Discover Kärdla: Beach, Nature and Living History

Kärdla combines waterside nature experiences with an unusually tangible industrial and cultural history. Anyone planning a trip to Hiiumaa will find a range of opportunities here for active days, relaxing moments at the beach and discoveries dating back to the 19th century. Depending on whether you want to focus on exercise, swimming or culture, you can choose your holiday apartment in Kärdla as a base for a variety of day plans.

Hiking Trail, Beach and City Park

The Kärdla hiking trail passes through various forest communities and around small bog areas. Four boardwalks allow you to cross ditches along the route. At a leisurely pace, the trail takes about an hour. This makes it suitable for a manageable hike that lets you combine forest and bog landscapes without devoting the entire day to a long tour.

At Kärdla’s bathing beach, the shore slopes gently and gradually, and the seabed is sandy. At the protected Kärdla rannakivi on the beach, water-level markings with the years 1893 and 1967 can be seen. The southern part of the beach also contains a protected beach park covering 4.3 hectares. Kärdla City Park covers 5.2 hectares and was first laid out in the 1860s. Depending on your plans for the day, you can therefore experience the beach, protected landscape and parkland as different recreational environments.

Industrial History to Discover

The history of cloth production is reflected in several noteworthy places in Kärdla. In 1830, the Ungern-Sternberg barons founded a cloth factory; today’s Vabrikuväljak formed the core of the factory complex. Since 1982, a monument designed by Mati Karmin to the Kärdla cloth factory has stood in the centre of the square. A surviving wool warehouse was built at the harbour in 1849 to store large bales of wool from Australia and New Zealand. Another harbour warehouse dating from 1849 is popularly known as Viinaladu.

Since 1998, Pikk Maja has been the main building of the Hiiumaa Museum. The museum also offers a workshop there on making Pulmatuti wedding decorations. For families, this combination of an exhibition venue and hands-on activity can provide a special cultural complement to days spent at the beach or on hiking trails. Concerts, theatre performances and other events take place at the Kärdla Cultural Centre.

Church, Cemetery and Special Memories

Kärdla Church is dedicated to John the Baptist and was built in 1863. Its open bell tower is considered unique in Estonia. Many former workers, master craftsmen and officials of the cloth factory are buried in Kärdla Cemetery, including its first director, Baron Robert Eginhard von Ungern-Sternberg. The cemetery also contains the graves of the crew members and captain of the brig “Ellen”, which was wrecked in a storm on 6 May 1884. Hiiumaa’s first general song festival took place in Kärdla in 1926.

Practical Information for Your Trip

A regional bus runs from the bus station in Kärdla to the airport before flights. The Kärdla power plant complex on the banks of the Nuutri River can be viewed from the outside by anyone interested. The Hiiumaa Tourist Information Centre provides information about sights, accommodation, restaurants and cafés, opportunities for active holidays, cultural events and transport. If you want to combine different interests during your trip, Kärdla offers cultural, scenic and practical points of connection.

For more travel ideas on Hiiumaa, you can also include Emmaste, Jõeranna, Orjaku, Tubala and Kassari Village in your plans.

For the higher-level travel overview: Hiiumaa.