In Estonia, as in much of the world, flickering marsh lights were said to lead unwary travellers to their doom. All the stories describe...

Around 1,300 years ago two boatloads of hardy, young warriors received the shock of their lives on landing at an Estonian island....

Naming a people and the place where they live stamps their identity. Eesti and eesti rahvas  or eestlased  do that for a subset of...

There is no sensation quite like losing at chess, especially with a draw in sight and failing to escape. That’s what happened to me...

Shamanism was at one time, and still is a thing in Estonia. This tradition of entering an ecstatic trance to enter the spirit world...

Golden light on the hills, sitting on a friend’s deck drinking cold water, tired from trimming and tying grape vines, and listening to...

Small in flow, the Kääpa northeast of Tartu runs thick in legend and inspiration. This gently flowing stream is where the epic hero...

“I drove west from Leningrad towards those troubled Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – whose tragedy has been their tiny size,...

Like the sauna, the ski is an invention of Finnic peoples, dating back as far as 8,000 years, in what is now Finnish-speaking western...

This is less easy to do than you might think – after all, Estonia has 2,300 islands. One situated 80km from Tallinn spans 1 hectare and...

The West seems to be losing its way in the world, while in Estonia the will to live is stronger than ever, digital technology leading the...

Our family gave us each an Estonian flag and pennant. I am flying the lipp today at an event hosted by Estonia’s honorary consul, David...

The university city of Tartu is said to have a vaim or spirit to it. And yet when we visit Estonia’s second city, set astride the...

November is the worst month, we are told, cold and dark and no snow. December has on average 18 hours of sunshine, also no good. Snow is...

Hundreds of Estonian place names end in “of blood”. A sign seeking blood donations plays on this oddity - “Estonia has 650 locations...

Estonian winters were too long for Juhan Liiv. He wrote melancholic poetry, comparing the processes of nature with that of his own...

Falling rain, visible in the car headlights. I saw the roof of my wooden cabin lying upside down in one piece on the ground. The wind had...

Sitting down to play Yefim Bogoljogow in Salzburg in 1943, Paul Keres  was into his third nationality as the tides of war swirled around...

Hailing from Haapsalu, Ilon Wikland  illustrated more children’s books by Astrid Lindgren than anyone, though not Pippi Longstocking....

According to legend, marzipan made its first appearance at the pharmacy in Tallinn’s townhall square, created by accident in the 1400s....