Europe : Tallinn – Woke and Awake Travel

Tallinn, the Capital of Estonia has a population of less than 500,000, over a third Russian. It sits on the Baltic staring out at Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland, and is bordered to the South by Latvia the East, Russia.

It has harsh winters but pleasant summers, we visited in May ahead of the influx of tourists. Direct flights from Dublin are not year round but cover the main travel season.

The airport is a short hop from Old Town, and as we were only staying two nights we availed of the hotels’ transport to expedite the transfer.

We had chosen the Schlossle Hotel ( See link 1) a leading hotel of the world and situated in the heart of the fortified medieval city.

The hotel is superb, and a only short walk from Toompea Hill the central part of Old Town wrapped in the walls of the castle, cobble stones feature prominently so flat shoes work best.

Never far from an Irish pub, Mad Murphy’s is a good landmark, and each street leading from the square is worth exploring, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral sits close to Government buildings, and heading generally uphill from there you come across the tourist shops and viewing platforms looking out across the harbour.

You can wind your way down the other side of the hill to the trendy district called Telliskivi Creative City, built around an old railway locomotive factory , where artists, designers, programmers and artisanal crafts folk share their work and ideas on the stage outside Fotografiska Arts Centre. You can eat in an old railway carriage, or even in a converted shipping container.

Wandering around the area you come across the Balti Jaama Turg, with a farmers market selling fruit and veg on open stalls, and inside under roof, an array of shops crammed with everything from WW2 memorabilia, vintage clothes to pre-independence punk posters and wooden handicrafts.

Heading back to the hotel you just need to find the main square a 15 minute walk back from the market.

One of our reasons to visit Tallinn was a night at the Opera to see The Marriage of Figaro, after so much culture we headed to an Italian, Pulcinella, for dinner leaving the cast behind. See Link below.

Oddly for a city the eateries were keen to call last orders around 10.30pm, but the food was as good as you would find anywhere. Mustn’t forget the fab Speak Easy we visited for a pre theatre drink !

Due to the curfew in the restaurant we headed across the cobbled street to a small Portuguese bar, named Taberna Madeira, who were far more hospitable.

Day 2

Having walked much of the city, we started slowly with a fine breakfast at the Schlossle :

Heading outside we planned a leisurely stroll to the Seaplane museum Lennusadam, an interesting museum for everyone. Impressive old submarine and maritime objects inside, and the chance to explore an old icebreaker ship and a military ship outside. It also has interactive fun content for younger visitors: flight simulator, green screen with sailor clothes, remote controlled boats etc. See Link below.

Just around the corner is something possibly more interesting the Pohjala Brewery and Tap room, great spot for lunch. See link below

Returning back towards Old Town , we encountered a cheery bunch atop the wall warbling away.The Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Next stop was the former KGB headquarters see link 5, a sobering spot if ever there was one.

The Russians still have an influence in Tallinn non more so in the Orthodox church, resplendent in their head scarves the women are unmistakably Eastern European looking and the preachers proudly hold aloft the more impressive contents of the church.

Final night we went ethic and happened across a very interesting restaurant Kaerajaan, great service and cuisine, too cold to sit outside unfortunately. See Link below

We covered a lot of ground in the 2 days but if you did have a longer stay a ferry to Helsinki could be a good option as Tallinn is a small city, spotlessly clean and very walkable, and under three hours from Dublin, so a great weekend location.

Time to leave !