Saaremaa is supposedly the country's prime summer destination and the nation's favourite place for an annual week of sea, sun and sand. So it was a no-brainer to put the sight-seeing on hold and spend a few days in nature. The journey was easy enough - a bus from Tallinn to the port at Virtsu and then a quick ferry ride to Kuressaare, the island's hub and port.
We however, had booked a BnB in Küdema, 40km from Kuressaare and we quickly realised that this part of the journey was not going to be quite as straightforward. Public transport on the island was minimal but luckily we managed to catch a minibus, (the only one that day), going to Mustjala and then walked the final 3km to the BnB.
The atmospheric setting was, I have to admit, slightly marred by the overpowering stench of sulphur where we were staying, (apparently due to the water system), so we made sure to grab the two available bikes and set off the next morning in search of clean air.
I can safely say that I've never cycled more in one day than I did on the 18th of August and I doubt I will again. We set off at 10ish and pretty much cycled consistently through to 6pm, stopping a few times for lunch, various scrambles on beaches and to inspect wildlife.
Looking back on it now, I'm so glad we had these crazy couple of days sampling Estonian island life but at the time we were pretty relieved to return to the mainland (and its clean water)!