Estonia’s Best Spas
Text Timo Raussi Photos Visit Estonia / Kertin Vasser, Ken Oja, Construction Company Nordecon, Timo Raussi
In the spa hotel’s robes, you can comfortably move between your room and the sauna area.
The culture of relaxing in baths arrived in Estonia in the early 19th century, when the first European-style bathhouses—offering refreshing water and sea air—were established in Tallinn’s Kadriorg and Viimsi. Soon, tub baths in Haapsalu and Pärnu were also being filled with mineral-rich mud, triggering the rise of sanatoriums—health resorts specializing in therapeutic treatments.
Today, the selection is vast. But where can you find “the best” health spa, nature spa, day spa, wellness spa, or spa hotel with sauna worlds and indoor water parks? Join a tour that skips Tallinn and Pärnu’s most familiar destinations—let’s explore!
Heading East
Two favourites among families can be found in the east. The spa at the Aqva Spa Hotel in Rakvere offers multiple whirlpools, flow pools and wave pools, a tube slide, a children’s pool, a lap pool, and eight saunas with daily ritual performances. Renowned Filipino masseurs treat adults alongside Estonian wellness professionals.
Narva-Jõesuu’s Noorus Spa even surpasses Aqva in the number of slides. In 2021, the most extensive indoor water park in Eastern Estonia opened next to the cosy spa area—featuring six water slides, a flow pool, a children’s pool, and numerous saunas.
Narva-Jõesuu, located on the Gulf of Finland, is like a miniature Pärnu. In summer 2024, The Baltic Guide wrote that its Medical Spa’s “treatments gently chase away kilos and stress”—you can find the article in the newspaper’s online archive. At the Meresuu Spa Hotel’s sauna centre, sauna masters perform daily ritual shows. A diverse beauty and wellness department complements the ten saunas and indoor and outdoor pools, offering treatments and rehabilitation especially for joint, muscle, and respiratory ailments.
Toila’s spa hotel also offers wellness and beauty services alongside therapeutic treatments. A special feature of its sauna centre, pool, and water park is the 18+ Orhidee area—a tropical-themed relaxation space reserved for adults. Romantics will find the best atmosphere at the manor spa hotels of Vihula and Mäetaguse.
And What About the South?
Spa delights in Tartu concentrate in two places. The former swimming complex with a 50-meter pool was renovated some years ago into a true family oasis. The Aura Centre now features eight saunas, three long water slides, and various activity pools. Meanwhile, the Kvartal shopping centre in the city centre houses the V Spa water park and sauna world, as well as the V Spa Wellness centre, which offers dozens of treatments and massages.
For a sports-oriented environment—or a spa with massage and treatment services plus accommodation and dining packages—it’s hard to beat Pühajärve Spa & Holiday Resort near Otepää. East of it, deep in Võrumaa’s pine forests, lies the Kubija nature spa hotel. It’s a peaceful place where the spa area is open only to adults in the evenings. Further east, Värska’s Health Spa is known for its mineral water and mud baths, but it also offers excellent treatment packages and water fun for the entire family.
Driving west from Tartu, make a detour from the main road to the Jugend-style Taagepera Manor, where you can also visit the fairy-tale-themed Magic Park and the elegant Wagenküll Castle Spa, newly renovated last year. The spa area includes five saunas, warm and cold-water pools, a Japanese bath, and two outdoor pools, all complemented by relaxation corners and fountains.
Western Estonia and Saaremaa
Haapsalu’s spa tradition reaches back exactly 200 years. Today, the seaside town has two spa hotels. Fra Mare Thalasso Spa offers full-care packages of varying lengths with treatments, yoga classes in a brand-new hall, and free water aerobics on Sundays. The spa area has six saunas and several indoor and outdoor pools. Right on the waterfront, the former Laine—now Hestia Hotel Haapsalu Spa—underwent a complete renovation in 2021. Its five saunas, five pools, and multisensory relaxation area transform into an 18+ spa on weekend evenings.
On Saaremaa—often called “Spaaremaa”—there are the most spa hotel beds in Estonia relative to the local population: 1200 beds for Kuressaare’s roughly 13,000 residents. Family-friendly choices include Georg Ots and ASA (formerly Rüütli), whose pool and sauna facilities were recently renovated into the region’s largest, and uniquely include a lively water slide. Both offer a variety of beauty and wellness treatments, though GoSpa has more theme-focused packages such as detox, weight loss, and pregnancy-friendly treatments.
For romantic spa getaways and wellness indulgence, Grand Rose Spa is ideal, along with the smaller but high-quality Arensburg Boutique Spa and Johan Spa. The latter has a private rooftop sauna with an outdoor hot tub. On the neighbouring island of Muhu, the luxurious Pädaste Manor and spa provide seasonal experiences (April–October), including hot-water baths and a traditional smoke sauna.
New Spas Coming Soon
Estonia believes the market still has room. New spa hotels are already under construction:
- On the shore of Lake Viljandi—opening summer 2027
- On the northern shore of Lake Peipus in Uusküla—summer 2026
- Next to the Rannahotell in Pärnu—summer 2027
- An extension to Hestia Haapsalu Spa—winter 2027
An Intimate Gem Near Tallinn
About 30 km west of Tallinn, in the coastal pine forest of Laulasmaa, stands the LaSpa spa hotel. It sits between the magnificent Keila-Joa manor and waterfall and the nostalgically Soviet-feeling town of Paldiski, next to the Arvo Pärt Centre. LaSpa is also easy to reach by public transport: regional buses 126, 127, and 128 run from Tallinn once an hour, and the ticket price of €2.90 is hardly daunting.
LaSpa’s spa area, open also to day visitors, consists of six different saunas and seven pools, including a Japanese hot bath and a cool outdoor pool. In the wood-fired outdoor sauna, you can pour the water on the stones yourself; despite the impressive glass walls, the pool area feels pleasantly intimate and calm. The same unhurried atmosphere surrounds visitors on the second floor in the Naudi LaSpa beauty, salt chamber, and wellness centre, where treatments can be booked until 20:00. The hotel’s restaurant Wicca proudly displays a Michelin recognition plaque.
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