Aegna Island

Aegna is a three-square-kilometre island in Tallinn Bay, administratively part of the city, with a handful of permanent residents and no cars. A marked circular trail of around eleven kilometres runs the perimeter through pine and spruce forest and along sand and boulder beaches, past a boulder field, a labyrinth of stones on the shore, the remains of coastal gun batteries, and a small chapel. Swimming is possible from several beaches. Boats run from Tallinn through the summer season only, and the timetable allows most of a day ashore.

History

People have used the island for thousands of years, but it first appears in writing in 1297, when the Danish king Erik banned the cutting of trees on Naissaar and Aegna; northern Estonia, Aegna included, belonged to Denmark for more than a century. Its inhabitants, mostly fishermen, were a mix of Estonians and Swedes. From the time of the Russian Empire on, the island served military purposes, and the remains of a watchtower, a large gun battery with tunnels and the narrow-gauge railway used to build it can still be seen (Wikipedia, Aegna).

The landscape

• The perimeter trail - the marked circuit around the island.
• Sand and boulder beaches - the shore on several sides.
• Battery remains - the coastal fortifications in the forest.
• The stone labyrinth - the arrangement of boulders on the shore.

When to go

June to August, when boats run; outside the summer season there is no scheduled service. Day trips are governed by the timetable. Weekends in July are the busiest.

Before you go

There is no scheduled boat service outside summer. Facilities are a seasonal cafe and camping ground, nothing more. Mosquitoes in the forest are persistent. Missing the last boat means staying overnight without accommodation.

Nearby

Tallinn lies south; Naissaar is west across the bay.

Key facts