Setomaa in South-East Estonia is a unique area for its people (the Seto) and culture. The historic location in the borderland between East and West, straddling two languages and cultures has shaped the local language, life style, clothes and food. A very specific type of singing – leelo – is incorporated in the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Visitors are advised to follow the Seto Külävüü route from Võõpsu to Luhamaa through many villages to better understand the area.
Traditional Seto food is found at Seto Teahouse (tsäimaja) (+372 505 4673, www.setomuuseum.ee) in Värska and at Taarka Tarõ in the Seto Community Centre in Obinitsa (+372 5620 3374, http://taarkatare.com). Catering for groups should be booked in advance, cultural shows can also be booked.

The memorial stone to Augusts Muižulis,a recipient of the Lāčplēsis Military Order, is placed in the Lapmežciems, at the edge of the road (P 128, Jūrmala-Talsi) at the marker for the 9th kilometre. A. Muižulis, (189 –1941) was a lieutenant colonel in the No. 4 Valmiera Infantry Brigade. The adjacent Tuteņi homestead is his native home.

This is an ancient and important place for trade and craftsmanship on the left shore of the Rīga hydroelectric power plant reservoir.  It rises some 15 m above the Daugava River.  The Zemgale port that is described in historical documents is thought to have been located alongside the castle hill and at the mouth of the little Varžupīte stream.  Antiquities that have been dug up here suggest that the castle hill and its adjoining ancient settlement were populated until the late 12th century, when the importance of Daugmale began to shrink because of rapidly growing Rīga.  The foundations of the castle hill have been shored up.

Atrodas 0,3 km ziemeļos no Vecpiebalgas pilsdrupām. Ap 10 m augsto, bet visnotaļ izteiksmīgo Grišku kalnu sauc arī par Piebalgas, Balgas un Veļķu pilskalnu. 13. gs. šeit bijusi svarīga apmetnes vieta ar mākslīgi nostāvinātām nogāzēm un dziļu aizsarggrāvi. Vēstures notikumi ir atstājuši ap metru biezu kultūrslāni. Bezlapu laikā no kalna paveras skats uz Vecpiebalgas baznīcu un pilsdrupu vietu. Pilskalna piekājē ir aka ar Griškavotu.

This was an island after the Rīga hydroelectric power plant created a reservoir, and before that it was a peninsula on the Left Bank of the Daugava.  During World War I, there were massive battles between Latvian Riflemen and a much larger German army on Death Island.  On December 25, 1916, the Germans used poisonous gas against the Latvian troops.  In honour of this, the architect Eižens Laube designed a monument to fallen Latvian riflemen on the northern shore of Death Island.  It was unveiled in 1924.  Death Island can be reached by boat, and the trenches and graves there are of interest.  There is a pier for boats on the north-western shore of the island, and nearby is a location for leisure.  Some of the trenches and dugouts have recently been restored.  The battles were described by Aleksandrs Grīns in his masterpiece, “Snowstorm of Souls.”

Musteikas pirmsākumi ir meklējami jau 18. gs. Līdz Musteikai no Marcinkones puses var nokļūt pa grantētu ceļu, kas ved gar bijušajiem kolhoza zivju dīķiem. Automašīnu var atstāt ciema sākumā un izstaigāt to ar kājām, izjūtot veco ēku smaržu un šarmu. Musteikā atrodas Dzūkijas biškopības vēsturei veltīts „dzīvs” muzejs, kur stropos dzīvo bites, bet tā saimnieks ir biškopis pēc aicinājuma un būtības. Ja palūgsiet, viņš demonstrēs – kā ar krama, metāla un posas piepes palīdzību senos laikos ieguva uguni.

Vāldamõ – a residential building that is yellow and has natural roofing materials.  It was built as a new farm at the beginning of the last century.  Virgo is the next homestead to the North from Vāldamõ, and it was established as a new farm in the 1920s.  The house (1930) features interesting wood carvings.  Next to the North is Fīlmaņi, which has a building that appears antique, but was built in the early 20th century as a single roof.  Silkalni is the homestead that we find if we turn to the right toward Pitrags at the crossroads.  The yellow building was built around 1906 as a single room.  Norpiedagi is to the South from Silkalni – a brown and larger house than the previous one.  The home was built around 1906 as a one-room granary by the active Liv public activist and boat builder Diriķis Volganskis (1884-1968).  His son, Edgars Valgamā, who was also a Liv cultural activist and worked as a pastor in Finland, was born here.  Anduļi can be found at the aforementioned crossroads.  This is one of the largest old farms in the village, and it is owned by the village elder.  The history of the homestead was first recorded in 1680, when it was called Kūkiņi.  The homestead includes a residential building (c. 1909), a threshing barn (1905), a granary (mid-19th century), and a smokehouse made of a boat that was cut in two.  Under the part of the threshing barn which is on the back of the dune, there is the medieval, so-called Plague cemetery.  Žoki is a homestead that is on the other side of the road from Anduļi.  The building that is there now was built on the foundation of an older one.  In the mid-19th century, Žoki was home to the first reading school for Liv children from the seashore villages of the Dundaga region.  Liv Nika Polmanis (1823-1903) worked there as a teacher.  Next to the North of Žoki is the Tilmači homestead, with several buildings that were built in the late 19th and early 20th century – a brown residential building, a stable and part of a granary.  When the residential building was restored, the owner found a board reading "1825. Kurlyandskaya gubernya."  The seven historical homesteads and buildings were at one time considered for listing on the UNESCO list of world heritage.

 The Lašu castle hill is 0.2 km from the Vecumnieki-Ilūkste road at Laši. It is an ancient Selonian castle hill, and it was populated between the 1^st millennium BC and the 10^th or 12^th century. Very little remains of the old Veclaši (Tiesenhausen) Estate, which had an impressive mansion designed in the Neo-Gothic style in the late 19^th century. What remains are an ancillary building, the foundations of the mansion, fragments of the gates, and a park. Until 1920, the estate belonged to the Pshezdzetski dynasty, and before that it was owned by the Tiesenhausen and Fittinghoff dynasties. Before visiting the location, look for photographs of the old mansion on the Internet. Sadly, the important cultural monument has not experienced any major improvements over the past 20 years.

Taisnā Celtnieku iela ir bijušās Liepājas – Aizputes šaursliežu dzelzceļa (celta 1900. gadā, 49 km gara) līnijas „trase”, kuras malā (Celtnieku ielā 50) redzama bijusī dzelzceļa stacijas ēka.

In the 1960s, the Soviet Union banned individual fishing in the sea, and the motor boats which had no other purpose were simply beached in the dunes.  It is said that members of the Border Guard often set the boats on fire.  Another story is that the Border Guard banned an ancient tradition of burning old boats on Summer solstice Eve.  Along the road to the cemetery is the old net barn, which is a residential building today.