In our whirlwind tour of the Northern European countries, we entered the Baltic country of Estonia from the ferry from Helsinki. After a tiring walk across the cobbled streets up to the old town, we found our magnificent hotel, the Schlossle Hotel. It was a challenge to drag our bags up the old streets, but we were excited at each step to see the castle walls and medieval buildings as we passed from the port in to the historic centre.
Vanalinn
The old town of Tallinn is incredibly beautiful. Each time the city had suffered damage from invasion, World War 2 bombing, or Soviet neglect and mis-management, they have managed to recover the charm and beauty of the buildings. Each building is medieval and there is not a single visible air-conditioner or satellite dish to detract from the historical beauty. We sometimes found the cobbled streets hard to walk on, and in places the streets are quite steep. The dominating castle walls and towers are visible from almost every street.
The Christmas Market is right in the centre of the old town, next to the Town Hall. The Raekoja plats is a large plaza that was filled with little wooden cabins and a large Christmas tree. The cabins all had the ubiquitous white Christmas lights, but they also were fringed with branches of fir trees, which really enhanced the appearance. The Christmas market stalls had some food and drinks, but also stalls of clothing and crafts. We were lucky enough to have some flurries of snow during our stay, that really added to the atmosphere.
Historical Tallinn
Tallinn claims to have the first decorated Christmas tree in the world, a tradition that they have carried on with a large natural tree in the centre of Raekoja plats. They claim to have had a Christmas tree since 1441, and it was indeed a magnificent tree.
We found the old town of Tallinn to be very walkable, but if you have mobility issues, the cobbles and steep streets may be an issue for some. For some areas, there are steps, and the stones can be uneven and have gaps, but for an able bodied person they were of no issue. We explored the mostly car-free streets, and were able to drop in on restaurants and cafes easily. There old town is definitely focused on tourists, with souvenir shops and high prices. We never bothered to explore the newer town centre.
Final day
On our last day, we had a few hours to kill, and so we went to the KGB Prison Cells museum which has a very non-descript entrance under a regular apartment building. We descended to the basement through a hatch, and were confronted with a series of prison cells. The signs (in English, Russian and Estonian) explained how regular citizens were held in the cells, often without charge or conviction. There are descriptions of their torture and mistreatment, people who were ‘disappeared’ and the overall injustice of it all.
We did not get the Tallinn Card, but we think we should have, as it would have given us access to many museums and buildings for no additional charge. We should have paid €43 for the card instead of €15-20 for each entry, such as to Kiek in de Kok.
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