We stayed at a very nice apartment just a short walk from the old city. My husband and I went on walks there every morning while the kids were still asleep, exploring the alleys and narrow streets, looking through store windows, enjoying the quiet.
We stumbled across a little cafe that had delicious home-made food (more Russian than Estonian). We went there twice - something we almost never do (we usually like to try different places) - but the food was great, the owner was nice, and it was literally across the street from us. (Also, when someone says "Come back tomorrow! I'll make blinchiki for you!" - yep, we'll be there!)
Tallinn was so very alive. People enjoying the restaurants, sitting outside, exploring the city. Teens hanging out at a park in the evening. Live music.
A lot of Russian language. From what I've heard, not much mixing among Russian-speakers and Estonian-speakers - like 2 parallel world that seem to (relatively peacefully) coexist.
The Kiek in de Kök museum was great - very well maintained and interesting exhibits. We all loved the walk along the old wall. The underground tunnels were extensive and also had impressive audio/video exhibits featuring more recent history.
The Maritime Museum - I was exhausted and my brain pretty much shut down 15 minutes in, but my husband and E liked it tremendously. Very interactive and very well organized. They had a submarine as well as a few other ships you could go into and explore.
In general, Tallinn is very traveler-friendly. Public transportation is easy to use (we just scanned our credit cards when entering buses - but you do need a different card for each person). Free wi-fi is available in a lot of spots in the city. It was interesting how very old things in the city co-exist with the very new tech stuff.
I think for the kids, Tallinn was their favorite city on our trip.
This is dasha from NJ
ReplyDeleteOhhhh, Tallinn… with its old city, and the medieval walls, and the old houses with rope lifts to bring things like flower sacks into the second floor. I loved it but we only had about three days there :-/ we then flew over Latvia to go to Riga where my dad was stationed during his army years. Kaunas in Lithuania, we even found the barracks were he slept for four years!