Kõpu Lighthouse

Kõpu has been in operation since 1531, which puts it among the three oldest continuously working lighthouses in the world. It was built because the shoals off the Hiiumaa peninsula were sinking Hanseatic ships at a rate the merchants could not absorb, and the original structure was a solid stone pillar with a fire lit on top.

What you actually see

A thick, whitewashed tower with four heavy buttresses at the base, standing on a wooded hill some seventy metres above sea level - which is why it is inland rather than on the coast. The proportions are unusual: it reads as a fortress more than a lighthouse.

An internal stair, added long after the original build, leads up to a gallery. From there you get the forest canopy of the whole peninsula and the sea on three sides.

When to go

• June to August - the tower is open and the small visitor building operates.
• May and September - open with reduced hours and no queue for the stair.
• Winter - closed to climbing; the tower from outside is still worth the drive.

Honest expectations

The climb is short but the stair is narrow, and there is a landing system rather than a smooth spiral. The gallery is small - on a busy summer afternoon there is a wait.

There is very little else at the site. Combine it with Ristna and the western beaches rather than driving out for the tower alone.

Nearby

Ristna lighthouse and the surfing beach at Ristna nina are ten minutes further west. Kalana harbour and the Hiiumaa west-coast pine forest fill the rest of a half day.