The Pearl in the Baltic Crown

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and with a population of around 400.000 the country's largest. The town is located in the country's northwest on the Gulf of Finland, just across Helsinki. Hordes of Finns come over daily, looking for inexpensive shopping or alcoholic bar-gains. Look beyond these hasty commerce finders and booze swilling drunkards and you'll find a beautiful UNESCO-listed Old Town chockfull of historical sights, a magic location on the Gulf, great food for great prices, nice locals and nearby natural attractions.

Tallinn's most interesting tourist sight is the beautiful Old Town, Vanalinn, split in a lower and upper part. The lower town contains the unofficial centre of Tallinn, the spacious Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats). It is lined with several historical buildings, most notably the magnificent Town Hall with its slim bell tower. The lower town still contains large parts of the medieval town wall, including the beautiful Viru gate and the massive tower Kiek in de Kök ("look into the kitchen" in old German). Other notable buildings in the lower town are St. John's church and St. Olav's church, once the tallest building in the world and the "three sisters", three nice medieval houses next to each other.

Toompea (Cathedral Hill) contains the upper town. This is the place of the Toompea Castle, which was completely rebuilt in a baroque style and now houses the Estonian parliament. Other sights here are Tallinn's Lutheran cathedral (Toomkirik) and the beautiful 19th century Russian orthodox Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral. Around the hill are a few viewing platforms offering wide panoramas. 2km away from the Old Town is Tsar Peter I's great baroque masterpiece, the 18th century Kadriorg palace, set into an extensive garden. A little further east is the interesting Pirita district, containing one of the country's best but also most popular sand beaches and the ruins of the medieval St. Brigit's convent. In the east of town, only a few km from the city centre lies the district of Haabersti, containing the nice Harku Lake and the Estonian Open Air Museum which gives an insight view on life in medieval Estonia.

The village of Paldiski, some 40km east, offers probably one of the most surreal sights in the county. During Soviet times Moscow constructed a secret nuclear submarine centre, which used to be off limits to all except insiders. The town is now dotted with defunct, ruined and abandoned navy buildings and strewn with Stalinist apartment blocks to house the centre's workers, quite ugly to see but offering an impressive glimpse of Estonia's overwhelming Soviet legacy. Around 70km east of Tallinn and stretching into the neighbouring Lääne-Viru County, lies this area's greatest nature sight, the Lahemaa national park. Apart from a few ugly Soviet leftovers, the park contains forests, lakes and bogs abundant with birdlife. The park also contains a few interesting villages, like coastal Altja, with some ancient wooden fishermen houses, and inland Palmse, home to a beautiful 18th century baroque manor.

Quick Tips:

Estonia, and more particularly the area of Tallinn, has always been an odd one out in the Baltic States, leaning much more towards Northern Europe than Latvia and Lithuania. The area was settled some 3000 years ago by Finnic tribes from the Volga Delta (and not by the Eastern European Balts). There were probably a few fishing and farming villages established in the area of present-day Tallinn. The town itself was established in the 11th century. The trade on the Gulf of Finland flourished during this period and soon a castle was built on Toompea Hill to protect the town, known as Lindanisse these days. During the 13th century the Danish army overpowered the locals and took control of the north coast of Estonia, including the town, which was renamed Reval. They constructed a new stone castle on the hill, locally known as the Danish Castle (Taani Linn in Estonian). A century later the Danes sold their Estonian possessions to the German Teutonic Knights, who introduced Christianity and made Tallinn a member of the Hanseatic League, a Northern European trading alliance. When German power waned during the Protestant Reformation, Sweden took over the control of the area, soon followed by imperial Russia after the 17th and 18th century Great Northern Wars that devastated the country. A brief independence after WWI was followed by an occupation by Nazi Germany and later by the communist USSR. Many people were deported, imprisoned or simply murdered during these periods. A new optimism swept through the country during Gorbachev's Perestroika and in 1990 Estonia became a proud independent country again, nowadays part of both NATO and EU.

Official language in the country is Estonian, one of the few non-Indo-European languages in Europe, but instead part of the Uralic language family, closely related to Finnish. Many young people speak English and older people are sometimes quite proficient in German or Russian. Mainly due to the Soviet occupation, the country is inhabited by many other peoples of the former USSR, especially in Tallinn where only 53% of the population is of Estonian origin. The biggest minority group are the Russians, contributing to 36% of the Tallinn population, and a major focus of the country's politics. Other peoples include Ukrainians, Belarusians, Latvians and even Georgians and Kazakhs.

