Sometimes it is nice just to walk around in another suburb. We’ve done it before e.g. in Töölö, Tali and Pyysaari. So on Saturday morning we booked ?the ferry over to Tallinn, Estonia, and spent lovely few hours strolling in the old town. Another suburb in another capital.
We booked a return trip from Helsinki on Tallink for about 60e for two adults, children travel for free. The ferry trip takes 2 hours, which are easily killed in the restaurants, cafes, and pubs as well as the play area of the ferry. Kids had fun on board, there are lifts and toilets and the food is not as expensive as one might expect. However, I did find the ferry a bit rough, some toilets where broken/flooded and didn’t get fixed during the journey, some lifts were out of order and seemed to have been for a while… but nothing that would really make your journey unsuccessful. You can get quicker to Tallinn by booking a quicker ferry but then they are more dependent on weather conditions and mostly they have less entertainment on board. You can also book a cheaper trip if you plan a bit ahead (what a surprise…).
There was no storm to be felt or seen when we were on the ferry
As we only wanted to enjoy the old town, we only booked 4 hours ashore. The old town is just a short walk away from the ferry terminals. First we took a quick look at the market selling mostly crafts. The prices were definitively aimed for the tourists…
The old town with its towers, walls and old buildings never disappoints. In the matter of fact, in my opinion, the Estonians have done a marvellous job in tidying and fixing the place up respecting the old structures. While in Tallinn, I realised that in the last 5 years I have only travelled through Tallinn, and haven’t seen how much the old town has been developed. All this sent me down the memory lane thinking on the first time I visited Tallinn in 1993 (I think). I tried to find my pictures from that trip to see the change but could unfortunately not find them. Regardless, the Estonians have rebuilt and refreshed their beautiful capital in an amazing way. In the old town all old structures had been respected but just outside of it old buildings stood next to modern ones.
We had a wonderful stroll around the old town in beautiful and relatively warm weather. There are plenty of restaurants and terraces for tourists with very touristy prices. There was one thing we couldn’t find, though, which was ice cream. At the end we bought some in a cafe, paid more than ever before in my life, and the next time I won’t promise the kids ice cream in Tallinn so that we do not need to chase ghosts.
Just when it was time to head back to the ferry, we saw dark clouds gathering in the sky, and about 50 metres before the terminal it started to rain cats and dogs. Could we have had a better timing?!
What were you up to on the weekend? 
Free But Fun 
[…] which is only 2 hours away on a ferry. We loved beautiful Estonia, there is so much more than Tallinns Old Town to […]
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I never would have guessed Estonia would be so facinating! Lovely!
Estonia has a fair bit to offer! Tartu is also worth a visit, and there are a number of lovely beaches and spas that make good travel destinations too.
Beautiful place! I see many people in the pictures wearing rather warm. I guess the Autumn’s here?
Feels very much like Autumn with heavy rain showers and the temperature has dropped. But it should be still summer and they summer will return for awhile after a couple of weeks of rain and thunderstorms. We’ll see.
Good tip – never promise ice cream unless you know you can deliver! Kids never ever forget that sort of promise.
I should have known better…
Looks like a really interesting place to visit. Love the idea of jumping on a ferry and 2 hours later stepping out in such a different place as Estonia. Shame about the ice creams!!
I hope somebody who needs a business idea in Estonia will read my blog and the next time we go it will be full of ice creameries 😉
Tallinn Old Town is lovely, but you’re right – it is pricey! I think I paid €12 for an omelette on my first morning – and then nearly cried 😉
I love all the interesting and beautiful places there are to see in Finland! I never knew! The markets and buildings in your pictures are amazing!
Man, I love the idea of a ferry ride! I love riding to a tourist location! 🙂
Plus, I live in America, so I’m always amazed to see the older buildings!
It’s pretty cruise way to get around 🙂 and even though Europe has its fair share of old buildings, I do enjoy them too!