How to Get from Tallinn to Lottemaa: A Family’s Travel Guide

By Lottemaa Team • Updated Jun 1, 2026.
If your family is in Tallinn — whether for a few days as tourists, a stopover after the Helsinki ferry, or as expat residents looking for a weekend day trip — Lottemaa sits 1 hour 45 minutes to the south, just outside Pärnu. The drive is direct, the road is famous (it’s the Via Baltica, the main artery linking Tallinn to Riga), and a one-day return trip is genuinely doable. But most families who go end up wishing they’d planned two days. Here’s everything you need to know to make the journey easy on the kids and easy on the parent doing the driving.

The route at a glance

Lottemaa sits in Reiu village, about 15 minutes south of Pärnu by car. The exact address is Kanari, Reiu, 86508 Pärnu maakond. From central Tallinn — measured from Viru Square — the drive is roughly 135 km and takes 1 hour 45 minutes in normal traffic, slightly longer on Friday afternoons or weekend mornings in peak summer.
There are three practical ways to make the trip with a family:

• By car — the fastest and most flexible. About €25–35 in fuel each way for a typical family vehicle.
• By coach plus a short taxi — Lux Express and Hansabussid run hourly from Tallinn Coach Station to Pärnu (~2 hours), then a 10-minute taxi from Pärnu Bus Terminal to the park (~€10).
• By private transfer — door-to-door minivan, typically €120–180 each way, useful if you’re a larger group or arriving fresh off the Helsinki ferry without a car.

There is no direct train to Pärnu, and there is no public bus that goes from Pärnu directly to Lottemaa’s gates. Plan around that last 12 km.

Driving from Tallinn to Lottemaa

The drive is one of the easier road trips in Estonia. Take the Pärnu maantee out of Tallinn, merge onto the Via Baltica (E67), and stay on it until just before Pärnu, where signs for Reiu and Lottemaa appear. The route is well marked in English and the road is in excellent condition for almost the entire stretch.
A few specifics that help if you’ve never made the drive before:

• Best departure time: 8:30–9:30 from Tallinn. You’ll reach Lottemaa around 10:30, which is when the park opens. Earlier than that and you’ll be sitting in the car park before the gates open. Later than that, you’ll lose the first quiet hour at the park to traffic on the Pärnu approach.
• One natural rest stop: Märjamaa, roughly halfway. There’s a fuel station with a clean café, child-friendly bathrooms, and a small playground. Most families don’t need it, but if your kids are under 4, a 15-minute stretch break here is worth the time.
• Weekend traffic: On Friday afternoons (Tallinn → Pärnu) and Sunday afternoons (Pärnu → Tallinn) in July and early August, allow an extra 20–30 minutes for traffic. This is the city escaping to the beach and coming back.
• Last-mile signage: About 8 km before Pärnu, watch for brown tourist signs marked “Lottemaa.” You turn left off the Via Baltica before reaching central Pärnu. Don’t drive into Pärnu town — you’ll add 15 minutes.

Parking at Lottemaa costs €4 (€3 if you pay through the Snabb mobile app), and there’s plenty of space — even on the busiest July weekends, the car park doesn’t fill. There is no need to arrive at opening time just to find a parking spot.

Going by coach (and the last 10 minutes)

If you’re travelling without a car, the coach is the next-best option. Lux Express and Hansabussid both run hourly services from Tallinn Coach Station (Tallinna bussijaam, near Viru Square) to Pärnu Bus Terminal (Pärnu bussijaam). The journey takes about 2 hours. Tickets are typically €10–14 one way, often cheaper if you book online in advance.
Once you reach Pärnu Bus Terminal, you have a 12-kilometre gap to close to the park gates. Three options:

1. Pre-booked taxi. Call ahead through Bolt or the Pärnu Taxi app — about €10 for the 10-minute ride. This is the easiest option with kids and luggage.
2. Local bus. A regional Pärnu-county bus passes near Reiu, but timings rarely line up with family-friendly hours. Confirm at the bus terminal information desk on arrival.
3. Walking. Not realistic with children — 12 km along the highway shoulder isn’t safe or sensible.

For the return leg, ask the Lottemaa entrance staff to call a taxi for you about 30 minutes before you want to leave. Cars don’t always cruise near the park, so calling ahead matters.

