

The border between Latvia and Estonia is not clearly marked, so we suddenly find ourselves in Estonia without fully realising it. The 23rd country! Still curious about other traditions, environments and customs, we cycle out of the small border village after a few kilometres.
Where will we sleep in Estonia?
We soon realise that it is very deserted outside the villages. We see a few dilapidated houses and the occasional sign of life here and there. With a total population of 1.2 million and 27 inhabitants per km2 (2020), Estonia is one of the least densely populated countries in Europe. We decide not to cycle far on the first day, but to go to a spot near a small river. This is an official wild camping site managed by the Estonian National Forest Service: RMK. These are places that often have some facilities, such as a (dry) toilet, benches, fireplaces and sometimes even wood.
When we arrived at the campsite, it was swarming with mosquitoes. We should have known! We quickly put on our full rain gear, including a hood to stop the bloodsucking. Luckily we had already eaten our dinner and quickly crawled into the mosquito tent. The buzzing of thousands of mosquitoes is like music to our ears.
There are many RMK sites around the country and we are surprised by the good facilities. The RMK has its own website and app where you can find a lot of spots. The campsites are usually along rivers and lakes with bathing facilities and some are even in national parks.




Little House on the Prairie
For the next day, Mihkel has told us via the Couchsurfing platform that we are welcome to stay with him and his parents. The distance is a bit further than we normally cycle, so it will be a long day, but the road is quiet and the scenery beautiful. The last few kilometres are on a newly asphalted road and the pebbles stick to our tyres. The tar is still soft and fragrant and it is like driving over Velcro, the pace slows noticeably. Audrey spots some cute ponies and decides to leave the tar for a while. One pony, however, turns out to have a crush on Eloy. As soon as he starts to go back to his bike, the little one runs under the fence and out onto the road, following Eloy. Luckily we managed to get him back to the pasture with two other passers-by 🙂

Then we take a side road and drive along a country lane through people’s gardens. We probably look at the people we meet as strangely as they look at us. Eloy doubts that we are in the right place, but Audrey is convinced that we should take this dirt road until we are in the ‘middle of nowhere’. She starts to have doubts too, but then we see the wooden house of Mihkel and his parents on the right between the meadows. We are amazed by the beautiful garden and the vast uninhabited surroundings. In the yard there is even an authentic sauna, more than 100 years old, which has been restored to its former glory. Estonians like to combine a sauna with a cold bath, just like their neighbours in Finland. The renovated house used to be an animal shed and has been completely renovated by the family. Mihkel proudly gives us a tour and we are warmly welcomed by his parents, who speak little English themselves. After dinner we are allowed into the wood-fired sauna. Mihkel explains that he usually swims in the pond before going into the sauna. Audrey’s feet try to get into the water, but it turns out they prefer woolly socks. The sauna is fantastic and then Eloy heroically runs into the water….







Tartu: European Capital of Culture 2024
The next day, Mihkel’s mother prepares a typical breakfast of rye porridge and fruit from the garden. When we were ready to leave, Audrey had a flat tyre. The family watches as we fix it and then Mihkel decides to cycle with us to Tartu, 45 km away. He likes this kind of cycling, so who knows, maybe one day he will do longer rides. With almost 30,000 inhabitants, Tartu is the second largest city in the country after the capital, Tallinn. It is a university town and will be the European Capital of Culture in 2024, a title it certainly deserves. Mihkel shows us around. We pass the city centre, through which the river Emajogi flows, and cycle through the botanical garden. We are approached by several locals, including a husband and daughter from Iran. They recognise the little flag on the bike and want to know how we experienced Iran. In the café of a plant centre we play some more travel games and then Mikhel leaves for home.


