Vaibla Holiday Center

For stays absolutely dripping with Estonian history, you can’t go far wrong round here. The site’s only five minutes’ drive from Meleski Glass Museum (a 1,000-strong collection of glassworks from the Meleski glass factory) and 20 minutes from Rannu Manor Park, once home to the tragic figure of Barbara von Tiesenhausen, whose love story inspired multiple authors and an opera. Further afield, get a feel for local life with a stop at Heimtali Muuseum or Olustvere Manor (both 40 minutes away) – the latter is a must visit for its tours of outbuildings that were once home to blacksmiths, ceramics and glass working, stables, and bakers. If nature's more your thing, turn instead to Jaarvemuuseum Akva:rium (25 minutes), an aquarium on the shores of the lake, or traipse along the Selli-Sillaotsa trail in Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve (45 minutes). When urban days beckon, wander the streets of the town of Viljandi (30 minutes) – visiting its museums, manor and castle ruins – or travel the 40 minutes to the university city of Tartu and its science centre, botanical gardens, observatory, waterpark and host of museums, including those dedicated to print, toys, the KGB and beer. If there’s only time for one thing though, make it a pilgrimage to the city’s famed upside-down house.