Tallinn (Estonia) > Reviews (9)

I have visited Tallinn in July for the last two years with a friend predominantly to take in the Ollesummer Beer Festival, but there are also many other attractions to this well-preserved town.

The Town
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Tallinn consists of two parts, the old town with its cobbled streets and beautiful architecture and the new 'Soviet Era' town with its masses of concrete and ugly buildings, including a strangely mesmeric TV tower, which is the tallest building in Tallinn.

The Old Town is where the majority of the tourists go as it is the most tourist friendly, with a wide variety of bars and restaurants. A café culture is very evident here and it is actively encouraged to drink outside. Unlike in Britain this leads to a convivial atmosphere and people of many different nationalities drink together without the slightest sign of any trouble.

The New Town is where most of the commerce takes place in Tallinn and has various shopping centres and banks available here. The two main bus stations, for local buses and long-distance buses respectively can also be found here.

Tallinn is also beside the sea and has its own beach. If the weather is nice (and it was both times we were there) then it seems like the entire population of Tallinn heads to the beach to catch some sunshine. The beach itself is nothing startling and a little bit smelly, but it is certainly worth a visit if the weather is nice.

The airport in Tallinn is about 4 miles away from the old town and you can either get a bus directly from the airport and follow the tourists getting off or you can get a taxi and pay whatever ridiculous fare they feel like charging you (see later comments). The airport is pretty much standard for the Baltic's - you don't want to spend too much time there is all I can say!

Eating and drinking
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As mentioned previously the majority of bars and restaurants have outside seating where you can eat and drink to your hearts content. Service can be very slow and slightly rude, but you just have to ignore that. I have to admit I am not a big fan of Estonian food. The national dish is "Blood sausage", which is exactly as it sounds. My friend is vegetarian and he was resorting to eating pancakes at some meals as there were no vegetarian choices. My meals were generally ok, but the restaurants especially around the main square are quite expensive.

Bars seen to be open 24 hours and if you stay out long enough you may be treated to the sight of it never actually getting dark. It gets slightly dark and then it is light again. Prostitutes also prowl late at night and often come to the bars trying to drum up trade, but if you tell them you are no interested then they will go away.

People
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The title of this review says "I've died and gone to heaven". The reason for this is that the first time I went I thought that was what had happened. The population is a mix of ethnic Estonian, Scandinavian and Russian and at the risk of sounding sexist it produces some of the most stunningly beautiful women I have ever seen in my life.

Its not unusual to see tourists, in Tallinn for the first time standing there with their tongues hanging out of their mouths.

Things to do and see
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As mentioned previously we come to Tallinn for the Ollesummer festival, which is basically a big beer festival with a lot of tents playing live music. The music is varied, but is often Eurovision song contest entries, which the crowd seem to lap up. The festival runs for a week in July and is well worth a visit.

Another possible diversion is a trip to Helsinki on the boats that leave daily from the harbour. These are often busy, especially on weekends.

Other than that there is not a huge amount to see in Tallinn - the old town is lovely, but it is small and I imagine more than a few days would be too much. Each time we have came here we have alternated with other places, Berlin for the World Cup last year and Latvia and Lithuania the year before. I would recommend doing something like that as there is simply not enough in Tallinn to keep you occupied for any length of time.

Other things
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Taxis are a COMPLETE rip-off. The meters seem to be calibrated by the drivers to whatever they like. A journey, using the same route between the Old Town and Ollesummer cost a minimum of £2 and a maximum of £12. The drivers often take you deliberately long routes as well to bump the fare up. The problem is so widespread; it is even mentioned in the tourist literature.

Conclusion
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Tallinn is well worth a visit, but don't plan too many days there - arrange some other places to go as well and if you are vegetarian then expect to live on crisps!