Pärnu
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At a glance
- Country
- Estonia
- Region
- Pärnu County
- Population
- 52,000
- Best time to go
- June to August
- Main airport
- None with regular flights — nearest is Tallinn Lennart Meri (TLL)
- Coordinates
- 58.39°N, 24.50°E
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Overview
Pärnu is Estonia's favourite seaside town, known as the summer capital. A long sandy beach backs onto parkland and wooden villas, and spa hotels have drawn visitors here for well over a century.
Out of season it is quiet and a little sleepy, but from June to August the beach, promenade and bars fill up. The small old town has a gate, a pretty Orthodox church and a pedestrian street of cafés.
Things to see
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Photo: Pudelek (Marcin Szala), CC BY-SA 3.0 Pärnu Beach
A wide stretch of soft sand with shallow water, a promenade and grassy dunes behind.
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Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0 Tallinn Gate
A 17th-century gate through the old earth ramparts, a rare survivor of the town's fortifications.
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Photo: TriinuR, CC BY-SA 3.0 St Catherine's Church
A baroque Orthodox church with green domes, built on the orders of Catherine the Great.
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Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rüütli Street
The pedestrian main street of the old town, lined with cafés and old merchants' houses.
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Photo: Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0 Pärnu Mud Baths
A grand neoclassical spa building from the 1920s near the beach, a reminder of the town's resort heyday.
Things to do
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Photo: Kristian Pikner, CC BY-SA 4.0 Spa day
Book a treatment or a sauna session at one of the town's spa hotels.
Find tours -
Photo: Joonas Plaan, CC BY 2.0 Soomaa National Park
Walk boardwalks over raised bogs or canoe the flooded forests of this wild park inland.
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Photo: KalervoK, CC BY-SA 3.0 Day trip to Kihnu
A small island where women still wear striped skirts and old traditions are part of daily life.
Where to stay
Beach district
Spa hotels and villas among parkland, steps from the sand.
Hotels in Beach districtOld Town
Central, with restaurants and the bus station close by.
Hotels in Old Town
Getting around
Pärnu is small and flat, ideal for walking or cycling. Local buses and taxis cover longer trips.
Buses from Tallinn take around two hours and run frequently through the day.
When to go
June to August brings warm days, long evenings and the busiest beach. Spring and autumn are calmer and good for spa breaks, while winter is cold and quiet.
Plan your trip to Pärnu
Guide last checked October 2026. Opening times and prices change, so check before you go.