The currency used in Estonia is the crown (kroon, KR), pegged to the euro at around 15.6KR and to be replaced by it in a few years. Prices in the country are still reasonable, compared to other European countries, but they are on the rise due to a strengthening economy. A decent double room in a guesthouse like the excellent Old House will cost only around 40€ and slightly more in excellent hotels like the 3 star Meriton Old Town Hotel. The official website of Tallinn has got a good listing of all accommodations in Tallinn.

Best Way To Get Around:

By air


The Tallinn International Airport is located 4km southeast of the city centre. The main air carrier serving the city is Estonian Air, with direct flights to a number of European cities, including London, Paris and Moscow. Low-cost carrier easyJet has a direct connection to Berlin and London. City bus no. 2 travels to Tallinn's Old Town for about 1€.


By boat


The Port of Tallinn is one of the largest ports of the Baltic Sea for passengers and cargo. The passenger terminal is located just on the edge of Tallinn Old Town. There are several ferries per day making the 50km crossing north to Helsinki in 2-3 hours, while Tallink Ferries has daily connections to Stockholm, Sweden.


By car


Estonia is now part of the European Union, so bringing over a car from another EU country like Germany, Latvia or Finland is easy. In case you don't have a car, the major international car rental companies, like Europcar or Hertz, have an office in the airport and/or in the city centre. Cost is between 25-100€ per day depending on the car size the rental period, and will normally include a basic insurance and an unlimited mileage but no fuel. Road conditions are generally good and even backroads are improving fast. Petrol prices are cheap for European standards, but more expensive than other parts of the world, with 1 litre costing slightly less than 1€.


By train


The Tallinn train station (raudteejaam aka Balti jam) is located just north of Toompea Hill. Edelaraudtee (Southwest Railways) has a few passenger trains a day to Estonian destinations like Pärnu and Tartu for around 0,5 EEK per km. Elektriraudtee has several commuter trains for destinations within the Harjumaa county around Tallinn like Nomme or Paldiski, while GO rail has daily trains to Moscow and St. Petersburg via the border town Narva.


By bus


The Central Bus Station of Tallinn (bussijaam) is located 2km south of the town centre. The large European bus companies Eurolines and Ecolines offer daily buses to several European destinations like Warsaw and Berlin but usually you need to change in Riga or Kaunas. From bussijaam there are also many buses a day that travel around the whole country.


Local transport


Within the old town the best way to get around is on foot because motorised traffic is severely restricted. To get to other destinations within city limits, several trams, buses and trolley buses ply the Tallinn roads between 06:00 and 00:00. A ticket costs around 1€ or you can buy a package of 10 for lower prices. Useful tourist routes are trolley bus 6 and 7 passing the Tallinn Zoo and the Open Air Museum or tram 1 and 3, going to Kadriorg palace. As the area around Tallinn is quite flat, it will come as no surprise that there are several places that rent out bicycles for around 10€ per day.

Possibly the most interesting but also the most controversial church in Tallinn is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, serving as the main church for Tallinn's large Russian Orthodox community. The church was named after St. Alexander Nevsky, the 13th century Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir, two semi-independent republics within the borders of the Kievan Rus', one of the greatest empires of that time and containing large portions of present-day Ukraine, Western Russia and Belarus. One of his greatest exploits was the so-called Battle of the ice in which he turned back the German crusaders of the Teutonic Knights, who occupied large parts of Estonia but not Danish-owned Tallinn, in a battle on the frozen water of Lake Peipus (a lake on the border between Estonia and Russia).

The church was built on Toompea Hill, close to the Baroque pink-coloured Toompea Castle and the massive medieval defensive tower Kiek in de Kök. It was ordered by Russian tsar Alexander III but it was only finished in the year 1900 during the reign of his son Nikolas II, the last tsar of Russia. The building was constructed in a style resembling the great medieval Russian architecture, complete with black onion domes, walls full of iconic paintings of saints and a white-and-pink façade resembling more a sugar glazed birthday cake than a cathedral.

