Le Bonaparte, Tallinn

Advantages: The residue of earlier centuries
Disadvantages: The residue of the Soviet era

...£20 a head, so going a little off the beaten track proved to be no saving. My wife prefers to drink wine, and this probably added to the cost, but there were not a lot of noticeably cheaper places around, not in the old town, anyway, all of which, it seemed to me, made eating out in Tallinn pretty pricey by Eastern European standards. In bars and restaurants, local beer tends to cost between 30 and 50 kr a half-litre (equating to £1.50 to £2.50 a pint) and is drinkable enough without being distinguished. The two dominant brands are Saku and a le Coq, both offering a variety of brews. The best of those I tasted was a le Coq’s “English Ale”, which is a mellow, full-bodied lager and quite unlike any ale I would associate with England. The Brew House in Dunkri, just off the main square, has a micro-brewery in its cellar and looks... Read review

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Advantages: Medieval old town
Disadvantages: Irish theme pub

...the foreign equivalent of a tenner. Ade got a discount for being a student (Ha! The oldest student in town). EAT, Part II Well, finding a restaurant to match the Italian took some doing but we managed. Called Vanama Jaares, or something along those lines (meaning Grandma's Place), it promised a traditional Estonian nosh up. I read about it in one of the local guides (it might have been Tallinn in Your Pocket or the regional English language paper, the Baltic Times, can't remember which); we turned up and the place was packed (it was just a small basement affair with room for around 35 or so) mainly occupied by a large table of Scandinavian academics getting roaring drunk and insulting each other's homelands. We had to wait for a table, so me and Ade went to a bar round the corner to absorb a large "le Coq" beer (named after the Tallinn... Read review

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Advantages: Atmosphere, history, cheap shopping
Disadvantages: Not on the beaten track, cold

...For a great day trip from Helsinki, visit Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, which is just a short hop across the Baltic from Helsinki. On a whim, my friend and I checked out the times of the ferries that leave the harbour in Helsinki on a regular basis and we just went for it! The ferries are either large cruise liner-type ships, or the much faster, but very comfortable catamarans. Leave early in the morning to give yourself a good few hours to wander and shop, and still be back for supper! On arrival, we were surprised at the modern terminal facilities and the large number of huge cruise ships. We were processed quickly through immigration (no need for a visa, as a UK citizen) and walked out into the fresh sea air. Quickly, we were brought down to earth, and our preconceptions about poverty and poor infrastructure seemed to have been... Read review

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