Baltic Coastal Hiking trail - Wheelchair accesible

A multifarious section of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route. The first three kilometres of the itinerary go along the former Haapsalu – Rohuküla broad-gauge railway line, takes you on a stroll along Haapsalu Bay through Pullapää cape, crosses coastal forests, which contain health trails, and continues via coastal promenades and small streets around Haapsalu Town. After crossing a small wetland beyond the town, this section of the trail ends in the beautiful Uuemõisa Park.

In this section of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route, you will see a traditional rural landscape. The littoral is notched by shallow coves, peninsulas and capes surrounded by coastal meadows, reeds, shallow lagoons, marshes, as well as hard to access islands. When walking along the small country roads, overhung by red rowans in autumn, you can see ethnographic-like individual farmsteads and farms with cows and goats. The landscapes of farmsteads interchange with the remains of rock fences, farmland and juniper forests. Access to the sea and rest areas are located south of Ranniku and near Kastna village.

First, the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route takes the old coastal roads surrounded by pine forests, but after passing Lottemaa Park it turns towards the sea and comes out at Reiu beach. Next, the hike continues across an overgrown beach (wide shoals when the winds create an outflow of water) and after a little less than 4 km you have to turn inland, cross a golf course and turn in the direction of Pärnu. Near the Raeküla district, it snakes along a small trail forming the border between the large coastal wetland and the forest. Having looped around the wetland for ~ 6 km, the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route emerges at Pärnu beach. Further on, the road goes through the western part of Pärnu Old Town, crosses the Pärnu River and the Sauga River and ends in the Vana-Pärnu district.

Ikla is the start of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route in Estonia. In the section connecting Ikla and Treimani, the route leads you along the old Pärnu–Riga road as meadows and reeds stretch across the seashore. After passing Treimani, the trail turns towards the sea and the next 2,8 km are covered across a narrow, sandy or rocky and occasionally thickly overgrown beach. After bypassing the Orajõe Brook, next to the parking lot the trail returns to the beach followed by a hike of ~ 4 km to Hotel Lepanina. There you will have to return to the old Pärnu–Riga road leading you to Kabli. Several good birdwatching sites are located on the itinerary. The coastal area up to Pärnu is a popular relaxation and swimming area.

Initially, the itinerary leads you through the Gauja River levees in Gauja village reaching the estuary of the Gauja River, which is a good place for bird watching. The hike continues along a sandy beach up to the estuary of the Inčupe River, before which you have to turn inland to get to a bridge and to cover the next couple of kilometers across the wooded dune tops of the Sunset Trail with a view of the beach. After crossing the Pēterupe River (cable bridge), the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route continues along the beach and reaches the Sea Park in Saulkrasti.

This sections of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route is a comparatively short hike across a beautiful sandy beach, the coastal side of which is bounded by brightly colored pine forests with spectacular dunes and dams of dunes. To get from the beach to Carnikava, the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route will take you through a forest via a promenade. Then it takes a stroll around the Old Gauja River via a levee and reaches the pedestrian bridge over the Gauja River. Both as you start and end the hike, it is nice to sit in one of the pubs and summer cafés located on Vecāķi beach and in Carnikava.

At first, the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route winds through Engure village, then leads through a comparatively narrow beach on one side and beautiful woody seaside dunes on the other side reaching Plieņciems Dune after which the sandy beach becomes increasingly wider and large shoals appear in the sea. On the coast, overgrown bluffs equipped with stairs and plank-ways rise before your eyes and stretch as far as the road connecting Kolka and Tukums. You have to take into consideration that on warm summer days a lot of holidaymakers come here. The last third of the itinerary is located in Ķemeri National Park.

A sandy beach that is not too wide and has beautiful dunes and coastal pine forests stretches from Ģipka to Roja, but before reaching Roja it is overgrown with reeds. Conversely, the section between Roja and the Kaltene Church is one of the most extraordinary parts of the seashore of Latvia, where the coast is notched by small capes and coves with a very narrow beach. All over the coast, there are piles of boulders of different sizes with the green foliage of black alders hanging over them. In some places, the large gnarled root systems of the trees washed ashore rise before your eyes. In some places, an unpaved road goes right along the coast and a lot of former fishermen homesteads are aligned next to it.

In this section of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route, the first 6 km are a lonely stretch of the coast with a wide beach and low foredunes, the tops of which are covered in silvery sand ryegrass and marram grass tillers. After passing the Medole brook, an impressive bluff (~ 19 m high) rises before your eyes with a narrow rocky beach beneath it. The bluff quickly shrinks and then rises again two kilometers further. Between the bluffs, there is a former firing ground for the Soviet army. The last five kilometers of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route to the South Pier in Ventspils lead through a wide sandy beach, the coastal side of which is delimited by the biotopes of grey dunes.

This beach is rarely visited by people and you can gather pieces of amber and little stones with fossils and hear the singing sand beneath your feet. Near Ziemupe, beautiful bluffs appear, but further on near Akmensrags and Pāvilosta there are beautiful, occasionally washed off foredunes overgrown with sand ryegrass and marram grass. In some places, you can see grey dunes. The Akmeņrags Lighthouse will serve as a good place to rest. Pāvilosta, with its provincial charm and the scent of the harbor and smoked fish will bring you back from wilderness to civilization.

From Bernāti to Liepāja, the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route leads through a wide beach where initially the coast is formed by washed away shores, but as you approach Liepāja high foredunes covered in sand ryegrass and marram grass appear in sight. Later the trail winds through the old town of Liepāja and “New Liepāja”, crossing the Naval Port Canal to reach the Naval Port: a complex of military and fortification buildings the visitation of which is likely to take a half day. You should certainly try the special dish of Liepāja called Liepājas menciņi made of smoked cod according to an ancient recipe from Southern Kurzeme.

Throughout this section, the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route stretches alongside a beach. In the surroundings of Pape, the coastal side of the beach is surrounded by beautiful foredunes, while further away from the village it transforms into a washed away shore of nearly 10 km with broken pine trees lying across it. Gently sloping dunes reappear near Jūrmalciems. After passing Jūrmalciems, the wide silted beaches continue, but when coming closer to Cape Bernāti, an astounding bluff rises before your eyes which is overgrown with a pine forest and occasionally washed away.