Soon after its construction, the church was immediately controversial with local Estonians, who viewed it as another attempt by St. Petersburg (the then capital of Russia) to Russify the town. The Russians had indeed chosen a disputable location, near Tallinn Castle and the Estonian Lutheran cathedral. Resentment on this and other issues ultimately led to an independent Estonian Republic following WWI in the aftermath of the Bolshevik communist revolution that swept Russia. The new country became increasingly nationalist and firmly anti-Russian, which almost proved fatal to the church, as it was scheduled for demolition but this was luckily never performed due to lack of funds of the republic. As the USSR was officially non-religious, many churches including this cathedral were left to decline, with some of them even turned into a prison, a stable or simply demolished. When the country regained its independence in 1990 it clung firmly to its former western allies and soon Tallinn was swept by a huge building and reconstruction spree. Although at first quite reluctant the locals by 1995 seemed to come to terms with the overwhelming Russian past, which ultimately led to a refurbishment of this once much hated symbol of the tsar's imperialism that soon became a major attraction of the great town.

The lower part of Tallinn Old Town (All-Linn) was and still is the local merchant's playground. While the political and ecclesiastic powers resided high above on Toompea Hill, a completely different world below developed, one of wealthy traders and mercantile bourgeoisie, poor servants and skilful labourers. Most of the lower town was shaped under the rule of the German cursaders of the Teutonic Knights between the 13th and 16th century. After the Great Northern Wars in the 17th and the 18th century, most buildings were reconstructed in its original design. Largely neglected by the Nazi and Soviet occupation, the old town was finally restored after the renewed Estonian independence in 1990.

The lower town of Tallinn is almost completely devoid of motorized traffic, so the easiest way to get around and the best way to appreciate the beautiful buildings is definitely on foot. A good place to start is at the Viru Gates, actually two nice medieval towers with Viru Street, dotted with colourful flower stalls, passing through them. Several local buses and trams pass near the gates so it's easy to reach. From here onwards it's pedestrian heaven. Viru Street, running eastwards into the lower town, is one of the main shopping streets in Tallinn, where the restored 16th and 17th century buildings now contain souvenir shops, clothing boutiques, hotels and restaurants. A small detour just north of Viru will bring you to the partly ruined but wonderful fortified Dominican Monastery, located in the tiny St. Catherine's passage connecting the side Müürivahe and Vene Streets.

The beautiful Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats) is located on the end of Viru Street. Several historical buildings vie for your attention, including the beautiful medieval town hall with its slender 16th century spire, the still functioning 15th century Old Town Pharmacy, one of the oldest ones in Europe, and the splendid whitewashed Holy Spirit church. There are several events like concerts, street theatre or markets held on the square and during summer the nearby restaurants and pubs all have crowded terraces. Just south of the square is the impressive 17th century Niguliste Kirik (St. Nicholas' church). If you continue south you will reach the town walls and the massive Kiek in de Kök tower. From here you can continue to Toompea and the upper town, and back to the Town Hall.

North of the Town Hall Square are several other interesting buildings, most notably the ones on Pikk (Long) Street just behind the old pharmacy. The beginning of the street contains a few medieval guild houses, like the House of the Blackheads, named after the patron saint of the merchant guild, the black Moorish Saint Mauritius and the Great Guild House, all leftovers from the time the town was still a member of the Northern Europe Hanseatic trading association. If you continue onto Pikk Street, the buildings get newer, and many of them are executed in the beautiful Art Nouveau style, popular around 1900AD, like #25 or #31. More north the style changes to the more recent neo-classicism. A good example is #61, bridging the side Pagari street. During Soviet times this building was used as the Tallinn headquarter of the KGB, where alleged enemies of the state were interrogated, imprisoned and even tortured or killed. Many of the prisoners were sent to the Gulag labour camps in the USSR's remote areas like Siberia or the Kazakh steppes. Just behind it lies St. Olav's church (Oleviste Kirik). The 125m high tower used to be the highest in the world in the 15th century and contained a KGB communication antenna during the Soviet occupation. Just beyond the church is one of Tallinn's best examples of 14th century town houses. The three houses are now connected to each other and contain the 5 star Three Sisters Hotel, with double rooms starting at 350€. Slightly further and about 1km north of the town hall, at the end of Pikk Street, is Fat Margeret, a massive gate tower and part of the medieval town walls. From here you could walk back towards Nunne Street and on to the town hall or Tallinn train station south-eastwards along the medieval city walls and towers.

