Lavassaare offers two different ways to enjoy a stay: the bog landscape and railway history. Lavassaare Nature Reserve was established in 2016. The Estonian Railway Museum is also located in the settlement, between bog areas and about 17 kilometres northwest of Pärnu. When planning your visit, you can consider whether to include a seasonal ride on the museum train or focus on the history of the bog and the settlement.
Bog landscape and protected habitats
Protected habitats in the nature reserve include raised bogs, transitional and quaking bogs, beak-sedge communities, species-rich fens, old semi-natural forests and old broadleaf forests. The landscape is therefore not limited to a single type of bog: the protected habitats encompass various types of bog as well as forest areas. In the wider region, the Maima, Elbu, Nurme, Kaisma and Laisma bogs are part of the Lavassaare bog area.
The Lavassaare restoration area includes remnant bog, drained bog forest and the surroundings of Lake Lavassaare. The bog area also contains Estonia’s largest peat extraction sites. Nature and industrial history are thus closely connected within the same landscape. Small-scale recreational activities such as swimming and fishing are permitted in Lake Lavassaare in the context of the protected area; check the local conservation rules and any seasonal restrictions on site.
Museum railway: ride and exhibition
From June to September, the museum train runs regularly along a two-kilometre route between the museum in MĂĽramaa and the village of Lavassaare. You can choose between a steam train, a diesel train and a picnic train; the ride takes about 25 minutes. Check the current timetable before travelling if you plan to include the train ride in your itinerary.
The railway’s history can also be explored in different ways at the museum. The indoor exhibition features more than 700 historical photographs, objects and documents about the history of narrow-gauge railways in Estonia. The Estonian Railway Museum is the country’s only narrow-gauge railway museum. Founded in 1987, the Museum Railway Society began collecting railway vehicles.
From the peat industry to a settlement
The present-day settlement of Lavassaare began in 1919 with the founding of the Lavassaare (Jõõpre) peat industry. During the heyday of peat extraction, Lavassaare grew from a few farmsteads into a settlement of about 450 residents. The historic peat-industry settlement included a workshop, office, depot, storage buildings and officials’ houses; wooden barracks housed the workers.
The railway is also part of this history: the old peat railway junction was established in 1922. By 1924, the Lavassaare–Pärnu (Pootsi)–Sindi line had been completed for transporting peat. This timeline brings the connection between the settlement’s development and the peat industry to life, without conflating the former transport route with today’s museum train ride.
Memorial sites and paths
Nearby Vana-Lavassaare, two kilometres northwest of the new settlement, was the site of the Lavassaare prison camp from 1941 to 1947. A dressed erratic boulder bearing a memorial inscription commemorates the former camp at Ülejõe tänav 6, where the barracks once stood. Check the condition of the memorial stone on site before visiting.
Lavassaare Military Cemetery is located in a peat extraction area with a high water table and vegetation typical of this terrain. From the car park, the cemetery is accessible only on foot, via a path about 250 metres long that is partly surfaced and reinforced with wooden planks. As the path’s condition can change with maintenance, check it before your visit.
When choosing a holiday rental in Lavassaare, your preferred focus can be a good starting point: a seasonal museum train ride, the bog landscape, or the history of the peat industry and its memorial sites. Plan your travel dates accordingly if you want to include a ride on the museum train.
Discover more destinations: Lavassaare, Sindi linn, Audru, Varbla Vald, Surju, Tahkuranna, Vändra, Häädemeeste.
For the broader travel overview: Pärnu.
