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

• The islands - low limestone with almost no relief, juniper heath, sheep-grazed coastal meadow and a lot of sky.
• The shore and shallows - stony rather than sandy, with water shallow far out, so on a calm day the sea reads as a pale sheet.
• The wildlife - grey seals hauled out on the outer skerries in numbers, eiders and other sea ducks breeding on the islets, and migration filling the water between the islands.
• Vilsandi island - a small permanent population, a lighthouse and a handful of farms.

When to go

June to August is when boats run, the heath flowers and seals are visible on the skerries. May and September have the migration, fewer visitors and less frequent boats. In 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.