Finally I got to visit Tallinn, Estonia! Ive never been there before (often asked "how have you been able to avoid going there??") and it's kind of weird because many Finns go there more than one time a year (mostly to get cheap alcohol..).
So me and my three friends booked an "day cruise" for Wednesday, and it cost 18 euros / person, not bad at all! this day cruise -thing means that the ferry leaves Helsinki at 11.30, arrives in Tallinn at 14.00 - then you have four hours to spend in Tallinn, before the ferry leaves at 18.00 and arrives back in Helsinki at 20.30. For us that time was enough in Tallinn - we went around shopping a few hours, then to a restaurant for "late lunch" and then to SuperAlko (big selection of alcohol, cheap prices) and then back to the ferry. It would have been nice to visit the « Old town » but it located a bit too far away so we didnt have time for that. Later we also continued our evening to Helsinki's nightlife :)
Here's some basic information about Tallinn. Obviously, it's the capital (and the largest city) of Estonia. It is located in the northern coast of the country (really not far away from Helsinki..), actually on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. Tallinn is named a European Capital of Culture for 2011 (as well as Turku, Finland). Finnish name for the city is Tallinna. The Old Town of Tallinn is a UNESCO Worlds Cultural Heritage site since 1997.
Tallinn is quite international city since there live a lot of people who are not Estonians. Actually just 52.2% of Tallinn's population consists of Estonians (in 2009); 38.6% consists of Russians, 3.8% of Ukrainians, 2.1% of Belarusians, 0.6% of Finns and 2.7% of others. Estonian language is of the Finnic group, closely related to the Finnish language.
Some notable headquarters are located in Tallinn:
- NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence
- Estonian Air headquarters
- Skype, software development centre
- Ericsson, big production facilities, focusing on the producing of 4G communication devices
There are quite a many places for education in Tallinn.
- Tallinn University
- Tallinn University of Technology
- Estonian Business School
- Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
- Estonian Academy of Arts
- Public Service Academy
- Estonian Evangelical Lutheral Church Institute of Theology
Tallinn is very easily accessible to tourist since the accession to the European Union and as it has improved air and sea transport links with Western Europe.
When it comes to transporting systems, the city operates a system of bus, tram and trolley-bus routes to all districts. Payment for single tickets is made either by pre-purchase of tickets at street-side kiosks or by a purchase from the transport vehicle. Monthly cards are available by registering through the national ID-card. There has been a helicopter service to and from Helsinki taking 18 minutes to cross the Gulf of Finland.
Several ferry operators connect Tallinn to
- Helsinki (Finland)
- Åland (Finland)
- Stockholm (Sweden)
- Rostock (Germany).
Passenger lines connect Tallinn to Helsinki (83 kilometres north of Tallinn) in approximately 2–3.5 hours by cruiseferries. Tallinn also has a commuter rail service running from Tallinn's main rail station in two main directions: east and to several western destinations. Frequent and affordable long-distance bus routes connect Tallinn with other parts of Estonia.
So there's a bit about Tallinn. All the basic information is from Wikipedia, so if you want to see the sources, you will find them from Wikipedia with the search « Tallinn ». I liked the city and will definitely visit Tallinn again!
