Tallinn, Estonia

Our city break visit to Tallinn, Estonia in June was booked for a few reasons: 1) To see the UNESCO listed historical Old Town; 2) Experience a near-midnight sun; and 3) Finish our tick-list of visiting all the countries in the Scandic-Baltic region. Tallinn is a popular destination for cruise and ferry passengers with the port located near the medieval tourist center of the city. Our recommendation would be to visit Tallinn for a few days to absorb the history, architecture and eat the crispy pigs ears - a truly amazing and tasty beer snack!


London to Tallinn
As our four and a bit year stint in London was coming to a close in August, we reflected that our flight to Tallinn would be the last Easyjet serviced flight for a while. With a flight time of close to three hours, we had plenty of spare moments to read the in-flight magazine with advertisements about the 2016 schedules and new routes. This made us slightly sad - however the beer and food in Tallinn soon brushed away the nostalgic feelings.

Tallink Express Hotel
We had two night's accommodation booked with the Tallink Express Hotel located next to the ferry port. Tallink is also the name of the ferry service that services routes between Tallinn, Sweden, Latvia and Finland. The hotel is adjacent to a more luxury hotel with shared gym facilities. The location was perfect for exploring the Old Town (about a 10 minute walk away) and also transiting to the airport with a shuttle bus stop directly outside.

View of the Old Town from our hotel

As a piece of historical trivia, we learnt that the large concrete structure (Linnahall) visible from our hotel room window was built in 1980 and used during the Moscow Olympics whereby the Estonia hosted the sailing events for the games.

The concrete structure known as the Linnahall

On our walk to the hotel, we noticed a large crane hoisting over a dozen seats into the sky. This structure was called 'Dinner in the Sky' and it was an opportunity to have dinner or drinks whilst being suspended in the air - an interesting novelty concept.

Old Town Tallinn

The walls around Tallinn were constructed in the 13th century and have been fortified over the centuries. Many of the towers and stone walls still remain, hence the Old Town was World Heritage Listed in 1997.

The guard towers have iconic red tops and exploring the walls are a popular tourist activity. Parks surround the walls, remnants of the former defensive moats and bastions.

One of the iconic sights of Tallinn

Parkland surrounding the walls

Exploring the Old Town
We entered the Old Town via the gate next to the tower known as 'Fat Margaret', that now houses the Estonian Maritime Museum. The Old Town has retained its cobblestone streets with tourist shops lined along the inner wall. The buildings inside the Old Town are representative of 13th-16th century merchant houses, as the city was part of the Hanseatic League - an association of free trading cities in Northern Europe. On our travels, we have visited other former Hanseatic League member cities including: Bergen, Hamburg, Lubeck and Stockholm.

Besides medieval buildings, Tallinn also has interesting Art Nouveau architecture that included inspiration from Egyptian art. Another iconic building is the House of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads which dates back to the 14th century.

Walking in the laneways, we saw a number of cafes with open terraces filled with flowers and diners eating lunch in the sunshine.

Restoran Spot

We chose Restoran Spot for lunch, sitting on the outside terrace where we could people-watch tourists and locals walking towards the main square. We ate beetroot soup (borscht) and grilled fish.

Old Town Square (Raekoja plats)  

Our next stop was in the Old Town Square where locals with bicycle rickshaws touted for business from tourists. 

The Old Town Square is ringed by restaurants and buildings that include: the Raeapteek (pharmacy)-one of the oldest continuously running businesses in the world, established in the 15th century; the garlic restaurant of Restoran Balthasar (that also had garlic ice-cream on the menu); and the Town Hall that has on its spire, a statue of Old Thomas, a historic guardian of the city who watches the city's children to ensure they behave.

Tallinn had a number of artistic works on display - from the dragon inspired drain pipes to work of arts in the park.

Tallinn Flower Festival

The weekend we visited, a flower festival was taking place outside the city walls. There were a number of displays with foliage from different parts of the world.

Dinner - Kuldse Notsu Korts

The favourite beer of Tallinn is Saku; and we drank many pints of it. A great accompaniment to beer is fried pigs ears - a salty crunchy snack that we fell in love with.

We ate pig's ears at the restaurant: Kuldse Notsu Korts that served traditional Estonian food near the town square. Directly opposite was a rowdy beer hall popular with locals, tourists and groups on stag parties. We ate a very large sausage platter - meat overload!

Pigs ears - amazing

Midnight Sun

When we booked this trip we had originally planned for our flights to  include the dates: 20-23rd June, incorporating the Summer Solstice. However, midsummer is a big deal in Estonia (St John's Day) where it is celebrated like a national holiday and flight fares rose dramatically to reflect this. Instead, we visited the week before but we were not disappointed with being able to experience some sort of 'midnight sun'.

View at 9:30pm - Still blue sky

Now 10pm, the sun starts to reach the horizon

18 minutes past 10pm and sun is still setting

Hanging out with the local bird-life

After 10:30pm and the skies start to darken

After watching the sunset, we headed back into the center of town and drank coffee at one of the restaurants - Kehrwieder Chocolaterie. It was past midnight and the sky remained a shade of blue and although the street lights were on, it was possible to see without their assistance.

Tallinn Free Walking Tour

The next morning we continued a tradition of attending a 'free walking tour' where you tip the guide at the end based on your perceived value of their services. The tour started from the tourist office, next to a large green space that we learnt was a result of war-time bombings.

Monument near the walking tour meeting point

The tour guides were very good at articulating the history of Tallinn, including the events of Independence (fall of Communism) and the Baltic Chain - a peaceful demonstration that involved two million people holding hands from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1989.

Flag of Estonia

During the tour, some of the sites visited included:

Toompea (Upper Town) 
A fortified area where we had great views over the Old Town and its walls.

View over the Old Town

Buildings built into the walls

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

War of Independence Victory Column

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Medieval Old Town

Street Food Festival

After the walking tour, the guides mentioned that a street food festival was on in the 'new' areas of town. We walked with a couple of fellow tourists that we had met on the walking tour and after paying the 1 euro entry fee, we found a number of things to eat and drink.

Inside the Street Food festival

Tchaikovsky Restaurant
The Estonian tourism board heavily promotes the gastronomic attractions in Tallinn and surrounding areas. As a treat, we decided to have dinner at a fine dining restaurant, choosing Tchaikovsky as it offered a tasting set menu and was located within a hotel in the Old Town. The meal was worth the money paid and we tried a number of different wines by the glass that were recommended to accompany the food.

After dinner, the sun was only starting to set so we had a nice walk in the twilight around the Old Town, including Katariina Käik (St Catherine's Passage) that has a medieval feel with giant tombstones hanging from the walls.

Tombstones in St Catherine's passage

Silk Sushi Bar
The next morning, we continued our tradition of eating raw salmon (sashimi)  in the Baltic countries - because it tastes better with more fat marbled in the flesh. We stopped by Silk Sushi Bar as our last meal in Tallinn, eating beef carpaccio, dumplings and some sushi rolls with pints of Saku beer.

Next blog post:

London Life, Summer 2015

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