Estonia 2013
Part of my big cycle trip through the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Norway from Eindhoven to the North Cape in Norway.
I am putting together a planned route for the trip along quiet roads through pretty areas. In the past, I have found that just ‘going’ lands you on ugly roads with lots of traffic. If you know some of the places I am cycling through, and have some suggestions, please let me know!
In Estonia I am looking for a nice but moderately direct route from the Latvian border to Tallinn. The EuroVelo 10 route follows the coast through the islands to the west. I believe this is beautiful but very long.
I have had a lot of advice from the people from the Estonian cycling forum, and have now come up with three alternate routes.
- Routes 1 and 2: Via the beach town of Pärnu. Pärnu is very beautiful and would make for a nice beach day off to relax. It is also on the shortest route northwards, and I think has my preference at the moment. This route continues on from Route 1 in the Latvian section.
- Route 3: Via south eastern Estonia through the rolling hills and the university town of Tartu. This route continues on from Route 2 in the Latvian section.
Route 1
This short route passes through the beach town of Pärnu and makes its way along quiet roads to Tallinn. Thanks to City Bike for this route.
Route 2
This was my initial planned route which passes through the beach town of Pärnu and moves inland according to a route on Lonvia OpenStreetMap overlay to the OpenStreetMap open source map project. It has been updated according to numerous recommendations from the Estonian cycling forum.
Route 3
This route was suggested by people from the Estonian cycling forum passing through Tartu in the south of Estonia. This route was made up from
- the Lonvia OpenStreetMap overlay to the OpenStreetMap open source map project.
- A self designed route using detailed maps suggested to me by Arnea and Wagner from the Estonian cycling forum.
- A suggested last stretch into Tallinn by Vidrikjupiter from the Estonian cycling forum.
Links
I have been given lots of tips and handy websites by the people in the Estonian cycling forum. Here they are:
- Places to stay. www.visitestonia.com
- Map resources delfi and postimees.
- Google street view is good for looking at road conditions.
- Bike trails near Tartu.
- Forest management site for camping sites.
arctic-cycler.com 
Hi. How long do you plan to stay in Estonia? And where do you plan to stay overnight? Depending on these circumstances it would be possible to improve the route even further:) One potential option that I see right away is changing the route Otepää-Palupera-Elva-Tartu to Otepää-Pangodi-Tartu. Elva is a nice small town, but the road from Elva to Tartu is a pretty boring one. At the same time the proposed alternative has more nice views, beautiful lakes and less traffic. It’s more hilly, but distance is shorter (53,6km vs 45,7km).
Thanks. Sounds like a great suggestion! I don’t know exactly how long I’ll be in Estonia. We’ll see.. I will have a tent with me, and will be staying at camping grounds and hotels.
Is the route you suggest easy to find on google maps? I will make the route you suggest by hand soon. Do you have a GPX file of the route by any chance? 🙂
Lakes and nice scenery sounds like what I’m looking for. Thanks for the tip!!
Matthew
I would really consider the North Coast, taking a trip from Rakvere to Tallinn as in the following (in case you really would like to enjoy the travel, not just strict pedalling): https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Rakvere,+Estonia&daddr=V%C3%B5su,+Vihula+Parish,+Estonia+to:K%C3%A4smu+Meremuuseum+MT%C3%9C,+Vihula+Parish,+Estonia+to:Viinistu,+Kuusalu,+Estonia+to:Parispea+Poolsaar,+Kuusalu,+Estonia+to:Kolgak%C3%BCla,+Kuusalu,+Estonia+to:Tsitre,+Kuusalu,+Estonia+to:Kaberneeme,+J%C3%B5el%C3%A4htme,+Estonia+to:Manniva,+J%C3%B5el%C3%A4htme,+Estonia+to:Tallinn,+Estonia&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=59.529444,25.385284&spn=0.607947,2.113495&sll=59.469588,25.137835&sspn=0.038064,0.132093&geocode=FXKYiQMdLUKSASkr6YPR0nWTRjFgZ_wYbbMABA%3BFU4QjQMd-C2MASm9jnBAK6mTRjF5yYFvd5aDhg%3BFUVSjQMdC0uLASGD0qjaKoooeSnnUASNqq6TRjGD0qjaKoooeQ%3BFe8bjgMdefiIASmtzOdaSFOSRjGgJudvb7MACg%3BFaXHjQMdwKeIASmjfLURqVSSRjF4c8RufhVnHw%3BFchXjAMdaVCIASkPvRYYdwCTRjEQZuVvb7MACg%3BFZgujAMdzViFASlJxc1T4_6SRjFRT23ybbMAJg%3BFdAsjAMd7Z6BASm7Wj3OBfqSRjFjjIQzQBjTYw%3B%3BFQIGiwMdLbR5ASm_FlbfmZSSRjFwYvwYbbMABA&oq=,+Manniva,+Estonia&dirflg=b&mra=ls&t=m&z=10&lci=bike
Hey. Thanks for the north coast tip! I’ll keep it in mind! 🙂
As from VeloClubbers Forum, Pärnu is great place for stayingand taking perhaps layover day. And then shortest through the flat terrain to Järvakandi – Rapla – Saku and Tallinn.
Want to see more of Estonia, take Otepää-Pangodi-Tartu and then up to Paipsi Lake, Rakvere and then To Sagadi – Vihula – Palmse or Sagadi – Altja – Võsu and then alongside the north coast to Tallinn. Peispi lake is nice and usually warm in summer, sandy beaches, not much people and Old believers community ect.
I am starting to think that a nice rest day at the beach in Pärnu might be a good idea. I will tweek two options – one via Pärnu and one via Tartu and decide when I am there. If it is beach weather, Pärnu might be a good place to be.. 🙂
Thanks for your tips!!
Mattehw
[…] Estonia 2013 […]
Hopefully you won’t get any broken spokes this time, but this map of estonian bike shops might be useful:
http://g.co/maps/qndsu
I’m hoping for no broken spokes this time too.. I have a new bike this time. 🙂
Thanks for the map! 🙂
Now when some time has passed …. do you mind sharing which route were you taking in Estonia and how did you like it?
HI there.
Sure. An archive of my blog from my trip to the North Cape in 2013 is here: https://arctic-cycler.com/biking/eindhoven-nordkapp-kirkenes-2013/
In particular, the Estonian part is here: https://arctic-cycler.com/biking/eindhoven-nordkapp-kirkenes-2013/cycle-trip-2013-estonia/
For the individual daily routes, click on the individual days.
I really enjoyed my time in Estonia. I was welcomed to Estonia by Raimo from the Estonian cycling forum. He showed me around Pärnu, where he lives. I then cycled with Thomas, from Turku in Finland. We were both heading the same direction to Tallinn. We camped at a gorgeous campsite near Kergu. We had a lovely view over a lake with the most beautiful light.
In Tallinn I stayed with friends. Tallinn is a beautiful city, and it was a magical, warm evening walking through the old town, with the deep blue sky as backdrop.
There is also some of my trip through Tallinn in this video: https://arctic-cycler.com/2013/08/26/new-video-2013-cycling-adventure-part-1-eindhoven-tallin/
All the best from Holland!
Matthew