Estonia

July 2018: This was one of the first stops on our one-month trip through the Baltics. We flew to Helsinki from Canada, stayed one night, then took a ferry the next day to Tallinn. We took the Viking Line, which was a 2.5 hour journey. There are two other lines that also make the same journey, Tallink Silja, and Eckero Line. The prices and journey lengths vary depending on the day and time you want to travel, but if you’re flexible, you can probably pay as low as 22 euros. From the ferry port, we took a cab to our apartment, which was a few minutes outside of the Old Town. The cab was 10-15 euros. A total ripoff, and I think we were charged per person? We knew cabs were a scam, but with all of our luggage and jet lag, we eventually just decided to suck it up and take one. The Old Town is about 10-15 min walk from the terminals, so if you’re just going for the day or don’t have much luggage, this is the best option. There are also buses to the city centre for 2 euros I think. We stayed at My Apartments (found on booking.com) for 2 nights, which was awesome. It’s in a great location near the Old Town, good price, clean, modern, with a washer/dryer. We stayed inTallinn one more night a week later before heading back up to Finland, and stayed at Joe Apartments, which was closer to the ferry terminal than the Old Town, which is what we wanted as we were leaving early the next day.

highlights

. Old Town . Prices . Wifi . Food and Drink options.

lowlights

. Taxi fare .

old town

We spent most of our two days in Tallinn exploring the Old Town. It is surrounded by the Old Town walls, which makes parts of Tallinn look very medieval, and unlike many other Old Towns in Europe. You can walk on top of the old town walls for a fee. There are a few gates to get into the Old Town, the most popular one being the Viru Gate, which has flower markets, and other kinds of stalls. We walked up to Toompea Hill, which has great views of the city and harbour, and visited the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

food and drink

We had lots of great food and drinks while in Tallinn, both inside and outside the Old Town. Olde Hansa is a very popular restaurant in the heart of the Old Town, with some interesting beer selections. We tried a honey beer, as well as a cinnamon one. There are many different kinds, so I suggest giving them a try! For dinner one night, we went to The Golden Piglet, which serves traditional Estonian food. We also try to find a vegan restaurant in every city we visit. There’s one in the Old Town, literally called Vegan Restoran. It’s very small, and incredibly busy all the time. We knew we’d be back in Tallinn for a night, after driving through the Baltics, before heading back over to Finland, so we made a reservation for a week later. And it was worth it. The food and drinks are incredible, and they had some recipe books at our table, so I definitely took some pictures to try later!

Outside the Old Town, we found a delicious breakfast restaurant called Cafe Grenka. Very cool atmosphere, and amazing food. We also found Soorikukohvik, which is a bakery/cafe with delicious homemade donuts. Highly recommended!

On our last night in Tallinn, we met up with a friend of ours and had drinks at Swissotel and the Radisson. Both have rooftop bars with great views. The one at the Swissotel is indoor, and the one at the Radisson has an outdoor patio. We then moved into the Old Town and had some drinks at Hells Hunt.