Noarootsi Peninsula

Noarootsi, Nuckö in Swedish, is a low peninsula across the bay from Haapsalu that was settled by Swedish speakers from the medieval period, a community that farmed and fished here until almost all of them left for Sweden in 1943 and 1944. The villages keep their Swedish names on bilingual signs, the church at Hosby and the old school remain, and a Swedish-language secondary school operates in the area. The landscape is coastal meadow, reedbed, juniper and shallow water, part of the Silma nature reserve, and the shallows are important for migrating geese, swans and waders, with observation towers along the shore.

The landscape

• Bilingual village signs - the Estonian and Swedish names on the roads.
• Noarootsi church - the old church at the centre of the peninsula.
• Reed and coastal meadow - the Silma reserve landscape.
• Bird towers - the observation platforms over the shallows.

When to go

April and May and again September to October for the migration, when goose and swan numbers are highest. Summer for the coast and the villages. The roads are easy year round though winter is bleak.

Practical notes

There is little built to see; the appeal is landscape and quiet. Bird watching needs a scope and patience. Facilities are minimal outside Haapsalu. Mosquitoes in the reedbeds are severe in summer.

Nearby

Haapsalu lies southeast; Osmussaar is offshore to the north.

Key facts