The 10 Best Things to do in Otepaa, Valga County

An adventurous park, where you can climb and have a really great time, when you are visiting south of Estonia.

You will find real Estonian handicrafts in Anni Boutique. We are sure that you will find something that you like in our little crafts store as the selection is wide. We also offer local and Estonian souvenirs.Anni Boutique is easy to find – we are located in the town centre, right across the road from the 20 m flagpole with the Estonian flag in a small house on the corner. Come and take a look at the work of our craftsmen!

The picturesque coastline and five islands of Lake Puhajarv make it the biggest and most beautiful lake in the Otepaa region. There is a beach with a beach house, ball game courts, rest areas, cafés and a pier by the northern tip of Lake Puhajarv.There are many springs in the lake and the Spring of Love is the most famous of these. The Vaike Emajogi River starts from the southern tip of the lake. A 12 km hiking track runs about the lake.Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso blessed the lake in 1991 and this event is commemorated with a wooden sculpture on the lake’s shore by the park.

Otepaa Nature Park is the largest landscape protection area in Estonia (22,430 hectares). It forms the central part of the hilly Otepaa Highlands, of whose 1180 square kilometres it covers 19%. The nature park is located in the northern part of Valga County in Otepaa, Palupera, Puka and Sangaste rural municipalities. Access is available to all of the nature park, but you must respect your surroundings. Further information is available from the nature park centre at Kolga tee 28, which is open from Monday to Thursday from 08:00 to 17:00 and on Fridays from 08:00 to 14:30.

Harimagi is one of the largest mesas of the Otepaa Highlands (211.3 m above sea level). You can climb a 24 m viewing platform here to enjoy the views that reach Otepaa hills and a cross the Vaike Emajogi River to the Karula Highlands. Those who are not brave enough to climb to the top can stay on lower levels.Interesting facts:The hill has also been called Leenard and Leonhard Hill.Internationally renowned astronomer and geodesist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struwe (1793-1864) surveyed the area in 1816-1819.

Otepaa Tourist Information Centre gives tourists free information about tourist sights, accommodation and catering, possibilites for active vacations, cultural events, guide services and transportation in Otepaa tourism region, Valgamaa and all over Estonia. Otepaa Tourist Information Centre also provides paid services: booking accommodation, ordering taxis, photocopying, scanning, using the computer. Otepaa Tourist Information Centre sells souvenirs and stamps.There's free WiFi at the Otepaa Tourist Information Centre.

Families with children are particularly welcome in the Lake Puhajarv Park as there are many opportunities to feed ducks and other birds when walking on the lakeshore. There is an exercise track by the northern part of the park. This is also the place where you will find the beach with a beach house, cafés, arbours and boat hire.The park used to be a part of the Puhajarv Manor Park and it was designed as a walking forest with paths already in the 19th century. The park is mainly a naturally grown forest.

Otepaa Maarja Lutheran Church is historically connected to the national flag of Estonia. The blue, black and white flag of the Estonian Student Union, which later became the national flag and in 1991 the official flag of the state of Estonia, was consecrated in the rectory of the church on 4 June 1884. Pay attention to the bar reliefs commemorating the event next to the entrance of the church and the interior with its English-style neo-gothic décor. Maaraj Church was given its current appearance in the middle of the 19th century. The doors of the church are open to everyone in summer. Services are held at 11 am on Sundays.

Come and walk to the top of the Otepaa Fort that is about thirteen thousand years old. The hill has two levels, has an oval shape when viewed from the top and lies more or less in the north-to-south direction. Its absolute height is 165.6 m above sea level. You will see the ruins of the stone stronghold established by Bishop Herman in 1224 on the top of the fort.Interesting facts:* the hill gave Otepaa its name, because it looked like the head of a bear when seen from the side (‘ott’ is the old Estonian word for ‘bear’ and ‘paa’ is the old Estonian word for ‘head’);* one of the strongest strongholds of Ancient Estonia stood on the fort;* the oldest known firearm in the world was found on the fort.