Haapsalu is a small seaside town on the west coast of Estonia with a surprising amount of history and an odd fame for lace and mud. The town grew around an episcopal castle built in the thirteenth century by the bishops of Ösel-Wiek, a big fortress with a cathedral inside its walls, now a romantic ruin on the edge of the bay. Legend tells of the White Lady, a woman said to have been walled up alive for loving a choirboy, whose ghost appears at the cathedral window on August full moons; the town celebrates the story with a festival and a lot of theatrical flair.
In the nineteenth century the town became a fashionable spa, because of the curative mud from the shallow bays, and the Russian aristocracy took the train here from St Petersburg. The composer Tchaikovsky holidayed here in the 1860s, and there is a bench dedicated to him on the seafront promenade. The old railway station, built for the imperial family, has one of the longest covered platforms in Europe, now home to a small museum of railway history. Local women still knit the Haapsalu shawl, a lace so fine it can be pulled through a wedding ring.
The riding around Haapsalu is flat, quiet and leisurely, with long straight stretches between birch woods, wetlands and low coastal meadows. The nearby Matsalu National Park is a major stop for migrating birds in spring and autumn, with geese, cranes and swans on the wet meadows. Roads are generally good, though many minor lanes are gravel, and the wind off the sea can be fresh. Traffic is light, and even in summer the roads are not busy, but watch for elk and deer at dawn and dusk, which can be a real hazard in the Baltic countryside.
Haapsalu, with nearly twelve thousand people, has fuel stations, supermarkets and cafes, so you can stock up before heading on. The town has a seaside charm, with wooden villas painted in soft colours, a long promenade and the smell of the sea and smoked fish. The best months are May to September, but the autumn light is wonderful too. Sit by the water at the end of the day and watch the sun go down over the bay, which takes a very long time in June.