Estonia’s premier seaside resort, Pärnu is the country’s self-declared “summer capital” - a fair description, considering one in four Estonians visits at least once during the holiday season. The town’s biggest asset is its 7km-long sandy Pärnu Beach, although the town itself is a rather lovely destination at all times of year, full of shady parks, broad avenues lined with lime trees, traditional wooden houses, and Bauhaus-inspired inter-war villas. The town also enjoys a rich cultural life, home to a prestigious theatre and state-of-the-art concert hall.

With most of Pärnu laid out in neat grids, it’s an easy place to explore. The main thoroughfare is Rüütli, a pedestrianized shopping street featuring a fair sprinkling of attractive wooden houses. At one end is the Pärnu Museum (Linnamuuseum), home to some of Estonia’s oldest archeological finds, unearthed at an 11,000-year-old Neolithic village at Sindi just inland.

Just east of Rüütli is the Red Tower (Punane torn), a fifteenth-century remnant of the town walls.

Dating from the reign of Catherine the Great, the orthodox St Catherine’s Church (Ekateriina kirik) is encrusted with sea-green domes topped by wrought-iron crosses, and boasts an icon-rich interior.

Marking the southwestern end of the town centre is the Tallinn Gate (Tallinna värav), an elegant relic of the Swedish occupation, set into a remaining section of the city ramparts and now home to a cute bar.