Noarootsi Travel Guide

Noarootsi is a parish just north of Haapsalu on the Estonian west coast. Its Swedish name is Nuckö and up to the early 1940s the population predominantly consisted of a Swedish-speaking minority. Most of these fled to Sweden when the Soviet army occupied Estonia . After independence from Russia the links with Sweden have been resumed and are today rather intensive. The Swedish language is compulsory in Noarootsi Gümnasium (secondary school) and many of the refugees have come back to their old farms as summer guests.

Thus, Noarootsi has a special interest for tourists from Sweden . It is also an interesting area for bird watchers with a centre at the Lyckholm (Estonian Saari) manor. Large numbers of migrating water-birds rest here in the extensive reedbeds.

During the Soviet time Noarootsi was a “restricted” area and even Soviet citizens needed a special permit to travel there because of its position at the sea. Remnants of watchtowers and various installations can be seen here and there. There are also the ruins of an impressive building from where all air traffic over Sweden could be monitored.