Winter in Estonia
Estonia at Christmas
Christmas in Estonia is unarguably a wonderful time to visit. The sights are magical, with all of the Christmas lights and decorations surrounding the cities and markets. All of the different Christmas foods fill the air with a tantalising smell that makes you want to try every Estonian dish at the market. It is a perfect place to visit as a family with many things to do, or as a couple in these romantic settings.
Traditions
In Estonia, like many other countries, Christmas begins with Advent. Children (and adults!) will place socks upon a windowsill every evening and hope in the morning it has been filled with sweet treats – a perfect build up to Christmas celebrations. Christmas is known as the word ‘jõulud’ in Estonia, which comes from a pre-Christian time of folk tradition and now combines the birth of Christ with the whole period of winter holidays.
Food
In Estonia, Christmas is also celebrated on Christmas eve – 24th of December – and the meal traditionally consisted of between 7, 9 and 12 dishes, all to bring good luck and a bountiful harvest for the new year. Staples of a Christmas dinner would be verivorst (blood sausage), hapukapsas (sauerkraut)and sült (jellied head cheese), so if you are going to Estonia, be sure to try the wonderful traditional Christmas delicacies. If you have a sweet tooth, make sure to try delicious Piparkoogid (Estonian gingerbread) – it’s a traditional sweet treat that you will see in people’s homes for dessert and in markets at Christmas time.
