Otepää Nature Park

Otepää sits in the highest and most broken landscape Estonia has - short steep moraine hills, small lakes in the hollows, and enough relief to hold snow when the lowlands have none. It has been the country's winter sports centre since the 1930s, and the Tehvandi stadium hosts international cross-country and biathlon events.

What you actually see

In winter: a network of prepared cross-country tracks running through forest and over open hill, floodlit in places, plus small downhill slopes. Estonia's biggest recreational ski event, the Tartu Marathon, finishes here.

In summer the same tracks are hiking and mountain-bike routes, and the landscape shows itself properly - Pühajärv, the largest lake, with a lakeside path and old oaks, hay meadows, and views that in Estonian terms count as sweeping.

When to go

• January to March - the ski season, when the town is at its busiest and most alive.
• June to September - swimming in Pühajärv, cycling, and the hills under green.
• Late September - autumn colour across the moraine, and almost nobody there.
• Avoid thaw periods in December and March, when tracks turn to slush.

Honest expectations

Snow is no longer reliable. Warm winters have cut the season short repeatedly, and artificial snow now covers the core stadium loops rather than the whole network - check conditions rather than the calendar.

The hills are small. This is rolling country, not mountains, and downhill skiing here is a nursery-slope affair.

Nearby

Pühajärv is on the edge of the town. Tartu is an hour north, and Karula National Park is about forty minutes southwest.