The bog boardwalks
Timber over black lakes and moss.
Lysy — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ireen Trummer — CC BY-SA 3.0 ee · Pille Priks — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ilme Parik — CC BY-SA 4.0
Possible but awkward: buses from Tallinn reach Palmse and Vihula but infrequently, and the distances between sites are large — an organised day tour from Tallinn is the practical answer.
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The first national park in the entire Soviet Union: Lahemaa was designated in 1971 — the first national reserve declared anywhere in the USSR, which Estonians treated as a small victory of identity. It covers 747 square kilometres east of Tallinn between sea and forest. Its variety is the point: beaches and rocky bays, giant glacial boulders left by the ice sheet (the largest the size of a house), bogs walked on timber boardwalks past black lakes and moss, pine forests, and traditional fishing villages under thatch — Altja, Käsmu and Viinistu. It also holds three restored Baltic German manor houses: Palmse, the best known, with its park, lake and café; Sagadi; and Vihula. The trails are equipped, waymarked and entirely free, and the visitor centre at Palmse hands out maps. An hour from Tallinn by car — and a car is close to essential to cover it.
Timber over black lakes and moss.
The best known Baltic German house, with its park.
House-sized blocks left by the ice sheet.
Lahemaa, Estonia