Winter season at the Open Air Museum
The wintertime Open Air Museum enchants with its tranquil rhythm of life and homely warmth. While strolling through the historic village in the coastal forest, you may step indoors to escape the chill, warm your hands by the stove, listen to the crackle of the firewood and chat leisurely with the hostess about the way of life in the olden days. The events of the folk calendar, on the other hand, are lively and spirited, and they brighten the entire winter season.
During the winter season, the museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday (on Mondays only for booked events and educational programmes).
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Ticket office and the museum shop from 10am to 5pm
- Härjapea Farm, Kuie School, Setu Farm, Russian house from Peipus, Sassi-Jaani barn-dwelling, Kolkhoz apartment, Lau village shop and Kolu Inn from 10am to 5 pm
- Kolga farm kid`s world from 10am to 4pm
- Horse-drawn carriage ride from 11am to 3:45pm
- The museum park from 10 am to 7 pm
At the Estonian Open Air Museum there is plenty to enjoy in any weather! In the museum shop, located in the ticket house, you can buy wellington boots, an umbrella or a woollen jumper if needed. While the ground is still green, you may rent a bicycle; when snow has fallen, we definitely recommend hiring a kicksled, as moving about becomes far easier – and much more fun – than on foot!
Kolkhoz apartment building
The two-storey house of silicate brick by the village road was built in the Soviet period for the workers of the cattle farm. Today you may step into its four apartments, furnished in the style of the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s and 2010s. Listen to the residents’ stories and take your time to look inside cupboards and drawers, rest on the sofa and leaf through the books and magazines. In the basement you will find an exhibition and an interactive area! Ask the hostess for picture cards, try to spot the items depicted in the apartments and guess what they were used for.
Setu farm
Behind the high gates of this fortified farmstead lie the granary and the cowshed, with the impressive Seto dwelling house between them. On the side of the house facing the village street you can see how these spirited people lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The other side – the new dwelling house – takes you into the Soviet era, the early 1960s. Ask the hostess what the Seto ate and drank, how they worked and how they celebrated their holidays. No animals are kept in the cowshed any longer, but you will find interesting exhibitions there instead. Ask the hostess how the national attire of a Setu woman looked and what distinguished it.
Peipsi old believers’ house
Next to the impressive Seto farmstead stands the small, cosy house of an Old Believer from the Lake Peipus area, adorned with elements of wooden lacework. In the enclosed yard, goats greet you with their bleating. In the bright room the samovar hums by the stove, and on the table, there is golden-coloured boiled sugar – do try a piece! Would you like to know why the Old Believers settled in Estonia and how their way of life and customs differ from those of Estonians? Ask the hostess!
Find out from her how to take care of goats and rabbits.
The World of a farm child in the Kolga farm barn-cowshed
This long, unusually shaped barn-cowshed comes from Hiiumaa. In the section facing the gate, where the cowsheds are located, you will find the home of the museum’s farm animals and poultry. You may visit it in the company of the farm hostess at 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00. In the exhibition and activity area “Every Little Step Counts”, visitors of all ages can, through play, discover what life on a farm was like in the past, and reflect on whether there is something in it for modern people to learn – and what exactly. What do animals give us, how were they cared for on the farm, and how do we treat them today? Try to guess how old objects were used, think of how they might be repurposed nowadays, and how to make our diet both healthy and sustainable. Where possible, put your theory into practice hands-on.
The barn-cowshed is open to visitors from 10am to 4pm, Thursday to Sunday. During the school holidays from 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday:
- 21–26 October, 23 December, 26-28 December and 30 December 2025
- 2–4 January, 25 Februar –1 March, 14–19 April 2026.
Kuie School
In winter, diligent study is underway in Kuie schoolhouse, for by St George’s Day pupils must have mastered writing and reading, arithmetic and the stories of the Bible. During the break you too may sit on a bench and recall your school days. Ask the hostess about the life of the schoolmaster, how many winters children attended school and how order was maintained in the classroom. Ask the hostess how to write with a quill and ink, but be prepared – she may well set you a sum to solve!
Lau village shop
It is impossible to pass by the Lau shop without at least peeking in. The shopkeeper offers the best goods: brightly coloured sweets and chocolate for those with a sweet tooth, spices, fabrics and crockery for housewives, tools and strong drink for men. Try a few sweets – which one do you like best? If you wish, you may also look into the shopkeeper’s living quarters, where her family relaxed after work on the divan and discussed village news.
Härjapea farm
The hostesses of Härjapea farm are, of course, skilled needleworkers – how could it be otherwise in the 1930s? Here you can (and should!) learn how to make beautiful household textiles and set the table for the family in the evening. The hostess can also tell you about the people who lived in this fine farmhouse in 1939 – who slept in the small bed, whose room was furnished most modernly, and which room was used only on festive occasions. Ask the hostess what interesting things could be crafted in the house today.
Kolu Inn
Now you have certainly earned a hearty meal! Hot soup, mulgi porridge, roast pork and other national dishes await you at Kolu Inn.
Sassi-Jaani farm
If you still have some strength left, before heading home step into the Sassi-Jaani farm barn-dwelling. Here you can learn about Estonian peasant architecture and admire the interior of a truly grand threshing-barn dwelling.
Good to know!
You can conveniently visit the open-air museum with a Tallinn Card, an annual pass to the Estonian Open Air Museum and a museum card.
The wintertime Open Air Museum enchants with its tranquil rhythm of life and homely warmth. While strolling through the historic village in the coastal forest, you may step indoors to escape the chill, warm your hands by the stove, listen to the crackle of the firewood and chat leisurely with the hostess about the way of life in the olden days. The events of the folk calendar, on the other hand, are lively and spirited, and they brighten the entire winter season.