The Land of Bays is made up of four peninsulas jutting out into the Gulf of Finland, with numerous islands and islets off its shores. Estonia’s largest national park has the country’s most enchanting country manor at its heart, while well-marked nature trails and specialist tour guides can satisfy your curiosity about anything from beavers, bears and bogs to folk dances and fisheries. The landscape is rich and varied, with limestone cliffs, coastal lakes, ancient forests and a coastline dotted with erratic boulders dragged across by ice sheets from Scandinavia (although folklore claims they were hurled by mighty Kalevipoeg). Riding through Lahemaa, you will pass hoary old fir trees, birches, oaks and open, luminous green fields; the smell of pine can be overwhelming. Getting there: it takes about an hour by bus from Tallinn’s Bus Station. A local bus from Viitna takes you to Palmse Visitor Centre, Võsu and Käsmu (Mon-Wed, Fri and Sun only, leaving Viitna at 1250). If you are driving, be warned that signposting is poor, roads are narrow and turns are often indicated at the very last minute. To reach Lahemaa from Tallinn, take the E20 via Peterburi tee, which takes you past Lasnamäe, then leave the main road at Viitna, 50 km from Tallinn. The visitor centre is at Palmse Manor. Freelance guides must be booked in advance; recommendations from the visitor centre. Jõelähtme Information centre T 603 3097, margit.partel@mail.ee. 1 May-1 Oct Mon-Fri 0900-1700; other times open on request. 10 EEK. Buses 89,102, 104, 106, 129, 134, 143, 150-155, 717, on the right of the motorway. En route to Lahemaa, you pass a collection of extraordinary stone-cist graves, circled by a limestone wall, which date back as far as 700 BC. Objects found during excavation – animal bones, unburnt human bones and a few bronze items – are similar to those discovered in Jutland, Denmark. There’s a small museum and information centre on the spot. Palmse Manor Palmse, T 032 34196. With its wooded park, orchards and romantic swan lake, 18th-century Palmse Manor is one of the most beautiful and best-restored estates in the Baltic countries. The cream-and-yellow main building, started in 1698 and rebuilt in the 1880s, has a neoclassical façade with traces of baroque and is much less pompous than many Baltic-German manor houses. The estate belonged to the von der Pahlen family but was expropriated by the Estonian government in the 1920s. The old distillery has been turned into a hotel and restaurant, while the bathhouse has become a sublimely romantic café. Lahemaa Visitor Centre Palmse Manor, T 95555, F 95556, info@lahemaa.ee. May-Aug daily 0900-1900, Sep 0900-1700, Oct-Apr Mon-Fri 0900-1700. Housed in the manor’s former stables, this visitor centre has a small auditorium where you can watch the beautifully-shot documentary Nature and Man (17 minutes), which offers an excellent introduction to the park’s history and to what lives, grows, flies and swims here. The country’s sole surviving freshwater pearl mussels are in Lahemaa, moose may be spotted after sunset and the islets are perfect breeding habitats for sea birds. This is also the place to pick up maps and explanatory pamphlets. Sagadi Manor Sagadi (8 km northeast of Palmse via Oandu), T 58885, http://www.rmk.ee/metsamuseum. Forest and manor daily May-Oct 1000-1800. Long, low and mulberry-coloured, the manor house is less impressive than Palmse but has similarly tranquil grounds. In one of its outbuildings, you’ll find the Forest Museum about the country’s forests, the use of the forest and hunting. Most information is also in English. Walks around Lahemaa Nearby Oandu is the start point for two of Lahemaa’s best wildlife walks: on the 4.7-km Oandu Forest Nature Trail, you may find at least traces of the presence of brown bear, moose, wild boar and lynx; while on the 1-km Beaver Trail, you’ll see dams and, if you’re lucky, the reclusive beast itself. There are information boards in English. Don’t leave valuables in the car. Altja 5 km from Sagadi. This is a typical coastal fishermen’s village, with grey thatched barn dwellings and a popular, if touristy, tavern. Käsmu From Altija, take the coastal road via Vergi and the Võsu holiday village. Situated on Käsmu Bay and first mentioned in 1453, Lahemaa’s loveliest village was, according to legend, founded by a captain named Kaspar who survived a shipwreck and built a chapel here. Legend also tells us that Gustav Adolf II of Sweden wound up here after a rough sea voyage and etched his name on a stone at Palganamee. Traditionally a ship-building village, its chief draws are the delightful wooden seaside cottages and villas. Käsmu is a good base for exploring the peninsula, which has an 11-km hiking trail and a 14-km bicycle route. Käsmu Museum Käsmu, T 38136. Daily, says the owner, “from morning till evening, or 24 hours”! Certainly 1000-1800. Donations (around 10 EEK). This seafront museum in a former border guard’s house has a rambling collection of lanterns, fishing nets, ropes, coloured bottles, models of boats and souvenirs from Pisa, Genoa, Sunderland, Zeebrugge and Canada. One book on display conveys the romance of sea tales (the author describes how, as a boy, he stayed up late listening to his father’s stories, desperately hoping his mother would not notice that he was still awake). Muuksi Linnamägi Muuksi is home to the country’s biggest stone-cist cemetery, which some say dates back to 2600 BC. At Linnamägi (meaning ‘sight of an ancient fortified stronghold’), turn right through fields of wild flowers and climb a flight of stone steps up to a small hill. Viinistu Kunstimuuseum (Viinistu Art Museum) Viinistu, T 608 6422, viinistukunstimuuseum@hot.ee. Jul-Aug daily 1100-1800, Sep-May Wed-Sun 1100-1800. 10 EEK. Buses 89, 129, 139, 150-155, 717. This fascinating museum, on the northernmost tip of the Viinistu Peninsula, was founded by Jaan Manitsky, a local businessman whose family fled to Sweden during the 2nd World War (Manitsky later became financial advisor to the band ABBA) and who returned to Estonia after the restoration of its independence. Inside you can admire his private art collection: from works by 19th-century Baltic-German painters to the creations of top contemporary Estonian artists. It’s a good overview of Estonian art and a must for art-lovers. Manitsky is building a hotel next door and plans to offer trips to the nearby island of Muhnu, which, by the way, he also owns.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
 |
 |
Tallin - £7.99
|
|
||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
 |
||||
|
| ||||
|
||||
 |
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
||||||||
