A Scottish castle, lavender fields, alpacas, Dutch tulips and even the Eiffel Tower… Did you know that there is no need to leave Estonia to visit any of these renowned tourist attractions? Are you intrigued? Let me share with you the most unexpected and surprising sites I visited in Estonia that you would never have thought of finding in this small northern country.
Situated barely 60 km from Tartu, Alatskivi Castle is a stunning white building with pointed turrets, an imposing portal, and an elegant romantic park. In 1880-1885, the owner of the manor, Baron Arved Georg von Nolcken, ordered the reconstruction of his residence, modelling it after Balmoral Castle in Scotland, which he had visited in 1875 and which had been the residence of Queen Victoria. Thus, among the fishing villages of Peipsi Lake, a luxurious and fancy neo-Gothic palace appeared. Today, the castle houses an excellent hotel and exclusive restaurant, allowing guests to experience a true Victorian era and feel at the heart of Albion.
Llamas and alpacas are Peru’s “calling card”, but you don’t have to travel to South America to see or even pet them. These high-altitude animals are quite at home in the ever-changing Estonian climate enough so that there are now three alpaca farms in Estonia! The largest and most popular one is located near Pärnu. At the farm, you are allowed to pet alpacas and feed them carrots. While there are other animals on the farm, the alpacas and llamas are definitely the cutest of all!
There are not many places on Earth where you can find evidence of a meteorite impact (you may probably remember the Barringer crater in Arizona or Roter Kamm in Namibia). Among them is Estonia, where on the island of Saaremaa, you can visit the lake that was formed in the meteorite crater. It is hard to establish the exact time of this meteorite’s fall; scientists’ estimates range from 2000 to 8000 thousand years ago. There is also a hypothesis that the meteorite fall happened when people were already inhabiting the island and this event was documented in documents from the past. By the way, this is not the only meteorite crater in Estonia; there are seven of them, but this one is the largest!
Go to the island of Hiiumaa instead of travelling to the south of France to enjoy the stunning lavender fields and shoot Instagram-worthy pictures. The lavender farm is open to visitors in summer, and if you are fortunate enough to have the weather, no one will be able to distinguish between your images and the actual French lavender fields. More than 20,000 lavender bushes delight the eyes of visitors from late June to early August. You can also help the owners of the farm to harvest lavender at the end of the season.
While it’s a known fact that Estonia lacks mountains, let me introduce you to a site that evokes the scenic charm of the Lycian way in Turkey and the cherished fjords of the Scandinavian mountains. The Aidu Quarry is a huge area of an abandoned area where oil shale was mined since the 1970s; it now stands in silence, abandoned by excavators and miners. After the quarry was closed in 2012, nature gradually started to reclaim its domain – the man-made mountains became covered with forest and grass, and the scenery began to resemble the mountainous landscapes of the Polar Regions. A walk on the hiking track that passes through the Aidu quarry can set you back a good number of calories. As a bonus, you can admire the bright blue lagoons of the artificial lakes that appeared after the manufacturing halt.
The true Eiffel Tower is located in Paris and nowhere else. However, the Estonian one which is located on the Hiiumaa island, is even more awesome because it is made entirely of juniper wood. The 31-metre high (that is 1/10 the height of the Eiffel Tower in France) structure made of sticks was constructed by an enthusiastic craftsman in 2007. Although the construction doesn’t look sturdy at all, it has been standing for many years and, hard to believe, even receives visitors. You can climb to the top of the tower (if you don’t have a fear of heights) and take a gorgeous photo of the island being washed by the waves of the sea.
Everyone is aware that visiting Holland is the best way to truly experience tulips, but hold on, there is a small but lovely counterpart to Keukenhof that has recently appeared in Estonia: thousands of tulips bloom every year at Kirna Manor. A few years ago, the manor’s owner accidentally discovered 200,000 tulip bulbs that had been left behind after a huge fire at the warehouse. She decided to save them and plant them in her manor. Now it is one of the top-rated springtime destinations in Estonia, especially during the tulip festival in May.
The warm summer days are just around the corner and I hope that I managed to inspire you to explore Estonia more and discover unusual and fascinating places to share with your friends. Good luck with your fabulous itineraries!
All photos belong to the author unless states otherwise
Leave a Reply