Tallinn

After the very enjoyable cruIse a couple of years ago from Athens via the Greek islands to Istanbul, we decided to spend another holiday on a cruise ship. This time we wanted to expand our horizon a bit to the north and focused on the Baltic Sea. Whilst the end of August, start of September is at the end of the season and the weather is getting a bit colder, we took our chances, and had good weather throughout the 12 day cruise. Half a day rain in Stockholm, the rest overcast or even warm sunny autumn days.

The 12-day cruise started in Copenhagen and after stops in 8 ports and 2 days at sea, ended in Southampton.

The 8 ports were;

Helsinki
St. Petersburg
Tallinn
Stockholm
Visby
Warnemunde / Rostock
Amsterdam
Bruges (Brugge)

The ship we were on was the Nautica, operated by Oceania Cruises.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is a very nice place to visit. A small, less than half a million inhabitants, medieval town with lots of charm, but also very touristic centre.
We followed a ‘walk’ by Rick Steves we found on the net. The route passed all the major attractions and sights, including a couple of viewing spots looking over this quiet place.

The main attraction is the medieval city wall with all its towers, 26 still preserved today plus a couple of gates.
Lots of old world charms here if you can avoid the groups of tourists being herded through town coming from the many cruise ships.

Locals are very friendly and welcoming.
It was the first day of school and many school kids were on their way to school in their uniforms with flower for their teachers. A nice tradition to start of the academic year.

We started by the Fat Margaret Tower, but before entering the town, there is the memorial to the 852 people who perished in 1994 when the ferry ‘Estonia’ sank. Murky details have many people still today speculate about what actually happened.

Heading up along Pikk street, there are many interesting, historical buildings dating back to the 15-16th century. The street leads to the Town Hall Square, surrounded by restaurants with large terraces catering for the many tourists.

From here, lanes in all directions are worth exploring. We are just wandering around and getting lost in the old cobblestone streets and lanes for a while. From there we can absorb the more local atmosphere a little away from the main through fares crowded with tourists.

Walking up the hill, we reach the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The large and richly decorated Russian Orthodox church, designed in a mixed historicist style, was completed on Toompea Hill in 1900 facing the National Parliament.

Our walk did take us the a couple of viewing points overlooking the historic city centre.

On the way back we were looking for a place to have a light lunch and a beer and came across the Hopner Beer Restaurant near the main square. They have well over 200 different beers, and who would have thought that Estonia has that many breweries.