A cosy neighbourhood
Then it’s time to visit Indrek and Eleri. They live just outside the centre of Tartu and have three lovely children aged 6, 4 and 2. They live in a traditional wooden and colourful house with many other families. The house is still being renovated, but the weather is nice and we are all sitting in the communal garden, where many neighbours with even more children spend their time together. It is a cosy affair and they show us the community vegetable garden. We notice that many people in Estonia have vegetable gardens, something we miss now that we are travelling. We pitch our tent in the garden and sleep under the shrill cries of the seagulls. Who would have thought that here in the city? Earplugs to the rescue!
Another occupant of the house is photographer Heikki Leis. He asks if he can take a picture of us with his very special and antique-looking camera before we leave. He points out that he will send the photos as soon as he has developed them by hand! See the result below.
Extraordinary, ordinary people, every day, everywhere.





Pakistani dahl
We decide to stay in Tartu for another day and meet Pakistani Intasar. He tells us that he has gone to Scotland to study and become financially independent. He has just graduated in chemistry and wants to travel, learn and work. He has been on several walking trips, including one to Finland, and is incredibly positive. He cooks his speciality according to his mother’s recipe: Pakistani dahl. Normally it needs a lot of chillies in it, but he doesn’t think we’ll survive that. We’ll never know 😉 And then he gives up his bed and sleeps on the sofa in the living room. Will we ever be able to put it into words?

Strawberries from the campsite owner
In the morning we say goodbye to Intasar. The whole day is cloudy and we have to take shelter from the occasional downpour. In the afternoon we feel strong gusts of wind and see a storm approaching incredibly fast from the distance. As Estonia is fairly flat and sparsely populated, you can see for miles. We decide to cut the day short and look for the nearest shelter. It turns out that there is a campsite nearby and the nearest option is just over 20 kilometres away. When we arrive at the campsite, the place seems very deserted. After a while, a cleaning lady shows us the toilets and showers and then disappears. Then the storm broke and we pitched our tent under the shelter near the entrance.
The next morning the owner turns up and brings us a cup of coffee. He doesn’t speak a word of English, but he smiles, and when strawberries are delivered, he doesn’t hesitate to put a bowl in front of us. Two girls, relatives of the owner, sit next to us. They speak a few words of English and we can hear them practising, working up the courage to say: “Hello, what is your name? How pleased they are when we respond in kind! Eloy gives them a photo card and also gets a thank you note with a big “Hi!” and “Hope to see you again”. It’s all giggles. The girls wave goodbye and we cycle off with big smiles and a belly full of strawberries.








After a storm comes a calm
On the way, it’s a change of clothes party: rainsuit on and off, sun and rain, upwind and downwind (tailwind would be too nice). When we reached the next village, another heavy storm started. We took shelter in the supermarket as we needed to do some shopping anyway. As Audrey goes in, Eloy meets a man on a bicycle. He is enthusiastic and starts talking about his own journeys. In America, he learned English by selling books and met a lot of people because he wanted to get out from behind his desk. Now he has discovered that there is plenty to explore close to home. And so there is.
As we cycle on later, the thunderstorms are still hot on our heels. Cycling brings us into close contact with people, but it also makes us vulnerable to the elements. Nothing is more frightening than cycling through open fields in a thunderstorm. So at the next petrol station we run in. We end up sitting there for a couple of hours, looking at the map for a sheltered place to set up the tent. Eloy sees a hut on the map, but it turns out to be a crematorium. Um… no way! Then, in the village of Siimusti, we see a recreation area by a small lake. Photos of it also show a table with a shelter, so we decide to cycle there between showers. When we arrived, we saw some young people jumping into the lake from the cable car. How cold it must be! Steam even comes out of the water. We pitched our tent halfway under the canopy and fell asleep like a light.



