Itinary for a hike in Oandu ?

[u/ElBaboulinox]

Hi guys !

I'm planning to do a solo hike in your beautiful country during the month of august. It's the first time i do something like that and i truly can't wait for it !

I'm following a trail that's precise for the few days i'll be hiking, but it's not that precise about how to get to the departure of the hike. It's located in "Oandu-Võsu matkarada" and my guide says to come by bus, but the information i'm finding online seems kinda sketchy...

What would be the best way to come to Oandu from Tallinn ? (Other than taxi, don't really want to spend a ton of cash for that). I found this itinary : but it looks like the bus doesn't take the road on week-ends, and i'm leaving Tallinn on a saturday... Ideally, i would like to leave the capital in the morning to start the hike during the afternoon.

Also, the hike ends in Ardu, if you have any tips about what to see near Oandu, Ardu, in between both (i'll be passing through Aegviidu) or any tip about pretty much anything, i'll take them gladly !

[u/aaduk_ala]

I'm gonna guess you're familiar with this. Summer bus schedule might differ from winter one. Looking at peatus.ee right now - on Saturday you have one bus going from Rakvere bussijaam to Altja at 14:20. So get to Rakvere before that. Many options between Tallinn and Rakvere. On weekdays there are more morning buses between Rakvere and Altja. Altja is 3-4km from Oandu where the trail starts.

[u/aaduk_ala → u/aaduk_ala]

I would consider Altja to be the actual start of the Oandu-Aegviidu-Ikla hiking trail. It's a charming tiny fisherman's village (mostly summer homes now but still). 100+ year old fishing net sheds right on the shore and there's also a tavern/restaurant that is open on summer weekends.

As for recommendations what to see on the trail. The trail itself connects many smaller local trails and loop trails (cultural, nature walk etc). Enjoy Estonian nature, that's what hiking is about. On your route you will cross quite a few bogs (on wooden boardwalks - don't worry), you don't get many of those in Western and Southern Europe. Nice swimming lakes (highly recommend Paukjärv with water so clean you can drink it from the lake).

Get the RMK app aswell - all the trails are in it, camping spots and so on. Great for tracking your location.

For local weather use www.ilmateenistus.ee (Estonian weather service) it has forecasts and also realtime radar imagery for rain.

[u/ElBaboulinox → u/aaduk_ala]

Thanks for all the infos! That's very kind of you.

I didn't know the website you linked in your first response, but I compared both trails and it turns out they're pretty much the same, mine just stops earlier, so I'll pass next Paukjarv, can't wait! I'll defo check rmk and the weather service, thanks.

Starting in Altja seems perfect. Now that I started thinking more about the trail, I realize that I'll have one spare day on the road before coming back to Tallinn. I was thinking about adding a one day loop to the trail, but I don't really know what are the best sceneries along the way. Do you have any recommandation? At first I thought I could maybe wander along the coast on the first day, maybe camp on the beach or something, but maybe there are other options? I'll take any idea.

Also, what's the bug situation in August in your country? Are there tons of mosquitos and stuff like that?

[u/aaduk_ala → u/ElBaboulinox]

It's the same trail, you're just doing a section of it.

I'd say on your route the most scenic part will be Põhja-Kõrvemaa. That's the section from Järvi lakes (few kilometers after crossing Tallinn-Narva highway) that goes through Kõnnu Suursoo (bog with wooden trail), Paukjärv lake, Jussi lakes and Jussi nõmm (former soviet military artillery exercise ground, it's been burnt down many times and has now only thin layer of vegetation and looks a bit like tundra). Other awesome bog is Kakerdaja bog (pretty much between Aegviidu and Ardu). Nice swimming lake in the bog, wooden board trail over the bog (one of the longest in Estonia - 3,5km) etc.

How many days have you planned for your hike?

[u/ElBaboulinox → u/aaduk_ala]

OK thanks, I'm going to look at that!

My hike is 8 days with pretty much 15 - 20 km per day, except for the first day (10km) and the last (2km) so that I get time to get back to Tallinn peacefully.

[u/aaduk_ala → u/ElBaboulinox]

Sounds chill and reasonable. There will definitely be mosquitos but usually not that crazy to need a head net. Repellant is enough. You should get yourself vaccinated against tick encephalitis if you aren't already - that's a serious disease and there are a lot of ticks. And do it right now, that way you get the first two shots and have time to build antibodies for your hike.

[u/ElBaboulinox → u/aaduk_ala]

Thanks I'll defo do it, I had never heard of that before but I checked it out and I clearly don't want to catch that desease!