Otepää is an excellent tourist destination because we have four good seasons. Summer is one, winter is another. But spring and autumn also have lots to offer.

Otepää might be best known as Estonia’s “winter capital”. Its location in the highlands means that you usually don’t need to worry about whether or not there’s snow. No wonder Otepää is the training place to go for the national ski teams of many countries.

Cross-country skiers will find an enormous number of well-tended tracks in the area, from professional-level ones demanding a licence to the even expanses of the frozen Lake Pühajärv. The two ski centres, Tehvandi and Kääriku, have many signposted tracks, some of them usable even late in the evening as they are lit.

If you’re even more deeply interested in skiing, there’s the Winter Sports Museum at the Tehvandi Stadium.

Downhill skiers have two main choices. Kuutsemägi, located 14 km from Otepää, is long and gentle, whereas Väike Munamägi only 2 km from town centre is short but steep. Both are also ideal for snowboarders, the national snowboarding championships have been arranged here.

Ticket prices are only a fraction of what the Central European ski centres would charge. The whole after-ski life is also in a totally different price class than in Central Europe or the Nordic venues. Let us advise you!

If it’s snow fun at an affordable price you wish, Otepää is exactly the right solution for you. You don’t even have to bring your own gear—think of airline charges—because you can rent everything you need on the spot.

Children will enjoy sledding down the hills in and around town, or snowtubing, for which there are two places quite close to Villa Ottilia. Smack in the town centre there’s Otepää Snowtubing, and just over one kilometre away Ansomägi where the older members of the family can also ski downhill or snowboard.

The autumn colours in Otepää are unbelievably beautiful. The trees on the hills almost light up in yellow, orange and red, interspersed with the glittering small lakes in the valleys. If you’re looking for peace and quiet, for your body or soul, autumn is the perfect time for a holiday with us.

Tartu, the 900-year-old university city just 42 km from us, has a quite special feeling in winter. Definitely not to be missed!

Winter, though, isn’t everything Otepää has to offer. Take a look at what’s waiting for you in spring and summer!