LOCATED in the Baltic Sea is a crowd-free island with outdoor music festivals and ancient forests – and we bet you’ve never heard of it.
Hiiumaa in Estonia is an island home to several historic lighthouses and sprawling beaches.
It is Estonia’s second largest island, yet is home to less than 10,000 people.
But this led to the island, along with other West Estonia islands, joining the UNESCO biosphere programme area dubbed ‘Man and Biosphere, which means that the locals have lived sustainably alongside nature for hundreds of years.
And most of the time, the island is completely in the dark unless the moon and stars are glowing – as a result it also has no noise or light pollution.
Many people who travel to the island love it for its peace, including soothing sauna and walks in the forest.
Read more on travel inspo
Naturally, being an island, the destination also has “endless beaches” according to Hiiumaa.ee, such as Tõrvanina, Luidja and Ristna.
Ristna, in particular, is loved by surfers thanks to having the biggest waves in the Baltic Sea.
This spot is also where you will find on of the island’s historic lighthouses.
Ristna Lighthouse’s tower was completed in France at the workshop of Gustave Eiffel – the same person responsible for the Eiffel Tower.
Then it was brought across to Hiiumaa in pieces and then assembled to watch over the sea and ships in the region.
The lighthouse is still operational today, but is open to visitors during the summer.
Nearby is also Kõpu lighthouse, which is one of the oldest working lighthouses in the world.
Visitors can climb to the top of the lighthouse and see across the coastline.
If you happen to visit the island during the summer months, you can also explore The Lavender Farm, which is the northmost lavender farm in the world.
And rather unusually, it is located on the edge of a meteorite crater.
Visitors heading to the farm can see 20,000 lavender plants and the products produced using them, such as lavender jam, lavender spice and lavender micellar water.
For a longer walk in nature, then visitors can head to the ancient Kõpu Nature Reserve, which is located on the oldest part of the island.
The area has many rare plants and bird species.
The island also hosts a number of festivals throughout the year including the Ice Fish Festival in February which involves a number of winter-related activities on the ice and summer music festivals of jazz, folk and club music.
When it comes to food options, local dishes often include fish or lamb.
One top spot is IIUmeekk, which is located inside a quaint redhouse and overlooks a harbour.
Inside, dish options include sea trout with edamame beans, parsley and salted egg yolk or slow cooked porky belly, with tomato kimchi and polenta.
Make sure to check out their desserts as well, such as gingerbread tiramisu.
As for somewhere to stay, there are hotels scattered across the entire island.
For example, for £75 per night you could head to Kassari Holiday Resort which features bubble baths on the hotel’s roof terrace, access Kassari beach and family-friendly rooms.
Alternatively, you could head to Utoopia No. 9 for £70 a night.
The 19-room hotel is sat on Kirikulahe Bay and is inside a historic manor’s vodka kitchen.
The best way to get to Hiiumaa is by flying to the capital of Estonia – Tallinn.
Return flights from London in November cost from £37 and the flight takes under three hours.
From Tallinn you can either hop on another flight to Kärdla Airport, which takes 30 minutes.
Then you can jump on the ferry to Hiiumaa, which takes less than an hour.
Alternatively, you can hop on a coach from Tallinn, which takes just under four hours before catching the ferry.
Also in Estonia is a seaside city nicknamed the ‘summer capital’ by locals – with huge sandy beach and the sea hits 33C.
Plus, there is a tiny island in Estonia with white sandy beaches that’s the most child-friendly holiday destination in the world.