Guide · rules
Sale hours in Estonia: 10:00–22:00
The short answer: alcohol may be sold to take away from 10:00 to 22:00. Between 22:00 and 10:00 no shop, petrol station or kiosk may sell it. This does not change with the day of the week or with public holidays.
The hours
- Off-premise sale
- permitted 10:00–22:00
- Night ban
- 22:00–10:00, every day
- Weekends
- the same hours, no exception
- Public holidays
- the same hours
- For drinking on site
- bars and restaurants do not run on these hours; the local authority may restrict them
- Basis
- the Estonian Alcohol Act (alkoholiseadus)
The hours apply to selling, not to drinking. Nobody forbids you to drink after 22:00 — what is forbidden is the sale.
What that means in practice
A shop closes the alcohol aisle or refuses at the till at 22:00. Most shops in fact stop a couple of minutes earlier, because the till system blocks the line automatically — after 22:00 the sale cannot go through even with the best will.
Petrol stations and kiosks are not an exception. Even a 24-hour station sells no alcohol at night.
In a bar or restaurant the situation differs: they sell for consumption on the premises, and the night ban on take-away sales does not apply there. Local authorities may set their own limits, so the rules in Tallinn and in a small rural municipality can differ.
If the evening is going to run late, the only reliable answer is to buy before ten. Any plan along the lines of «we will find something later» means, in practice, either bar prices or a refusal.
How not to be late
Decide before 21:30
The last half hour is the busiest time in shops, and the queue can eat the rest of it.
Work out the quantity in advance
Number of guests times two glasses is more realistic than «one bottle will do».
Allow for the journey
A shop further away plus the queue is 20–30 minutes.
ID in your pocket
Age checks are compulsory, not a matter of courtesy.
Common questions
Can I still buy at exactly 22:00?
In practice, no. Till systems block the sale at 22:00, so the purchase has to go through before that.
May a bar sell alcohol at night?
For consumption on the premises, yes; the night ban on take-away sale does not apply there. Local authorities may add their own restrictions.
Are there exceptions on public holidays?
No. The 10:00–22:00 window applies every day, including Christmas and Midsummer.
Is drinking at night prohibited?
The ban concerns selling, not drinking. Drinking in public places is a separate rule and depends on the place.