If you’ve just arrived in Tallinn from Helsinki by ferry

Most Finnish families do the whole Helsinki–Lottemaa journey in a single day, which is technically possible but tiring. Here’s how it works practically:
The Tallink ferry from Helsinki arrives at Tallinn’s D-terminal (Megastar, MyStar). From the moment you drive off the ferry, you’re roughly 1 hour 50 minutes from Lottemaa. The ferry terminal sits just east of Tallinn’s Old Town, and the road network connects directly to the Pärnu maantee. You don’t need to drive through central Tallinn at all.
For families with younger children, we strongly recommend booking a hotel in Tallinn or Pärnu rather than attempting the full 5-hour Helsinki-to-Lottemaa day trip in one go.

Combining Lottemaa with stops along the way

If you’re making the journey from Tallinn and want to add detours, there are two natural options that work well with kids in the car:
Pärnu Old Town and beach. Just 15 minutes north of Lottemaa. The Pärnu Beach Promenade is excellent on a sunny day, and the Old Town has cafés and ice-cream stops. The Visit Pärnu website lists current family events. This combination works best as a two-day plan: day one at Lottemaa, day two at the beach.
Märjamaa rest stop. Already mentioned above as a halfway stretch break. There’s nothing dramatic to see, but it splits the drive into two manageable halves for families with toddlers.
A combination that doesn’t work as well: trying to fit in Pärnu Beach and Lottemaa in the same day from Tallinn. The drive, the park, plus the beach is roughly 13 hours door-to-door, which is too long with kids under 8.

One-day trip versus two-day trip

The honest answer most Tallinn families wish they’d been told: a one-day trip works, but a two-day trip works much better. Here’s the practical comparison:
One day: Leave Tallinn at 8:30, arrive Lottemaa around 10:30, spend 6 hours in the park, leave at 16:30, back in Tallinn by 18:30. The drive and the park together are about 9.5 hours. Doable with kids 6+, exhausting with kids under 5.
Two days: Drive from Tallinn on day one, arrive Pärnu in the afternoon, stay overnight in a Pärnu hotel, full day at Lottemaa on day two with the €41 two-day ticket, drive back to Tallinn that evening or the next morning. This is overwhelmingly the more popular choice with Tallinn families who have kids under 7. It also gives you the Pärnu Beach and Old Town as bonuses.
If you go for the two-day option, the €41 two-day ticket pays for itself the first time you realize you didn’t see half of what you wanted to see on day one.

When to leave Tallinn for the day

Three timing tips most first-time Tallinn families would benefit from:

1. Leave by 9:00, not 10:00. A single hour earlier means catching the first theatre performance at 11:00. After lunch, queues and crowds inside the park double. The morning is the gift.
2. Avoid Friday afternoons. If you’re driving down on a Friday, you’ll hit weekend beach traffic. Aim for Tuesday or Thursday departures if your schedule allows.
3. Time the return for kids’ energy. A 4:30 PM departure from Lottemaa puts you back in Tallinn at 6:30 — before peak hunger, after peak tantrum. A 6:00 PM departure means kids fall asleep in the car halfway through, which is fine if you’re driving and miserable if you’re on the coach.

The official Lottemaa transport page

For the official map, parking layout, and the exact route from the Tallinn highway exit, the Lottemaa team maintains an official transport page with current information. Bookmark it on your phone before you leave Tallinn so you can pull it up when you turn off the Via Baltica.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to drive from Tallinn to Lottemaa? About 1 hour 45 minutes in normal traffic. Add 20–30 minutes for peak summer Friday or Sunday afternoons.
Is there a direct bus from Tallinn to Lottemaa? No. The coach runs from Tallinn to Pärnu (about 2 hours), then you take a 10-minute taxi from Pärnu Bus Terminal to the park. There is no direct service to the park gates.
Can I do Lottemaa as a one-day trip from Tallinn? Yes, but most families with kids under 7 find a two-day trip with a night in Pärnu much more enjoyable. The €41 two-day ticket makes this cost-effective.
Where do I park at Lottemaa, and how much does it cost? Lottemaa has its own car park 5 minutes from the gates. Parking costs €4 (or €3 if you pay through the Snabb mobile app). Space is plentiful even on peak weekends.
If I’m arriving from Helsinki on the ferry, should I overnight in Tallinn first? For families with kids under 8, yes — the Helsinki–Tallinn–Lottemaa one-day push is 10+ hours of travel plus the park, which is too much. Most Finnish families overnight in Pärnu instead and combine with a spa-hotel weekend.
Plan your visit: [See 2026 opening dates and buy tickets →]
Author: Lottemaa Team, Content & Family Travel Editor at Lottemaa (Lotte Village Theme Park).
Lottemaa Team writes practical planning guides for visiting Lottemaa and the Pärnu region with children, covering seasonal opening dates, ticket inclusions, accessibility, and transport logistics from Tallinn, Riga, and Helsinki. This guide was last updated on