Why the best gift to bring back from Estonia is a reflector
Forget Baltic amber.
Visitors to Estonia often ask us what is a good gift to bring back home. We tell them to forget Matryoshka dolls or Baltic amber (neither of which come from Estonia but fill the shelves of tourist shops). Our answer is always the same: reflectors.
Back in 2011, Estonia changed its law to say that pedestrians must wear reflectors whenever it is dark or visibility in poor. That basically means all of winter. As a result, most Estonian adults and virtually all Estonian children wear reflectors throughout winter.
This has improved road safety dramatically and also created a mini-industry of reflector makers in Estonia, including some incredibly fashionable designs. So if you buy a reflector then you are getting a genuinely useful little gift that represents good Estonian design and could actually save someone’s life.
The best reflectors are around €10 to €18 each, although there are also tons of simple free reflectors handed out each winter. In fact, there’s even a tradition of hanging reflectors on trees for anyone to take.
Here’s a little video we made about it:
Thanks for reading
The Estonian Saunas blog is run by Anni and Adam, explorers and exporters of Estonian saunas. You can also follow our adventures on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter — or join our Facebook group for fans of Estonian saunas. Email us at tere@estoniansaunas.com.
Our global online store will be launching soon, but we export to the UK at EstonianSaunas.co.uk and also have two saunas in Estonia that are open to visitors and were created with the best of Estonian design and technology — our Tallinn smoke sauna and our Tallinn Airbnb apartment with an e-sauna. We’re also shareholders in HUUM, Estonia’s top designer of sauna stoves and heaters, and we’re sponsors of the European Sauna Marathon, which we’ll be covering extensively on our blog.
