Beach and Ranna
Sand and spasThe resort end: the beach, the promenade, the spa hotels and the wooden villas behind them.
Pärnu city guide
Things To Do In Pärnu
Estonia's summer capital: a long shallow sand beach, wooden spa architecture, and a season that runs hot for about ten weeks and then stops.
1
Hostels in the city
7.2
Average, from 587 reviews
2 km
Of sand beach
1838
The first bathing establishment opened
10 weeks
Roughly how long the season lasts
A beach town with a nineteenth-century spa habit
Pärnu has been a resort since 1838, when the first bathing establishment opened and the Russian empire's gentry started arriving for the mud cures. The habit never really stopped — Estonians still come here for spa treatments as a matter of routine rather than luxury.
The beach is two kilometres of pale sand shelving very gradually into the Gulf of Riga, which makes the water warm by Baltic standards and shallow a long way out.
Behind it sits a small wooden town: villas in the Nordic resort style, a 1930s functionalist beach house, a park and a promenade.
The season is short and intense. From mid-June to late August the town is full and loud; from October to April it is a quiet place of about forty thousand people with the shutters half down.
One or two days in summer, and not much reason to come otherwise.
Where to stay
A small town split between the beach end and the old centre, fifteen minutes apart.
Old town
Value and foodInland: the pedestrian street, the market, the bars and cheaper beds fifteen minutes from the sand.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 1 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Pärnu
The beach is the point. Two kilometres of sand, shallow enough to wade a long way out, with a promenade, volleyball nets and the 1930s Rannahoone beach house at the centre of it.
Take a spa. Pärnu's mud cure tradition goes back to the 1830s and the treatments are ordinary here rather than luxury — a water and sauna complex runs €15 to €30, a mud treatment more.
Walk the old town: Rüütli is the pedestrian street, the Tallinn Gate is the last of the seventeenth-century Swedish fortifications, and the wooden architecture around the park is the resort at its most photogenic.
The Pärnu Museum covers eleven thousand years of settlement here at about €6.
Out of season the beach is still worth the walk — grey, empty and wind-scoured, which is a different thing entirely and not a worse one.
Free things
Free things to do in Pärnu
The beach and the promenade are free, along with the pier walk out into the gulf — about two kilometres, and the place people go for sunset.
Rannapark and the wooden villa streets behind the beach cost nothing to walk.
The Tallinn Gate and the remains of the Swedish earthworks are free and open.
Rüütli street, the market and the riverside along the Pärnu are all free, and the river walk leads out towards the reed beds.
The coastal forest and bog boardwalks north of town are free and quiet, and the Valgeranna area has a signed forest path to the sea.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Pärnu
Summer prices sit above the Estonian norm and drop again in September. A main is €13 to €20 at the beach end, less in the old town.
Smoked fish is the local thing — the market and the small smokehouses around the river sell it by weight, and it is the cheapest good meal here.
Rüütli street has the restaurants and the old town cafés, and the market hall does lunch cheaply.
A beer is €4 to €6, higher on the beachfront terraces.
Out of season a lot of the beach-end places simply close, and eating moves entirely into the old town.
Nightlife
Going out in Pärnu
Seasonal and concentrated. For about ten weeks from mid-June the beachfront bars and a couple of large clubs run properly, drawing Estonians and Finns down for the weekend.
Sunset is very late in June and July — it barely gets dark — and the beach and pier stay busy well past midnight.
A beer is €4 to €6 and cocktails €8 to €12.
Outside the season the nightlife is a handful of old town bars and not much else.
Weekends in July bring a noticeable party crowd from Tallinn, and the town has the same stag-and-hen character as any short-season resort.
Getting around
Getting around Pärnu
Walk. The beach and the old town are fifteen minutes apart and everything of interest is between or beside them.
Local buses cost about €1.50 and cover the outer areas and Valgeranna.
Buses from Tallinn take two hours for €7 to €12 and run frequently; Riga is about two and a half hours in the other direction, which makes Pärnu a natural stop between the two capitals.
Cycling is easy — the town is flat, with paths along the beach and out into the pine forest, and hire is €10 to €15 a day.
There is no useful rail service for most visitors; the bus is the way in and out.