Is that a bear?
The next day starts dry and we set off in good spirits. Today we plan to camp in the forest. Almost 50 per cent of Estonia is covered by dense forest, which is protected by the authorities. There are also more than 1,100 lakes, which is bizarrely large for such a small country. Arriving in the forest, we cook pasta in a pan and drink instant cappuccino afterwards. While we were enjoying it, we heard a noise in the bushes. What kind of animal was that? Audrey reads that Estonia has the highest density of brown bears in Europe and laughs nervously. Maybe we should take precautions! Eloy points out that this is a designated wild camping site, so it won’t be too bad. Nevertheless, we pack our food, toothpaste and other smelly things and hang them up in the toilet hut. We crawl into the tent and fall asleep – without any bears (as far as we can tell).




“Have you never been robbed?”
We cycle back to civilisation through the pretty town of Rakvere. On the outskirts is a huge 13th-century castle ruin, the symbol of the area. Just outside is a recreation area with a modern amphitheatre. We eat sandwiches in the sun and then walk down to the town centre. After a few days of rain we are ready for a nice hot shower. According to an insider, there should be a shower at the sports centre. There is a sports event going on today and we can indeed take turns taking a shower. Fresh and fruity, Audrey then goes shopping. She cannot resist the temptation of the weather and comes out with half a kilo of chocolate cake…. Never go shopping when you’re hungry!
We decide to check out a historic estate further down the road. By chance, it turns out to be one of the most visited old mansions in Estonia! The baroque Sagadi Manor is located in the Lahemaa Nature Park. Some parts of the building are over 500 years old! In the rose garden we meet 2 German couples and one of the first questions they ask is “Have you ever been robbed? No, we reply firmly, but the story goes deeper and is difficult to explain in words. Many of our fears are based on fantasy. When they invite us to visit them when we arrive in Germany in a few months’ time, we are surprised and perhaps a seed has been planted.
There is a hotel at the Sagadi heritage site and the stuffed boar in the lobby looks at us wide-eyed, but we go for the budget option and stay in one of the older buildings that is now a hostel. As soon as we open the door, we see men in dressing gowns walking around with a can of beer. Where have we landed? They were speaking Russian and seemed to be going in and out of the sauna. But Eloy is soon distracted by a piano in the common room and, after so many months, cannot resist running his fingers over the keys. With our gas burner on the table and the kettle, we make soup and pasta and have the whole 4-person room to ourselves for the rest of the evening.






The next day at noon we check out and leave in the light rain. On the bike is the laundry to dry, which might be dry in a few days with this weather 🙂 We are now in the north of Estonia and cycle along the coast but through the forest towards the capital, Tallinn. We stopped a bit early because we saw a nice spot by the water and decided to camp there. It turned out to be the Gulf of Finland between Estonia and Finland! On a bike, you are so aware of your surroundings that such points always feel like little milestones.



After Eloy shaves his beard, we jump back on our bikes. We cycle along the beach and see a huge shipwreck off the coast. Very special. And then we notice that it is the weekend, because it turns out that whole families from Tallinn are looking for the countryside and the coast. At the Tsitre Telkimisara wild camping site we see several people pitching their tents and barbecuing on a campfire. There are plenty of spots and Eloy finds a cosy spot for a campfire in the sun on the beach. It doesn’t get any better and Audrey lights the fire. She decides to get rid of the kilo of flour she has been carrying around in her bag for too long and tries to make some flat bread. See the result below.







Swimming or dancing in the rain?
Still reeling from the beach overnight, we head towards Tallinn. Today is another day of literally and figuratively swimming in our rainsuits, but with a smile. We cycle past an extraordinary outdoor swimming pool in a large lake and eat Estonian biscuits called Rahvapräänik at a bus stop. As we sat at the bus stop in the rain, a man in a car stopped to ask for directions to the cemetery. When he notices what we are doing and starts talking about the weather in Estonia, he starts dancing and singing “Dancing in the Rain” with a big smile! 🙂




In Estonia, black bread is a religion!
In Tallinn we are welcomed by Monika. She is a proud Estonian who lives in a traditional wooden house that is over 100 years old. Even the insulation is from that time, with straw between the wooden planks. Although Monika was not born here, she has lived in Tallinn for 25 years. She knows a lot about the city and is happy to show us around. But first she lets us rest. So the next day we have a lazy morning, during which Monika bakes her famous pancakes. In the evening we cook and have fascinating conversations, as she is an avid traveller in addition to her work as a freelance caterer. We talk about all sorts of things and laugh a lot. But when it comes to bread, Monika is deadly serious: “There is only black bread!” Black bread or rye bread or ‘leib’ is bread, but white bread is white but not bread. Can you still follow that? Black rye bread has been a staple of the Estonian diet for more than 7000 years and has become a symbol of Estonian food.





