Toome Hill Park

The recreation area by Lake Pangodi is a popular holiday destination, offering a variety of opportunities to enjoy nature. In the holiday complex, you can swim, camp, and make a campfire. The large lawn by the sandy beach has a children's playground with active holiday elements and a volleyball court. At the beginning of the recreation area, there is a parking lot that can accommodate up to 30 cars. The Pangodi camping area is by the lake, where you can find three campfire sites with canopies and benches. Along the Pikksaare hiking trail (1 km) starting from the car park, you will reach the Pangodi campfire site, which is about 500 m from the crowded camping area in the Pangodi park forest. Be respectful to nature!

Come and discover the charm of nature at the Tartu Nature House! Tartu Nature House is much more than an educational center; it is an inspiring place showcasing an eco-friendly lifestyle, nature, and smart architecture. Our special building, whose shape is inspired by the cracks in tree stumps, has been set up in an environmentally friendly and healthy manner and is surrounded by a green park. Our guided tour takes you to a species-rich conservatory and an animal sanctuary, where you can meet interesting inhabitants such as rabbits, water turtles, caterpillars, and cockroaches. Plants can be studied, sometimes tasted, and the guide tells exciting stories about the lives of our animals and plants. This educational yet lively tour suits children and adults alike, offering visitors the opportunity to discover nature and eco-friendly lifestyles from a new angle. Come and discover how architecture, environmental conservation, and wildlife work together in one special place. Tartu Nature House is waiting for you!

Kalevipoeg's Home has an enormous sledding hill where you can go sledding every winter. But now there is also a separate track for tubes. We have the best snow tubes in the world, straight from Canada. We have 10 of them and we rent them out by the hour. We don't have a ski lift but you can walk back up the hill from the side of the track. A little physical exercise and then you can go down the hill again. Suitable from the age of 4.After tubing, you can visit the Kalevipoeg Museum, the playground or, if you have any energy left, go ice skating. Come with friends or family, we guarantee a great day of adventure.

The University of Tartu Botanical Garden offers study programmes and excursions for visitors of all ages. There are more than 10,000 species and varieties of plants in the garden. In addition to natural plants, including rare protected plants, we introduce new decorative plants. In the greenhouses, rainforest and desert plants can be seen. We are the oldest botanical garden in the Baltic States, operating for more than 200 years in the same location. The garden is designed by world-renowned botanists, professors Ledebour and Bunge. Guests can visit the greenhouses with a ticket, but the garden is open for everyone for free. There is a playground for children.

The Fairy Trail, also known as the Vitipalu Adventure Trail, offers a fairytale experience for both children and adults. The trail takes you through the mushroom and berry forests of Elva, where Witch Island awaits, featuring the lovely "Little Witch" house, cool tree sculptures, and a low-adventure trail built in the middle of the forest, perfect for children and families to have a great time in nature. The 1.4 km long trail, part of which is accessible with a stroller, intersects with the Elva River's primeval valley hiking trail and introduces the diverse landscape of Elva. The trail starts and ends at the RMK Jõeharu picnic area and camping site, where several shelters with grills and campfire sites are available.

Families with children are particularly welcome in the Lake Pühajärv Park as there are many opportunities to feed ducks and other birds when walking on the lakeshore. There is an exercise track by the northern part of the park. This is also the place where you will find the beach with a beach house, cafés, arbours and boat hire.The park used to be a part of the Pühajärv Manor Park and it was designed as a walking forest with paths already in the 19th century. The park is mainly a naturally grown forest.

The Valgesoo watchtower is located in the Valgesoo bog, which represents one of the 21 places worth discovering in South Estonia and is recommended for all nature enthusiasts.With its eye-catching design, the watchtower overlooks the Valgesoo bog, the pristine-looking primeval forest, and the Baron's pine forest (Parunimännik) and the study trail that runs through it. The 29.7 m high metal watchtower has three intermediate platforms, the last of which is 23.8 m high, with a wind screen and seat benches in the centre. The State Forest Management Centre's campfire site and camping area for up to five tents are nearby.

The field of naturally growing daffodils, which is unique in the Baltic states, can be found in the Vara rural municipality. Yellow daffodils are rare in the wild and the daffodil field in Sookalduse is a rarity that has been taken under conservation. The daffodils originate from the bulb that Peep Sibul, the landlord of Sookalduse, got from Saare Manor and planted in his garden in the end of the 19th century.The yellow sea of flowers can be enjoyed from around the middle of April, depending on the spring.