I will be arriving in Tallinn on 8/29 with approximately 7 hours to cram everything in I wish to do. JohnTheFinn, I know you%26#39;re out there and you were terrific in helping me with Helsinki, but I need your experise here also (and anyone else who knows Tallinn).
I was wondering if I should purchase the Tallinn card, to use the Red, Green and/or Blue Tour Buses (which I understand the depot should be to the right of the terminal) or should I just purchase a ticket for the %26quot;Tallinn Official Sightseeing Tour%26quot;?
These places seemed interesting to me and I thought may be worth a look-see:
1. Hellman Tower
2. Kadriog Palace
3. Cats Well
4. Oleviste Church
5. Maiden Tower (Neitsitorn)
6. Alexander nevsky Cahtedral (Free Admission)
7. Dominican Monastery
8. Tallinn Botanical Garden
9. Gloria Veinikelder (visit only if spirits can be purchased here)
10. St. Catherine%26#39;s Passage
11. House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads (Free Admission if no Events are going on)
12. Toompea Castle %26amp; Tall Hermann%26#39;s Tower
13. The St. Mary%26#39;s Cathedral
For lunch would you suggest either of these restaurants: Park Cafe @ Kadriog Park (French/Italian) or Mookhala (Seafood Restaurant).
I read that the best shopping (cheapest) is at Kristine Center or the Sadamarket near the Harbour. Is this true?
Tallinn souveniers should include: wooden gifts, woolens, embroidered items and maybe Vana Tallinn Liquor. Yes? Are there any stores you suggest?
Is the Sauberland Launderette on Maakri Street? Do you know the hours of operation?
And of course where%26#39;s the post office and an internet cafe?
If you can help with with my walking (or bus) itinerary, I%26#39;d greatly appreciate it, of course, if I have to drop some points of interest off (due to time constraints), please don%26#39;t hesitate to do that for me.
Thanks,
Deb
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7 hr is quite short time... I suggest you to stay in Old Town... Lot of things what you mentioned are there...
1. Is probably Herman Tower :)
Toompea castle, Hermans Tower, Nevski Cathedral, Maiden Towe and much more things are quite near to each other - suggesting to make google map for you and add all these places - then you have much better understanding about logistic...
There are so many souvenir shops in Old town that you can find everything on the way... And Vana Tallinn take this cream version - almost taste like Baileys:) Also if you want something really extreme then take one 80 degrees Saaremaa vodka also :p
www.sauberland.ee/…
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The Tallinn card seemed like a good value if you don%26#39;t have a car or very much time. I%26#39;m not familiar with the %26quot;Official tour%26quot; so I couldn%26#39;t compare.
I haven%26#39;t been to everything on your list, so there are some things I can%26#39;t advise on. Oleviste Church and St. Katherine%26#39;s Passage are a couple of my favorite Old Town spots. Toompea Park is very nice. In St. Katherine%26#39;s Passage there is a really delicious restaurant called Controvento (Italian) where locals often go, although if you%26#39;d like an experience you should try Olde Hansa or the Peppersack (closer to Oleviste), which are more touristy medieval food restaurants, but still good food and fun. Kadriorg Palace is worth a look, but it is not in Old Town - it is further out towards Pirita, where there is also a great history museum - the Occupation Museum. The Botanical Gardens are beautiful, and a wonderful place to relax and take a stroll, but much further away from Old Town to the east. I didn%26#39;t see the Open Air Museum on your list, so maybe it%26#39;s not something you are interested in, but it%26#39;s also one of my favorite sights, but is west in Rocca Al Mare.
There are a million souvenir shops, but I can%26#39;t speak for prices. Just inside the Old City walls near Viru and Muurivahe streets vendors have stalls for handmade clothing. Iron works are also a big souvenir item. There are some beautiful handmade table linens too.
The Toompea post office is at Lossi plats 4 in Old Town, although I think there%26#39;s a drop off location or small post office on Mundi street. Free WiFi is easy to find, although The Raddisson Hotel and the Viru Keskus are two main spots downtown. In Old Town there%26#39;s a Internet Cafe called NEO on Vaike-Karja 12 (which I think is near Muurivahe).
Hope this helps, have a great trip!
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I just happened to read your post and i thought i should drop some lines.Firstly,you can buy tallinn card from the tourist information which is in the city center. And the city tour busstop is in the cruise port so you can catch the tour bus there. The %26quot;City tour%26quot; has three different routes (green,red and blue),ticket is 13 euros and it is valid all day for all three lines. There is also another sightseeing tour bus in the cruise port that has only onehour tour but it is still hop on hop off bus with only one route, so dont mix them up. Also if you buy 6 hour tallinn card you can not get a discount for the %26quot;City tour%26quot;, if you buy 24-hour TC ,the %26quot;City tour%26quot; is free. But i would recommend you not to buy this tallinn card as you are staying there only some hours.It is more useful when your staying in tallinn for some days.
Most of the sights you mentioned are in the old town but you should definitely visit kadriorg palace in Kadriorg.%26quot;City tour%26quot; buses will take you there and to the kristiine and rocca al mare shopping center also if you want to go shopping,but im not sure if you have that much time to go there.Sadamarket is near the port and there is also viru shopping center in the city.
There are lots of good restaurants in the old town(peppersack, olde hansa, troika etc) and also many souvenir shops.There is one internet cafe at the beginning of viru street(main street in the old town).It is just next to the hesburger,yellow house,there is a book store downstairs called apollo and upstairs there is a cafe called kehrwieder.
Enjoy your stay here
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Reporting for duty!
Forget the Tallinn card - you%26#39;ll never get your money%26#39;s worth out of it in 7 hours.
Your list of sights is far too long. Print out a map of the Old Town and circle the sights you%26#39;re most interested in and stick to those. If you really, really want to spend all your time running through a check list including locations outside the Old Town, you%26#39;d be better off using taxis. Sure, it%26#39;ll cost more, but with only 7 hours ticking away, time is more precious.
Souvenirs of the handicrafts type are widely available in the Old Town. I wouldn%26#39;t go out of my way to save a few dollars with time so tight.
The main post office is across the main road from the Viru Hotel, a landmark tall building just outside the Old Town. You don%26#39;t need this 9f you%26#39;re only sending postcards.
Seven hours and you want to do LAUNDRY as well? I%26#39;m speechless.
One last hint: Vana Tallinn liqueur used to be used to make cocktails with sweet Russian sparkling wine. Take a bottle of each home to keep your visitors pinned down with a Hammer and Sickle cocktail while you regale them with your traveler%26#39;s tales.
Have lunch in the corny but good Ye Olde Hansa medieval-themed restaurant. It%26#39;s central and the food is good, as is the live music if they happen to have any during your visit. If not, pick an any attractive restaurant in the Old Town - there is plenty of choice.
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Dzingel, karrots, estonia and especially you JohnTheFinn, thank you for all of your great info and ideas. I did go to Google Maps, though this was a true test, entered my points of interest, though I had to switch them about one million times to get them to flow, but I got it. The map reads that every stop I%26#39;d like to make will take me about 2.75 hours to walk, but with 9 hours available for this stop, I may be able to do a bit of shopping and for that Russan Sparkling Wine. And again, thank you all.
Deb
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Since you are going to be there anyway, you might want to visit the post office on Toomepea (it%26#39;s near the Alex Nevski Cathedral) because it%26#39;s usually very quiet and has many cool commerative stamps. The main post office is always busy and annoying, so no point in lining up with everyone on their work-breaks etc to just send a few postcards if that is what you are doing.
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