Cycle tour Estonia: Cycle tour with 5 stages through the small country on the Baltic Sea

We are in Estonia by bike. Late summer sends dark banks of cloud over the deserted fields north of Äksi. The clouds hang low and some caress the landscape with grey streaks of rain, dripping wet like the threads of a mop. And just such a sky-high, grey monster is navigating straight as an arrow towards us. Where to hide when there's neither a bus stop nor a canopy nearby? We pull our rain gear out of the saddlebags, but the first Estonian travelling shower is quicker... Lesson one: Scandinavian weather is capricious. And, lesson two: not everywhere is the world as cluttered with architecture as back home in Munich.

That alone is actually a good argument in favour of a bike trip. In a nutshell: If your home town has more inhabitants than this entire country, it must almost inevitably be wonderfully quiet and relaxed, right? And we find out the rest. We took five days off work and planned a route that explored the inland as well as the more well-known Baltic coast.

Traces of the Baltic Germans

In the centre of Tartu, the perceived starting line for the first stage runs on very rough pebble paving that makes the panniers rattle and bounce. The country's second largest city with just under 100,000 inhabitants is currently sprucing itself up to shine as the "European Capital of Culture" in 2024. Paved streets are not a sign of poverty in Tartu either, but - just like in historic city centres in Germany - evidence of a proud sense of history. In any case, Tartu's historic façades look very familiar and... German, so to speak.

How convenient that the EU country Estonia has a better mobile phone network than Germany, as this allows the impression to be verified straight away. So: from the Middle Ages until the 20th century, large parts of the Estonian aristocracy and cultural elite were so-called Baltic Germans, who immigrated from the 12th century and only left the country after the Hitler-Stalin Pact. The families of celebrities such as FDP politician Otto Graf Lambsdorff and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen are also said to have Estonian roots. The online encyclopaedia knows hundreds more and also knows that Tartu once bore the German name Dorpat. The exodus of the Baltic Germans was followed by 50 years of Soviet rule, which ended in 1991. Since then, the country has continued to develop independently - with a distinctly western flavour, but a very special language.

Treacherous language

In Jögvere, a small provincial town, we wander through the supermarket and make a mistake out of sheer politeness: the "Tere", or "Hello", with which we greet the customer at the counter in Estonian elicits an incomprehensible response from beginning to end. Estonian may sound melodic and nice, but on a global scale it is a real minority programme. It has funny words like "Öötöö", which means "night work" or "Asjaajaja", the employee. Not even the neighbouring Latvians or Finns understand something like this without further ado. Fortunately, the counter staff interpret our questioning look correctly and switch to English. With our panniers full, we roll on and for many kilometres we don't meet anyone who could confuse us with mysterious language.

Following the Eurovelo long-distance hiking trail no. 11 and the self-made detours of our GPS device, we follow tarmac cycle paths, small roads and very rarely a bit of gravel. In the immediate surroundings of Tartu, it hardly looks any different from anywhere else in northern Germany. It's undulating, between large fields and large wastelands we roll towards the coast, some hamlets are surrounded by crumbling blocks of flats full of post-socialist dreariness. Suddenly, the pink line on the sat nav orders us to take a detour into a valley - and to a poetically beautiful excursion area.

Migration of the cranes

Above Lake Porkuni stands an almost purple-red, castle-like manor house from the German-Baltic era, nestled between old trees. It actually houses a school, but it is closed, at least for the moment. The building is crumbling, leaves lie on the terrace, a place of timeless, melancholy beauty. Directly behind it, the road descends to a small lido with a diving platform and a snack pavilion. The main season is over, the sandy beach is almost deserted and the dark water is refreshingly Nordic. As it dries on your skin, your gaze sweeps over the islands in the lake, the reed belt all around and a flock of hundreds of kibitzers fluttering as a dark cloud over the moor-brown water.

Estonia is a favourite destination for birdwatchers anyway. One day later, a large coach stands on the road in what seems to be no man's land, surrounded by people in earth- and mud-coloured clothing. They have set up man-sized tripods, outstretched arms pointing towards a distant forest edge. "We love the cranes," says a gentleman from Norway as he briefly turns his head away from the binoculars, and a fellow traveller from Germany is delighted to see the huge migratory birds undisturbed and crystal clear in the eyepiece. No dog walkers or joggers will scare them off here. In the evening, we raise our heads to hear the powerful, weird sounds from the sky: long chains of stretched bird bodies glide across the sky. Their Estonian summer season will be over in a few days, as the Scandinavian autumn comes early.

