/NAISSAAR / ISLAND OF WOMEN/

From Tallinn it’s possible to take ferries to three islands: Naissaar, Prangli and Aegna. Our first stop was at Naissaar or in English: Island of Women!

Naissaar (Island of women) or Nargö in swedish is located 8.5 kilometers from Tallinn to northwest direction. This place is tough with a bike but worth to explore!

Size: 18,93 km²
Lenght: 9 km
Width: 5km
Highest point: 27 m
Lenght of coast: 22.98 km
Population (winter): 3 (During summer touristic, up to 200 people on the island daily). Also in the summer there are around 10 people who live in their summer houses.

Naissaar is mostly belonged to Estonian and Swedish fishermen. During the Russian tsar era and later during the soviet union it was mostly used by military. Soviet union also established there a naval mines factory. During the time it was not allowed to civilians. Now its possible to move on the island through the railways, witch were used to move the mines around the island. In 18. century Russian tsar built there bastions and big cannons do defend the seaway to Tallinn. Since our independece 1991. island is a nature reserve.

Naissaar is comfortable with mountain or fat bikes, if you want to make a loop around the place then there are some sand, gravel roads, single tracks and you can also use partly the old railroad.
From the ship its possible to get free maps for both hiking trails. Camping is allowed on the island. Also you can find some special camping places with fire material and small roof over your head in case of rain.

HIKING TRAIL MAP

Now on the island lives officially 3 people, in summer you can spot hundreds of tourists, mostly school groups and hikers. For cyclists its pretty technical to explore. Still they have 3 different trails and they are marked really well.

So next time you are in Tallinn, take a adventure to island of women! If you are lazy and not used to ride on the sand then its possible to make a really good hiking trip to there!