It’s hard to find a more medieval landscape than Saaremaa, Estonia’s largest island (its name translates to “Island Land”). With its windmills, 13th century churches, thatched roofs, and ancient stone walls, Saaremaa seems to have escaped the Soviet era intact. However, its preservation is due to Soviet border policy, which forbade entrance to this island by anyone not directly related to its inhabitants. This island’s rugged coast features bunkers and lighthouses, one of which is now surrounded by the sea, and leans far to its side. Much of Saaremaa's west coast is protected by Vilsandi National Park, which includes an island that can only be visited by an occasional ferry, or by taking a Soviet truck at low tide. Estonia has more meteorite craters per square mile than anywhere else, chief among them Saaremaa's Kaali crater, which hit the island during the Bronze Age with a force equal to the first atomic bomb. Viewed as holy since prehistory, this crater is thought to be the site where the sun falls to Earth in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. Saaremaa’s capital, Kuressaare, is a charming small town, with a tall, rectangular castle that sits within renaissance bastions. Kuressaare is best enjoyed with a quiet stroll along the coast and between the charming wooden villas near the castle. We also recommend visiting the Sorve Peninsula. Here, at the island's southern tip, the northern edge of Latvia is visible, especially from the top of the Baltics' tallest lighthouse. Thanks to a clerical error, the neighboring village of Torgu found itself legally independent in the 90s, and comically declared itself a kingdom.