I think the problem with estonia is that it's just not that attractive a place. I wish they could join forces with some southern european country (which have far more issues than belgium)
Howdy. Non-European here - Australian - living in Estonia.
Estonia doesn't have mountains. It's flat. It's biggest mountain is a hill about 400 meters high. And I miss mountains. But other than that... this place is beautiful.
The Tallinn old town is wonderfully preserved. There's a vibrant (though expensive) alternative / bar culture in old warehouse districts. The towns, like Pärnu or Viljandi, are unique and have amazing old usually wooden architecture. The air is clean, and I mean really clean. Water comes mostly from wells, and the country is built on limestone. There are lots of lakes. The country has amazing forests, and is one of the most forested, best preserved in terms of nature in Europe.
Yes, it gets cold in winter. Minus 15, minus 20 degrees. Lots of snow. But it's a country that shows seasons: the cycle here is visible and I think that helps a lot. In Australia it was just hot all the time, sometimes a bit wetter. Estonia shows nature's path.
This is all personal opinion. It's a fantastic place.
A side note on forests. I love nature and if you do too, so long as you can handle no mountains :) then Estonia is a good place for you. But the government is rapidly destroying this unique element of the country. I wrote about it for Estonian World, which is the main magazine covering Estonia for foreigners and in English. If you have time please give it a read, both for the photos and discussion of Estonian culture, and also just to see current events in the country. https://estonianworld.com/life/the-war-on-estonian-forests/
It really depends on your definition of attractiveness, which would be highly subjective. For the author of the article, the things you would consider unattractive clearly didn't pose a big enough issue to counter the things they do find attractive.
I've never been there but I'm curious: in which ways do you mean unattractive? As in the buildings/architecture/landscape is ugly? The pay there is low? Government services are lacking/corrupt? Something else?
Don't know why someone would complain about Estonia? Haven't lived there but visited quite many times. Tallinn has a dense old town. Pärnu is a laid back walkable summer city with a great beach. Saarenmaa is calm and quiet. For negatives, they do lack mountains, there aree large boring pine forest parts in the middle and there are still, after 30 years, a lot of Soviet era semi ruined buildings that make at least me sad. (Buildings can be even older but they were not maintained for the 40+ years of Soviet occupation.)
Cold (i dont think estonia is cold but whatever) > warm in times of global warming when you dont even have enough water to support nuclear reactors in France.
South Europe (outside south France) is probably worst place to live if you care about 10+ years window and plan or have kids.
You'll just let them out to live in 25% unemployment, high possibility of another immigration crisis and stagnant economy cause you prefere 40+ celsius over 25 in the middle of the day.
Estonia doesn't have mountains. It's flat. It's biggest mountain is a hill about 400 meters high. And I miss mountains. But other than that... this place is beautiful.
The Tallinn old town is wonderfully preserved. There's a vibrant (though expensive) alternative / bar culture in old warehouse districts. The towns, like Pärnu or Viljandi, are unique and have amazing old usually wooden architecture. The air is clean, and I mean really clean. Water comes mostly from wells, and the country is built on limestone. There are lots of lakes. The country has amazing forests, and is one of the most forested, best preserved in terms of nature in Europe.
Yes, it gets cold in winter. Minus 15, minus 20 degrees. Lots of snow. But it's a country that shows seasons: the cycle here is visible and I think that helps a lot. In Australia it was just hot all the time, sometimes a bit wetter. Estonia shows nature's path.
This is all personal opinion. It's a fantastic place.
A side note on forests. I love nature and if you do too, so long as you can handle no mountains :) then Estonia is a good place for you. But the government is rapidly destroying this unique element of the country. I wrote about it for Estonian World, which is the main magazine covering Estonia for foreigners and in English. If you have time please give it a read, both for the photos and discussion of Estonian culture, and also just to see current events in the country. https://estonianworld.com/life/the-war-on-estonian-forests/