Discover Saaremaa

First impressions of Saaremaa

Saaremaa moves at a different speed to the mainland — wooden windmills (Angla's group of five is the most photographed) rotate slowly above flat fields, juniper-flavoured local beer is brewed in farm cottages, and the limestone Panga Cliff drops 21 metres into the Gulf of Riga along the north coast (locals still pour beer onto the stones at the spring solstice as an offering to old sea spirits). The headline sight is the medieval Kuressaare Bishop's Castle — a perfect square 14th-century stone fortress, surrounded by a working moat with wooden bridges, holding the Saaremaa Museum and a fairy-tale silhouette that anchors the island's quiet capital. The Kaali Meteorite Crater field at the centre of the island is one of the most accessible meteorite impact sites in Europe: nine craters from a single 4,000-year-old strike, the largest 110 metres across, now filled with dark groundwater. Eat smoked Saaremaa fish and rye bread at Sadama Kohvik in Kuressaare, soak in the spa hotels (the island has been famous for thermal mud cures since the 1800s), and rent a bike for the easy ride out to the Sorve peninsula at the southwest tip.