Valga Things to Do

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Here I must confess that border towns interest me, not least because borders are there to be crossed. Valga sits right on the southern Estonian border and part of the town - Valka - is in Latvia. While both were in the Soviet Union this was not the problem it became in the 1990s after the two Baltic states declared independence. Thankfully, since both joined the European Union, the disruptive border posts that sprang up have now disappeared again and you can walk from one to the other.
Valga is a quiet town with a few interesting buildings. A good place to begin a walk around is at the wooden former Town Hall of 1865. It now houses the tourist office which, like most in Estonia, has some very good material. Across the road is St. John's (Lutheran) church, built by a Latvian architect on an unusual oval plan and completed in 1816. It's well worth a look and a small donation would be helpful - it has some obvious structural problems that need to be repaired.
Like most Estonian towns, Valga also has an Orthodox church - 'Issidor' church from the 1890s. This is some distance from the centre, tucked away among streets of wooden houses near the railway station. (The 1949 station itself and the nearby 1950s steam locomotive are also worth a look.)
At the side of the main street is one of the town's more striking buildings, the 'German Bank' from 1912 in a combination of Neo-Classical and Art Nouveau styles.
(And now on to the next part of the town for which look under "Valka, Latvia".)