Toompea Hill is a limestone hill in the centre of Tallinn, located in the western part of the old town and towering about 30m above it. During the first millennium AD there were probably a few small Estonian farming and fishing communities within the borders of present-day Tallinn. To protect these villages a wooden castle (Lindanisse) was constructed around 1000AD on top of the hill. Some 200 years later Catholic crusaders, sent by the king of Denmark and with support of the Pope, arrived on a mission to christianize the pagan locals. The Danish took control over the Tallinn area in the 13th century. They constructed a new stone fortress and the first Estonian cathedral on the hill. From then onwards the town was known as the Danish fortress (Estonian: Taani Linn, later Tallinn) and the hill as Toompea (after Toomkirik, the Estonian word for cathedral). The hill evolved as the residence for the political powers, while below the town became a great commercial port, especially when it joined the trading organisation of the Hanseatic League. After the Danish rule, several other Northern European powers passed by on Toompea, including the German Catholics of the Teutonic Order, the Swedish kings and the Russian Tsars, all leaving their traces on the hill. Heavily damaged during WWII and largely overlooked by the Stalin administration under Soviet rule, Toompea was only beginning to be restored by the 1950s under the de-Stalinization politics of his successor Khrushchev. Economic mismanagement and rampant corruption in the USSR however slowed construction fundings and it was only after Estonia's 1990 independence that a full restoration spree spread in the country, resulting in the magnificent Toompea that you get today.

Toompea is a short walk west from Tallinn's central Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats). About 200m west is the first of the medieval towers around it, the 14th century Long Leg Gate Tower, named after the small pedestrian Long Leg street (Pikk Jalg) that winds its way up to Cathedral Hill between Tallinn's old town walls. The street ends near the Short Leg Gate tower at Castle Square (Lossi Plats), the main square of Toompea. The buildings on the square are all reminiscent of Tallinn's great history and it used to be site of the original wooden fortress. The foundations of the Toompea Castle, now housing the Estonian parliament, were laid by the Danish in the 13th century and some of its walls were used a century later for the construction of the massive fortress for the German Teutonic forces in Tallinn. The defensive walls and a few of its grand watchtowers can still be seen around the square these days. The most famous of these towers, the enormous Kiek in de Kök (literally "Peek into the Kitchen", a name used jokingly by the German tower keepers), is only a few steps away. Evidence of the Russian presence in Tallinn is given by the pink 18th century baroque palace, constructed by Empress Catherine the Great, and the beautiful but controversial orthodox Alexander Nevsky cathedral, built during the intense 19th century Russification program of one of Catherine's successors, Alexander III. Last but not least, the neo-classical Stenbock House inside the castle's courtyard was constructed during Estonia's first period of independence (1920-1940) and now is the seat of Government. A bird's eye view on the hill can be seen here. From Castle Square a small detour can be made southwards towards another Estonian monument, a small statue of Linda, the wife of Estonia's national hero Kalev. A little west from here starts the nice Toompark, offering great views on Toompea and its castle.
50m north of Castle Square lies the structure that gave Toompea its name, the Lutheran cathedral Toomkirik. The present whitewashed church building dates from the 16th century, but its rather sober exterior is made good largely by its 18th century baroque interior, adorned with several medieval coats of arms and lush marble ornaments. Next to the church is the fine Estonian Art Museum, set in the remarkable green Knighthood House. From here a few passages run northeast along the beautifully restored homes of Tallinn's former elite and ancient nobility to end at the top of Toompea's medieval walls in a few viewing platforms that offer excellent views over the old town, the new town and the harbour.

Probably the most visited of Estonia's national parks is the beautiful and tranquil Lahemaa. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland about 70km east of Tallinn. The E20 Tallinn-Narva highway forms the southern border of the 750km2 large park, providing an easy access to it. The coastal towns of Loksa and Vosu are another gateway to the park. Several buses a day run the E20 or to Loksa and Vosu from Tallinn, but to wander more deeply into the park you need your own transport, come with a tour or have plenty of time and a good planning as local buses are few and far between.

The national park is interesting naturally, historically and culturally. The area was already inhabited by hunter-gatherers from the prehistoric Kunda Culture some 10.000 years ago, long before Tallinn. Finnic tribes, ancestors of the current Estonian populations, migrated to the Estonian shores from the Volga Delta and the Ural Mountains about 3000 years ago. During the next two millennia the area got dotted with peaceful fishing villages. The great Northern European nations Denmark, Sweden and Russia all occupied in turns the North-Estonian coast after 1000AD, but it were the Germans the greatest footprint on Lahemaa. After German crusaders swept the area clean of pagan beliefs, they translated their ecclesial powers into a complete control of trade and merchandise. The Baltic German bourgeoisie used their wealth to construct lush manor houses in the tranquillity of Lahemaa. The Estonian population worked either as serfs for the noblemen or lived of fishing or agricultural activities. After the first Estonian independence after WWI, the German nobility was expelled from the country and the land was given back to the locals, who made great profits by smuggling alcohol into Finland. During the Soviet occupation that started during WWII, the area miraculously escaped the industrialisation spree that swept all over, and was even turned into a national park in 1971, the first one in the USSR. Despite that, Lahemaa appeared to be severely polluted when the Russian troops retreated from the newly independent Estonian Republic in 1990, mainly because coastal industry complexes simply dumped their waste right into the Gulf of Finland. A huge cleaning operation, funded by local and EU money, means the area is now completely cleaned up and ready to welcome its visitors.