Going back and forth in time
The next day Monika shows us around the city. Tallinn has one of the best-preserved medieval city centres in Europe, with plenty of greenery still within its walls. The 13th century Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city developed as an important centre of the Hanseatic League between the 13th and 16th centuries and the opulence of the buildings is exceptionally well preserved. After walking through the city gates, we step back in time. We start at St Olav’s Church, where the 258 spiral staircases make us dizzy. But what a view of the city! It was once, from 1549 to 1625, the tallest church in the world. We continue through the Town Hall Square, past the city walls and towers that surround the city. Tallinn’s fortifications are one of the most intact and famous examples of medieval defence systems in Europe. Next, Monika has a surprise up her sleeve. Namely, we get an exclusive look inside an old cultural building called ‘Mustpeade Maja – House of Black Heads’, because she used to cater there. In fact, many concerts and other cultural events take place there and it looks impressive. And it reminds Audrey a little of the University Hall at the University of Leuven (in Belgium).
We take a break at the oldest bar in town, the ‘Hell Hunt’. Monika orders and we eat typical Estonian delicacies: pig’s ears (yes, really), tongue (no, wait, really?!) and, of course, rye bread rubbed with garlic.
Then comes the second part of the tour. In the harbour we walk through the old and dilapidated ‘Linnahall’. It is one of the few Soviet buildings still standing in Tallinn. It was completed in 1980 and had a double function. On the one hand, it hosted the rowing events of the Moscow Olympics. It also served as a fortification in case the coast was attacked. The building is a listed monument, but it was closed in 2009 and has since fallen into disrepair. But Tallinn is also ahead of its time. We visit an old factory that has been converted into a conference and education centre. And in Tallinn’s bustling and vibrant city centre, it is extraordinary to see how the old and the new come together in this city. Former factory towers rise above newly built houses. Estonia is also at the forefront of technological development. For example, since 2005 (!) Estonians have been able to vote online from anywhere in the world. And in 2018, Estonia introduced the world’s first special visa for digital nomads. We have also witnessed an extraordinary Estonian invention on several occasions: self-driving and crossing small carts that deliver parcels and food everywhere. The most advanced digital society in the world: E-stonia.














The crossing
We say goodbye to Monika and an unknown passer-by decides to join us for a photo. While the rubbish collector gives a thumbs up from his lorry and kindly waits, Audrey takes the photo from the other side of the road. Then we cycle through town towards the ferry. It takes a while to find the right entrance, but we are on time. While we wait, we exchange experiences with a Flemish cyclist and then we are allowed to enter the gigantic cruise ship. With no less than 12 floors, the ship is overwhelming. It takes almost an hour for all the cars to be driven in and distributed over two floors. Our bikes were allowed to go alongside and we tied them down with ropes. There is too much on the ferry to mention: a casino, a prosecco bar, a supermarket, a stage with live music, a sauna and so on. We find a seat and spend 2 hours looking out the window, realising that we have had an incredibly enjoyable and educational time in Estonia.





Statistics
- Time: 28-06-2023 – 10-07-2023
- 13 days, including 2 days in Tallinn
- 505 km cycling
- 6 nights with locals, 6 nights (wild) camping and 1 night in hostel
- Lots of black bread, forest and rain
- If you are interested, you can find the GPS route here: https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/collection/2407940/-bike-touring-estonia