CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Haapsalu it runs 389 km to Haapsalu; allow about 8 h 36 of riding. The stops in between: Historic Centre, Fortress of Suomenlinna, back through Fortress of Suomenlinna and back through Historic Centre. It crosses from Estonia into Finland - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 1 km this is Lahemaa Coastal Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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.
Read the complete Haapsalu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Haapsalu is where the day begins. Next is Historic Centre.
Tallinn's old town is the best-preserved medieval city centre in northern Europe, and it has been protected by a ring of walls and towers that still stand for most of their length. UNESCO listed it in 1997. The city grew rich as a Hanseatic port, and its merchants built tall stone houses with steep roofs, guild halls and churches that are still in use. The town is divided into two parts, the Upper Town on the limestone hill of Toompea, where the rulers lived, and the Lower Town below, where the merchants and craftsmen did business, and for centuries the two had separate governments and sometimes separate laws.
Read the complete Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre comes up 57 km in.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
114 km in you reach Historic Centre. Next is Fortress of Suomenlinna.
Suomenlinna is a fortress on a cluster of islands in front of Helsinki, reached in about fifteen minutes by public ferry from the Market Square. The Swedes began building it in 1748, when Finland was part of their kingdom and the Russian threat was growing, and they called it Sveaborg, the Fortress of the Swedes. The architect Augustin Ehrensvard designed the plan, and he is buried on the island. Granite ramparts, bastions, tunnels and storehouses are laid out among rocky islets, and a wide-angled view of the fortress from the sea is impressive.
Read the complete Fortress of Suomenlinna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fortress of Suomenlinna, about halfway. Next is Fortress of Suomenlinna.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortress of Suomenlinna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fortress of Suomenlinna sits at 227 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fortress of Suomenlinna.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortress of Suomenlinna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fortress of Suomenlinna comes up 284 km in. Next is back through Historic Centre.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
341 km in you reach back through Historic Centre. Next is back through Historic Centre.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Centre, late in the day. Next is Haapsalu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Haapsalu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 389 km.
Haapsalu → Historic Centre is 119 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Historic Centre → Fortress of Suomenlinna is 108 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Fortress of Suomenlinna → back through Historic Centre is 108 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Historic Centre → Haapsalu is 119 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.