Estonia Sights: Castles, Craters and Cliffs

October 18, 2026

Estonia’s best sights are spread across the country: a castle and a crater on Saaremaa, a university hill in Tartu, a cliff and a waterfall in the north-east, and a fortress town on the Russian border. Entry prices are in euro and are the published tiers. Hours vary by season, so check each site.

Kuressaare Episcopal Castle

The castle stands at Lossihoov 1 in Kuressaare. From 1 June to 31 August it opens daily 10:00 to 18:00. From 1 September to 30 May it opens Wednesday to Sunday 11:00 to 18:00, with the last entry at 17:30. Tickets are €12 for adults, €8.50 for concessions and €28 for a family, and children up to 8 are free. Check these figures with the museum before you travel.

Kaali crater field and Panga cliff

The Kaali field has nine craters. The main crater is about 110 m across, and the impact happened about 3,470 to 3,545 years ago, according to RMK. It is about 20 km by road from Kuressaare, with a visitor centre and car park, and the site is open at all hours. No entry fee was found. Panga cliff on Saaremaa is 21.3 m high and about 2.5 km long, the highest bedrock outcrop in western Estonia and on the islands. It is open all year and no fee is listed. The RMK Kaali page gives the route.

Tartu: Toomemägi

Toomemägi hill holds the cathedral ruins and the University of Tartu Museum. The museum’s towers can be climbed from May to September only. The Old Observatory is a point on the Struve Geodetic Arc, a UNESCO site since 2005. The hill also has the Angel’s Bridge and the Devil’s Bridge, and the university main building stands at Ülikooli 18. Barriers were put round the cathedral ruins in November 2025, so stay behind them.

Narva Castle

Narva Castle is at Peetri plats 7 and faces the fortress of Ivangorod across the river. It opens Wednesday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 16:00, and is closed Monday and Tuesday, except from 11 May to 31 August, when it opens daily. Tickets are €16 for adults, €10 for ages 9 to 18 and €32 for a family. The Art Gallery has been closed for construction since April 2025, so the castle and gallery ticket (€18) may not apply. The border crossing at Narva is foot-only and is not part of a sightseeing visit.

Ontika cliff and Valaste waterfall

Ontika cliff in Ida-Virumaa rises about 55 to 56 m and is the highest part of the Baltic Klint. The edge is steep and unfenced, so stay well behind it. Valaste waterfall is more than 30 m high, the tallest in Estonia, and has a viewing platform. The Valaste nature trail is open at all hours.

Booking

For guided sightseeing from Tallinn, see Estonia sightseeing tours on GetYourGuide .

Memorial sites

Two sites in the Tallinn area commemorate the Holocaust. Visit them quietly and on their own, not as a stop between other sights. Klooga, in Lääne-Harju, was a forced-labour subcamp from September 1943. Nearly 2,000 Jews were shot there on 19 September 1944. An outdoor exhibition beside Lake Sooda uses concrete blocks with text in Estonian, English and Russian. It is free and open at all hours. Kalevi-Liiva, among the dunes by the former Jägala camp in Jõelähtme parish, was a place of execution of Jews and Roma in 1942 and 1943. Memorial stones and a separate Roma monument mark it. See Visit Estonia on Klooga .