Cycle Route Värska - Pärnu

This route crosses Estonia in the east-west direction. Starting our tour from the historically interesting Setu County, we soon enter a scenic area. True, the most picturesque places, such as Meenikunno Bog and the sandstone outcrops of the Võhandu and Ahja rivers are situated off the highway; nevertheless, they are worth visiting.

From Põlva we head towards Otepää, one of the best-known tourist districts in Estonia. We recommend a closer tour of Otepää Highlands taking advantage also of the local biking routes No. 261-265 (as yet not furnished with signposts). Following a visit to Sangaste Mansion we leave for Tõrva. From Tõrva to Karksi-Nuia we have to travel on the Valga-Pärnu road, yet the traffic is not much of a nuisance in this particular place. The landscape continues to be charming even after the turn towards Viljandi.

After some pleasurable leisure time on Viljandi castle hills we enter upon a quite different stage. The 60 km from Viljandi’s vicinity to Jõesuu are largely located on the territory of Soomaa National Park. For the first time on this route we come upon gravel roads, which exceed 50 km in length. At the same time, the surrounding nature has an entirely different look – there is a high mossy forest floor, there are swamps and bogs accessible by local signposted tracks. Sadly, the roads are often flooded in spring, and hardly passable on a bicycle even for quite some time after that, followed by the harassment of horseflies in the summer heat. Nevertheless, most of the experiences gleaned by bikers on this route have been very positive.

Between Jõesuu and Pärnu the route overlaps with Route 2. The last 30 km to Pärnu go smoothly on a good road.

Portals:

• Esto Velo
• the BaltiCCycle web shop