Costs
What Pärnu costs
Estonia's most seasonal prices. In July dorms are €20 to €35 and beds get scarce; in May or September the same beds are €12 to €22.
A main is €13 to €20 and a beer €4 to €6.
A day is €40 to €70 in season, €28 to €50 outside it.
The beach, the pier and the walks are free. A spa session at €15 to €30 is the one thing worth paying for and it is good value by any European standard.
Booking ahead matters in July and August in a way it does not anywhere else in Estonia.
Safety
Staying safe in Pärnu
Pärnu is a safe, small town and the risks are the beach and the season.
The water shelves very gradually, which makes it safe for wading but means offshore winds can push inflatables and air beds a long way out fast. Do not use them in a wind off the land.
Lifeguards patrol the main beach in season only.
Summer weekends bring heavy drinking to the beachfront, and the combination of alcohol and swimming after dark is the cause of most incidents here.
Ticks are present in the pine forest and dunes from spring to autumn, and tick-borne encephalitis exists in Estonia. Check after walks. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Pärnu
A national park of bogs and floods, and two islands.
Kihnu island
A small island where women run much of daily life and the cultural tradition is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
Tallinn
The capital, easy in either direction.
Riga
The largest city in the Baltics, and the next stop south.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A short, busy summer calendar built around the beach.
Mid-June
Season opening
Beach and promenade
The town formally opens the beach season with events along the front, and the ten-week summer starts.
23–24 June
Jaanipäev (midsummer)
Countrywide
Bonfires on the beach and all-night parties. The biggest night of the Estonian year.
July
Pärnu Film Festival
Citywide
A long-running documentary and anthropology film festival.
Spring, usually April
Fifth season
Soomaa National Park
When meltwater floods the park and roads become canoe routes. Timing varies by year.
October to April
Off season
Citywide
Much of the beach end closes. Spa hotels stay open and the town is very quiet.
Hostels
Where to stay in Pärnu
A small seasonal scene that tightens sharply in July and August, so book ahead. Live from Hostelworld.
When to go
July and August for the beach. May, June and September for the same town without the crowd.
Jan
Frozen and shut. The sea ices over at the edges
Feb
The coldest month. Very little open
Mar
Cold and grey. Spa hotels are the only real draw
Apr
Thaw. Soomaa's fifth season flood is usually now
May
Good. Warm days, cold sea, and cheap
Jun
Season opening. Long light and midsummer at the end
Jul
Peak. Warm sea, full town, highest prices of the year
Aug
Warmest sea and still busy. The best swimming month
Sep
Excellent value. Quiet, mild, and most things still open
Oct
Closing down. Grey beach walks and spa weather
Nov
Dark and empty
Dec
Quiet, cold, and spa hotels aside there is little on
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs, and sea temperature lags the air by about a month — August water is warmer than July water, usually 18 to 20°C.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros, in season.
These are July figures. In May or September the bed line drops by roughly a third and everything else eases with it.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Pärnu travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
When is the season?
Roughly mid-June to late August — about ten weeks. Outside it much of the beach end closes, and from October to April the town is quiet with the shutters half down.
Is the sea warm enough to swim in?
By Baltic standards, yes. The shallow shelf warms the water to around 18 to 20°C in July and August, and August is usually warmer than July because the sea lags the air by about a month.
Are the spas worth it?
Yes, and they are ordinary here rather than luxury — Estonians use them routinely. A water and sauna complex runs €15 to €30, and the mud cure tradition goes back to the 1830s.
How long do I need?
One or two days in summer. It is a small beach town with a nineteenth-century resort quarter attached, and that is the whole of it.
Is it expensive?
Estonia's most seasonal prices. July dorms run €20 to €35 and sell out; the same beds in May or September are €12 to €22. Book ahead for July and August in a way you do not need to elsewhere in the country.
Does it work as a stop between Tallinn and Riga?
Well. Two hours to Tallinn and two and a half to Riga, both by frequent bus, so it splits the journey neatly.
What is the fifth season?
The spring flood in Soomaa National Park, an hour away, when meltwater covers the roads and people travel by canoe. It is usually April but the timing shifts each year.
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