Voru and Lake Tamula

Voru was laid out in 1784 on a grid by order of Catherine II, which gives the small centre a regularity unusual in Estonian towns, and it sits on the northern shore of Lake Tamula. The lakeside is the town's asset: a sand beach right at the centre, a promenade along the shore, and a curving pedestrian bridge over the water opened in 2008 that has become the town's emblem. Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, who compiled the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg, worked here as a doctor for over forty years and his house is a museum. Suur Munamagi, the highest hill in the Baltic states, and the Rouge lakes lie a short distance south.

What you actually see

• The lakeside beach - the sand shore in the centre of town.
• The footbridge - the curving pedestrian bridge over Tamula.
• The Kreutzwald museum - the house of the epic's compiler.
• The grid centre - the 1784 town plan.

When to go

May to September for the lake and the beach; July is the swimming season and the Voru folklore festival falls in summer. Winter freezes the lake and the town is quiet.

Honest expectations

The town is small and half a day covers it. The lake is shallow and can bloom with algae in hot summers. Facilities close early outside the season. It works best as a base for the hills and lakes south of it.

Nearby

Suur Munamagi and the Rouge lakes lie south; Setomaa is northeast.