Tartu County · Estonia
Where to stay in Tartu
Tartu is a city in Tartu County, Estonia, home to about 98,000 people. This guide covers 1 apartment building in Tartu, with about 37 rooms between them.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 1
- Best months
- June and July
- Nearest airport
- TAY8 km · Tartu Airport
- Currency
- EUReuro
- Time zone
- Europe/Tallinn
- Language
- Estonian
About
About Tartu
Tartu is the second-largest city in Estonia, after the capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,304 (as of 2025), and is the seventh most-populous city in the Baltics.
Tartu's ancient name of 'Tarbatu' was shortened to 'Tartu' in Estonian and to 'Dorpat' in German. Tartu is 185 km southeast of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Emajõgi River, which connects two of the country's largest lakes, Võrtsjärv and Peipus, flows for 10 km within the city limits.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Tartu
See
- Town Hall Square
- Main building of the University of Tartu
- Botanic Garden of the University of Tartu
- Toome Hill
- Statue of Oscar Wilde and Eduard Vilde
- Soup Neighbourhood
- Former Soviet Airfield
- Estonian National Museum
- Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum
- Tartu Art Museum
- KGB Museum
- Tartu City Museum
Do
- AHHAA Science Center
- Vanemuine Theatre
- Toy Museum and Theater House
- Aura Waterpark
- Lodi River Cruises
- tARTuFF
- PÖFF - Black Nights Film Festival
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Places to stay in Tartu
1 place to stay from the chains this guide covers, each linked to its own website.
| Place to stay | Rooms |
|---|---|
| Bob W Tartu Old Town apartment building | 37 |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
More hotels in Tartu
2 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Uhti inn | 10.1 km | |
| Tartu Kutsehariduskeskuse Hotell | 3.5 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Tartu
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Tartu are June and July. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; August is the wettest, with about 88 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Tartu: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Tartu Airport (TAY), about 8.3 km from the city centre in a straight line; Princess Olga Pskov International Airport (PKV, 119 km) and Pärnu Airport (EPU, 131 km) are also within reach.
Getting around
Tartu can be easily explored by walking. It's only a 20-minute walk from the train station to the old town, and a beautiful 30-min walk from old town to the Estonian National Museum. Walking up to Toomemägi for views of the city and attractions like the old observatory and the cathedral ruins is also definitely worth it. All the tourist sites are very close together and it's unlikely you would need any transportation. Cycling is the best and fastest way to get around Tartu. There is also a quite an extensive network of cycle paths. Tartu has 750 city bikes, and 500 of them are electric.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
TAY · Tartu Airport
PKV · Princess Olga Pskov International Airport
EPU · Pärnu Airport
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Tartu
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 1 place
of 1 place
of 1 place
Questions
Tartu: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Tartu?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Tartu are June and July. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; August is the wettest, with about 88 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Tartu?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Tartu Airport (TAY), about 8.3 km from the city centre in a straight line; Princess Olga Pskov International Airport (PKV, 119 km) and Pärnu Airport (EPU, 131 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Tartu?
euro (EUR).
Nearby
Destinations near Tartu
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.