Vilsandi National Park

Vilsandi is where Estonia frays into the Baltic. The park covers Vilsandi island itself and around 160 islets and skerries, plus the western edge of Saaremaa. Its bird sanctuary on the Vaika islets dates from 1910, which makes it the oldest protected area in the Baltic states, set up by a lighthouse keeper who got tired of egg collectors.

What you actually see

Low limestone islands with almost no relief, juniper heath, coastal meadow grazed by sheep, and a lot of sky. The shoreline is stony rather than sandy, and the water is shallow far out, so on a calm day the sea reads as a pale sheet rather than anything dramatic.

The wildlife is the draw. Grey seals haul out on the outer skerries in numbers, eiders and other sea ducks breed on the islets, and the shallow water between the islands is thick with birds through the migration. Vilsandi island has a small permanent population, a lighthouse and a handful of farms.

When to go

• June to August - boats run, the heath flowers, seals are visible on the skerries.
• May and September - migration, fewer visitors, boats less frequent.
• Winter - the sea often ices over and the islands are effectively closed to casual visits.

Honest expectations

Getting to Vilsandi is the hard part. There is a shallow track from Papissaare that is passable on foot or by tractor at low water, but conditions change with wind rather than tide in the Baltic, and it is not something to attempt on a guess. Booking a boat with a local operator is the sensible route.

This is a place for slow looking. There are no viewpoints, no big features and nothing that photographs as a single hero shot. What it offers is emptiness and wildlife, and if that is not what you came for, Saaremaa has plenty of other things.

Nearby

Kuressaare and its castle are about forty minutes east. The Kaali meteorite crater and the Angla windmills are both easy additions on the same island.