estonia
A dreamy summer road trip…
With zero plans made, we arrived in Estonia, checked into our medieval looking airBnB then headed out for a coffee. Thirty minutes later we’d found ourselves in a hipster-heaven vintage sunglasses store and gotten chatting to the owner. We told him how long we had and that we were loosely planning to drive around the country. He outlined his dream road trip, made a bunch of recommendations, we covered our google map with pins and that was that!
We spent 2 nights eating and walking our way around Tallinn, it’s such a cool city, the food is incredible, there’s a ton of creative and interesting spaces, and it’s such a visually interesting mixture of old, new, art and nature. We climbed up to old castles, wandered around the harbour, meandered the cobble streets of the city and strolled through the refurbished industrial zones. We could easily have spent a couple more days here!
Next we hired a car and hit the road south, heading for the student city of Tartu, we stopped on the way for a hike in the countryside (flat but beautiful landscapes). In Tartu itself we got a little unlucky with the weather there but enjoyed it nonetheless, with some great meals eaten and a bit of a wander around (another very cute city!) we headed off. Part of visiting Estonia was the idea that we’d get some quiet and space and we really found that with our next spot, in the middle of nowhere we were in an adorable tiny home airBnB with a wood fired hot tub looking out over fields with no buildings in site. We barbequed, drank wine in the hot tub and soaked in the views and vibes across sunset and through to the night skies.
The next day we drove up and on to a car ferry and headed out to our first island of Muhu, a teeny little island, we enjoyed discovering the local baked goods, exploring the weirdly non-sandy coast, and then found our way to the winery we were staying for the night. We grabbed the bikes on offer and headed off for a (very windy, seaweedy, chilly) swim, before settling in for an evening of yummy food and wine in a stunning countryside setting.
The next day our road trip continued onto Saaremaa island, a bigger area, we didn’t manage to see it all, but we generally followed our stomachs. Stopping in at farmhouse shops to buy bits and pieces, a brewery for some taste testing, a huge lunch under a windmill and then into the main town to find our bed for the night. Unbeknownst to us we’d booked a totally insane room in a historic building which was on the edge of a castle moat! We wandered around the town then had a great dinner moat-side before walking down to the coast for sun set.
Hiiumaa was the final stop on our island hopping mission, we climbed a lighthouse and drove around the countryside before settling into our very cosy little forest cabin for the night, despite the remoteness of our accom we were walking distance from an insanely good restaurant and enjoyed yet another amazing Estonian meal.
Maximising the road trip to the final minute, we boosted direct to the airport the next morning to head to Paris!
