Narva-Jõesuu

In the late nineteenth century Narva-Jõesuu was the beach where St Petersburg spent its summers - a resort of wooden villas and pines at the point where the Narva river meets the sea. The villas have mostly gone, but the beach that drew them is unchanged: one of the longest and finest stretches of sand in the country, and far less visited than Pärnu.

What you actually see

A very wide, very long beach of pale fine sand backed by a continuous belt of tall pines, with the river mouth and its stone mole at the eastern end - Russia begins on the far bank. A lighthouse stands above the river mouth, and a handful of spa hotels carry on the resort tradition in concrete rather than timber.

Out of season the beach is often close to empty for kilometres at a stretch.

When to go

• July and August - the sea is at its warmest and the resort is as lively as it gets.
• May, June and September - the beach to yourself under full pines.
• Autumn storms - the sea throws amber onto this coast, and locals walk the tideline after a blow.

Honest expectations

It is a long way east - three hours plus from Tallinn - and the town itself is modest, a mix of spa blocks and quiet streets. The beach is the reason to come, and it is a genuinely good one.

The border runs down the river. The mole and river mouth are normal places to walk, but boats and drones are a different matter here.

Nearby

Narva and its castle are twenty minutes upstream. The Narva Blue Lakes and the Alutaguse forests are within half an hour west.