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This storybook castle is just one reason to put Estonia on your travel wish list

A cycling journey through Baltic history, castles and freedom.

Picture by Daniel Scott
Picture by Daniel Scott
Daniel Scott
October 21, 2026

At sunset on an Estonian summer evening, medieval Kuressaare Castle seems to float in its surrounding moats, with mirrored images of its red turrets sharpening as the sun dips.

Reaching Kuressaare, a seaside town on the island of Saaremaa, near the end of an 11-day UTracks Treasures of the Baltic cycling tour, I'm also in reflective mood, thankful for getting to know Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, a little.

Each country has so much history, including periods being ruled by Sweden, Poland, Germany, the Russian Empire and the anti-religious Soviet regime, between 1945-1991. Which makes the survival of this Episcopal castle, founded in the 1380s, extraordinary, as is the resilience of the Baltic people, 2 million of whom formed a human chain across the three countries, in 1989, to demand independence, which arrived to each within two years.

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Kuressaare Castle is an apt place to contemplate freedom, which is never a given in Estonia or the other Baltic states we've cycled through.

2004

The year all three Baltic countries joined the European Union and NATO

Daniel Scott
Words byDaniel Scott
Daniel is a multi-award-winning travel writer and playwright, battling to defy ageing with active adventures, like trekking, cycling, diving and road tripping, across the planet. He is also a passionate advocate for Indigenous tourism, wellness and family travel.

My all-time favourite destination is … Iceland. I’ve done two trips there so far and never been somewhere so otherworldly and wildly eruptive. Diving there in the two-metre-deep Nesgja fissure, between the North American and Eurasian continental plates, in crystal-clear turquoise water, was unforgettable. At home, northern WA and the NT are my go-tos for serious adventures.

Next on my bucket list is … South America. The Atacama desert, the Amazon river, the Chilean fjords, the Andes mountains, the Galapagos islands, Patagonia. What a continent, can’t wait to see more of it.

My top travel tip is … Whatever your age, when you travel, challenge yourself to do something that you have never done before. It might be scary but you’ll remember it forever.