The sights of the National Park are plentiful. Firstly, about three quarters of the Lahemaa plains are covered in ancient pinewoods accommodating game like hares, deer and even a few bears. Birdlife on the other hand is abundant in one of the boggy areas of the park, which also contains several aquatic plants, some of them endemic to this region. There are several walking trails and bicycle tracks along this beautiful nature. The coastline of Lahemaa is an attraction in itself. The white sand and calm water is dotted with large erratic boulders, left by the retreating icecaps of the latest ice age, especially around the villages of Käsmu and Kasispea. The hamlets itself are mostly only mildly intersting, but there are a few exceptions. Loksa used to be a secret Soviet port under the communists and gives the visitor a chance of discovering a Soviet-style village. Quite ugly, but fascinating to see. There is also a boardwalk trail leading through the nearby marshes. A few km north is Viinistu, much too small for its impressive Estonian Art museum, accommodating 19th and 20th century items from Estonian artists. The small fishing village Altja has a beautiful coastal setting and still contains several age-old wooden houses complete with thatched roofs. Last but definitely not least, the tiny settlements of Kolga, Sagadi and certainly Palmse contain the last traces of the wealth of the German nobility in the form of great 18th century Baroque manor houses

Palmse is an estate in the eastern part of the Lahemaa National Park, located about 80km east of Tallinn and 150km west of Narva at the Russian border, some 7km north of the E20 highway linking these two towns. Several buses a day ply the E20 between Tallinn and Rakvere and stop at the Palmse turnoff near the village of Viitna. From here you could hike, take a taxi, hitch a ride, bring your own transport or take one of the few local buses per week.

The oldest still standing building on the estate is the beautiful 18th century baroque manor house, but history goes back much further. When Northern Estonia was part of Denmark during the 13th century, these grounds were donated by the Catholic King of Denmark to the nuns of the Cistercian order of St. Michael in Tallinn. The Roman Catholic order constructed a brick Romanesque-style convent, but it was abandoned 300 years later when most locals adopted the protestant Lutheran faith during the Reformation that changed the face of Europe greatly in that period. During the 17th century the former convent's lands were sold to the rich Baltic German merchant family of Von Pahlen. They ordered the construction of a Swedish-style mansion, an example soon to be followed by other rich families in this area. The current form of the building, a reconstruction in the popular Baltic Baroque style, was ordered by the family about a century later. Around 1850 there were several additions to the estate, including a distillery, horse stables and the chapel at Ilumäe, a few km northwest of Palmse. After WWI the independent Estonian Republic nationalized the nobility's properties. The Von Pahlen's left the country for Germany, their lands were re-distributed among ethnic Estonians and the buildings were abandoned and were soon decaying. After WWII the Soviets had a training camp on site, but after the establishment of Lahemaa National Park in 1971, the manor and the surrounding buildings were beautifully restored. With the Estonian independence more and more western tourists discover it.

Entrance fee to the Palmse complex is about 4€ pp, to be paid at the booth near the gates. The first thing you will notice is of course the beautiful baroque manor house (Palmse Mois) itself. Its orange and white façade is almost perfectly symmetrical. Its sober and light interior is decorated with lush paintings, old furniture and large vases full of (plastic!) flowers. Don't miss the huge 18th century mechanical music box in the room left of the entrance. If you ask, the guard will give a deafening demonstration of the cacophonic sounds emitted from this device. On the right of the manor is the family's carriage house. Now it has different historical vehicles on display, including gold-painted horse carriages, WWI motorbikes, 19th century bicycles and old-timer cars like a 1935 BMW and a Russian ZiL-111A which belonged to Soviet leader Khrushchev. Behind the manor house are its beautiful gardens, complete with summer pavilions, a swan pond and an artificial creek with waterfall. At the other side of the pond, outside the Palmse domain, is a second lake, on which shores you will find the whitewashed building of the old distillery, now housing the excellent Parkhotel Palmse. Apart from Palmse, there are a few similar Baltic German manors inside Lahemaa National Park, Sagadi, Vihula Kolga