The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga, which is a part of the Baltic Sea.

Pärnu is a popular summer holiday resort town among Estonians with many hotels, restaurants and large beaches.

Another town, Embeke (later German: Neu-Pernau, Estonian: Uus-Pärnu) was founded by the Livonian Order, who began building an Ordensburg nearby in 1265.

Sweden took control of the town during the 16th-century Livonian War as part of Swedish Livonia, although it was not formally ceded by Poland-Lithuania until the 1660 Treaty of Oliva.

The city was occupied by the Soviet Red Army along with the rest of Estonia in 1940 during World War II, and its German population fled the town.

Pärnu then continued as being part of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, when Estonia restored its independence.

In recent years, the port has developed into an important regional harbour for south-western and southern Estonia.

Today Pärnu has all desirable qualities of a modern holiday resort – it has spas and rehabilitation centres, hotels, conference and concert venues, golf courses and tennis courts, restaurants and pubs.

The establishment accommodated 5–6 bathrooms that provided hot seawater baths in summer and operated as a sauna in winter.

Some of the past and upcoming artists to perform include Martin Garrix, David Guetta, Avicii, Steve Aoki, The Chainsmokers, Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Robin Schulz, Afrojack, deadmau5, Knife Party, Desiigner and many more.