Through the coastal forest

After two stages, the islands of tall pines become larger and larger until the fields and meadows finally disappear completely. Bright green moss and low blueberry bushes cover the ground between the trees, enormous mushrooms push their caps into the light. It smells damp and very plant-like. If this were early summer, every stop here would end in a thirsty swarm of mosquitoes, but today our shorts are fine. We pluck a few berries, roll further northwards and suddenly find ourselves on a bank of reddish, algae-covered pebbles, over which the water laps gently. Strange. Was there a lake marked here? We look upwards. No shore in sight. This must be the Baltic Sea! It just started, without any dunes or a real beach. Between my front tyre and the Finnish capital Helsinki, there are only an unrideable 75 kilometres of salt water.

The road continues to the left towards Tallinn. The chain moves up and down between the corridors, as the coastal forest throws short waves and the single-lane road slaloms around small clearings with wooden houses of different sizes. Again and again, red, yellow and brown houses shine through between the trunks, many of them meticulously maintained. And because it's the start of the weekend, some of them are lined with shiny, large cars. A summer house on the coast is a welcome luxury for wealthy Estonians and those who have moved to the city from the countryside. Almost always on large plots of land and with plenty of distance from the neighbours, people barbecue, mow the lawn, play ball - or join forces to make the house and cottage ready for winter. In the interior of the country it can get as cold as minus 30 degrees, and there are sometimes ice roads across the Baltic Sea...

Summer in Tallinn

When we roll into Tallinn on a Saturday evening, however, summer is still in full swing: tourists from all over the world and Estonians themselves are strolling through the pretty old town. A young, colourful crowd fills the alleyways and streets. People indulge in a few expensive drinks or ice-cream scoops, dine internationally - and feel worlds away from the vast countryside around them, in whose waves and forests curious cyclists come to rest.

Discover Estonia in 5 stages - information about the cycle tour

Journey

The easiest option is a direct flight to the capital Tallinn, for example with Air Baltic. If you have more time and less money, you can consider the long-distance bus: Ecolines.net runs (in at least 24 hours) from Berlin to Tallinn - from 40 euros!

Estonia has a modern railway system (elron.ee, also in English), but only a few departures in the flat country. It is best to reserve a bike space. If you hop on spontaneously, you can pay on the train.

Travelling time

Beginning of June until the end of August. As in other countries in the region, the short tourist summer begins around 21 June and lasts for six weeks. Hotel bookings are highly recommended during this period. Parts of the tourist infrastructure close as early as the second half of August, although the weather would still be inviting.

Bike hire

CityBike in Tallinn's Old Town (citybike.ee) offers tours and rents out bikes (20 euros) and pedelecs (Cube) from as little as 30 euros per day. Not brand new, but perfectly adequate.

Route character

There are various marked long-distance cycle routes in Estonia that are ideal for digital planning. We followed these on tarmac, with the exception of deliberately built-in shortcuts on gravel. Most of them run along side roads with little traffic. Our route is based on Eurovelo Route 11 and the stages are undulating both inland and on the coast, with an average of around 500 metres of elevation gain per 100 kilometres. We found the Estonians to be considerate drivers.

The route

Five stages, around 350 kilometres and around 1,100 metres in altitude. From the university city of Tartu via Jögeva, Rakvere and the Vihula estate to Tallinn.
Tour itinerary:
Train transfer from Tallinn to Tartu: 2 hours.

Stage 1: Tartu - Jögeva: approx. 65 km

Stage 2: Jögeva - Rakvere: approx. 70 km

Stage 3: Rakvere - Toolse - Vihula: 52 km

Stage 4: Vihula - Vösu - Loksa: approx. 45 km

Stage 5: Loksa - Kiju Tallinn: approx. 75 km

GPS data

The GPX data for the cycle tour through Estonia can be found in the DK tour portal:

Accommodation

The choice is large in the cities, but rather small in the countryside. This can affect stage planning. The prices and facilities of the more modern hotels are at the same level as in Germany.

Food

Restaurants are rare in the towns in the interior of the sparsely populated country. It is advisable to take the day's provisions with you. The supermarkets are well stocked.

We had an unusually good meal at the Italian-inspired "Pompei" in Tartu (pompei.ee), which emphasises the use of regional ingredients. Estonian restaurant prices are roughly the same as in Germany.

Language

Estonian and partly Russian - which would be an obstacle if English were not so widespread.

General travel information for Estonia

Detailed information and tips for planning your trip can be found at www.visitestonia.com