where to stay

For rooms on the islands, search Kuressaare hotels on Booking.com , and for the heartland, Tartu stays on Booking.com .