Winter in Estonia brings the opportunity to explore trails, which at other times of year are inaccessible. Thanks to the current weather conditions, Lake Pühajärv, near Otepää in the south of Estonia, is now open for everyone, offering the opportunity to view the surroundings from a completely different perspective.

"From here, you can get beautiful views of the landscape, the peaks and the camp sites. The lakes are also visible. In fact, there's a lot of exploring to be done all around the lake," said Imre Arro, who created the trail.

Lake Pühajärv also has four islands, which usually cannot be reached. However, the ice trail passes by all of them, providing a great way to get a closer look.

Plenty of visitors have already taken advantage of the trails. Moonika Ülper and her friend Piia made a last minute decision to swap their planned hike around the lake, for an excursion on the lake itself.

"We decided to do some laps here on the lake. Our original plan was to go around the lake, but then when we saw that the trails go on to it, we thought we'd do them here instead," said Moonika.

The way the trail has been set up means people can choose to complete the full ten kilometers, or opt for shorter courses of five or two and a half kilometers if they prefer.

"The ice trail is a really good alternative for those who don't want to ski in the mountains. The most common form of transport here is kicksledding, so everybody can do it," said Imre Arro.

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