The British travel portal Kayak selected 70 of Europe's best islands to travel to on holiday. Hiiumaa and Saaremaa were also among them, and Hiiumaa took first place in the category "The best island for private and secluded holidays".
19 factors were taken into account in the overall ranking of the best islands. These included, for example, temperature, rainfall, accommodation prices, accessibility to the island, etc. The maximum possible number of points was 100, and this score was achieved by Crete, which took the first place. Second place went to Tenerife and third to Cyprus.
In the overall table, Saaremaa reached 53rd place with 36 points and Hiiumaa 32nd place with 32 points.
The best islands for private holidays
However, Hiiumaa won in the category "Best islands for private and secluded holidays". With the maximum score, the island took first place, just ahead of the second-ranked Scottish twin islands of Lewis and Harris and third-place Lofoten Islands in Norway.
"Hiiumaa is sparsely populated and the island is not very popular, which makes it a perfect place to spend a holiday in a secluded environment. The island offers passengers the opportunity to see many beautiful places and get to know the happiest people in Estonia," Kayak wrote about Hiiumaa.
Saaremaa also achieved a high, fourth place in this category.
The best islands for a beach holiday
Kayak also identified the best islands for a beach vacation. The ranking took into account summer weather conditions (temperature and precipitation) and the availability of sandy and swimming beaches.
Crete took the first place with 100 points, Cyprus with 82 points and Sardinia with 71 points.
Both Saaremaa and Hiiumaa scored 19 in this category and reached 62nd and 63rd place.
The best islands for an active holiday
According to Kayak, the best island for an active holiday is Tenerife, followed by Iceland and Mallorca.
Saaremaa took 45th place in the category of active holidays and Hiiumaa 62nd place.
The best islands for traveling with children
In the category of travel with children, Crete again took first place. For example, the existence of amusement parks and sandy beaches was taken into account when compiling the ranking. Sardinia came in second and Cyprus third.
Saaremaa ranks 41st in the ranking, and Hiiumaa 52nd.
The best islands for off-season visits
Out of season, Kayak recommends visiting the Canary Islands, especially because of the weather there. Cyprus came in second and Samos (Greece) came in third.
Hiiumaa is ranked 53rd in this category and Saaremaa 54th.
The most wallet-friendly islands
Kayak also figured out which islands are the cheapest to travel to. The Turkish island of Bozcaada (Tenedos) took first place, followed by the Turkish island of Gokceada and the third island of Terceira in Portugal.
Hiiumaa took 30th place in this category and Saaremaa 37th place.
The original article is here.
