I have to make a shameful confession: a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of Tallinn, the capitol city of Estonia, let alone ever thought of traveling there. It was a last minute "I have nothing better to do" addition to a solo trip to Reykjavik and Helsinki, which I had squeezed in for no other reason than wanting to have traveled to another country, and because it was cheap to do it. It ended up being the highlight of my trip. And that's saying something for a trip that included a few days exploring Iceland (which was indeed magical).
The Ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn
Tallinn is a 10 Euro and two hour ferry ride from Helsinki. When I heard "ferry," my mind immediately jumped to the ferries that you take from Newport Beach to Catalina. You know, screaming children, rows of uncomfortable plastic benches, seasickness, fishy smells, guaranteed sunburn, etc. This was not the Catalina Express. I caught the 9:30 am ferry on Eckerö Line. The boat turned out to be a fully decked out booze cruise with buffets, bars, gambling, and a ballroom. People were dancing along to a house band playing a mixture of Eastern European music and covers of American songs, while onlookers drank beer with their breakfasts. Others played slot machines in the hallways. It was a surreal thing to witness at 9:30 in the morning.
When the boat docked in Tallinn, I started walking the two or so miles toward the Knight House hostel in the Old City. The outer wall of the Old City was about 3/4 of a mile in from the docks, and it was noticeably--almost eerily--quiet. The streets were empty, save for a couple of small crowds of school children in uniforms being ushered by chaperones. As soon as I walked in, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the beauty of my surroundings. Tallinn's old city is a mishmash of gorgeous buildings from the 12th to 18th centuries which has miraculously survived multiple wars. Every single building looks like it should be a monument. The amazement never wore off.
Coffee and "Old Things," and Incredible Hot Chocolate
A couple of blocks into the old city, I saw a shop in the bottom floor of an old apartment building with a sign promising coffee and "old things." I took the bait and went inside. The shop was filled with relics of the Soviet era. I skipped on the coffee, which was a pot of drip coffee in a corner with some cups, and bought a large handful of Soviet propaganda pins for a few Euros to give to my friends as souvenirs. When I looked them up online later, I saw Etsy stores selling the same pins for $5 each, which was a refreshing revelation after I've basically learned to expect being ripped off when I'm a foreigner anywhere.
A couple of blocks in, I spotted a chocolate and coffee shop called Anneli Viik. It was gorgeous inside, and I was the only patron, except for a couple of customers that stopped in to buy chocolates. I spent a good 45 minutes in there drinking the best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life and looking at maps on my phone to try to determine where to go next. At some point, the shop owner asked me to watch the shop for her while she grabbed her lunch from across the street. It seemed like an oddly quaint request, but I obliged.
Exploring Tallinn
I spent the following few hours wandering around looking at buildings and taking photos. It was immediately evident that there was little use in trying to follow the streets using Google Maps with my very slow international data and shoddy GPS, so I relished in getting lost a bit. I found the hostel and checked into my 25 Euro private room, which was lovely.
The most recommended restaurant in Tallinn is Rataskaevu 16, but I couldn't get a seat without a reservation. I instead opted for a restaurant a few doors down, Von Krahli Aed, and it was better than any food I had in Iceland or Helsinki for a fraction of the cost. I don't think I had any food that was anything less than excellent in Tallinn, and I wasn't terribly deliberate in where I went. If you have dietary restrictions, most restaurants in Tallinn have abundant vegan and gluten-free options, and it seems that they take the lactose out of most of their dairy products (why don’t we do that?!).
After dinner, I explored the city at night, and stood in the middle of the town square observing people casually walking by and staring in awe at the buildings that surrounded me. A group of teenage girls were laughing while singing a song in full choral arrangement. I ducked into the Depeche Mode bar (which plays literally nothing but Depeche Mode), but it was early in the night and I left before it was really that populated with people. I'm not much of a drinker, and I was less interested in going out all night than I was at getting up early and exploring more in the daylight.
In the morning, I took the free walking tour, and it was as fun and hilarious as everyone says it is. The odd historical anecdotes and interesting buildings are too numerous to detail here, but the strangest is Toompea Castle, the Parliament building, which looks like a baby pink version of the White House in front, and a medieval castle in back. That's basically representative of Tallinn's Old City as a whole.
After the walking tour, I ventured out of the Old City and into Telliskivi Creative City, which is a group of old industrial buildings that have been transformed into art galleries and studios, shops, and flea markets, with street art available to view at all times. I attempted to wander into Kalamaja, referred to as "the hipster part of town," but I'm not sure I successfully got there.
The Ferry Back and Finnish Karaoke
If the ferry over at 9:30 in the morning was weird, the ferry back to Helsinki at 6:30 pm on a Friday was insane. I grabbed a seat in one of the numerous bars, where drunk people sang karaoke in Finnish in front of a 150+ person audience. I sang a song in English to a very confused crowd of people. I never even made it into the ballroom, but I'm sure it was a riot. By the end of the two hours, some guy was intentionally smashing beer glasses against the floor, and he was basically a standard level of drunk for that crowd. Nobody batted an eyelash.
Thoughts in Retrospect
Tallinn was a breath of fresh air after having spent 5 days in Iceland trying my hardest not to spend every last penny I had--Iceland is insanely expensive--and ignoring hoards of American tourists, which outnumber the actual residents of Iceland. Don't get me wrong--Iceland is so magnificent that it's worth the drawbacks, but the drawbacks are numerous. During my whole time in Tallinn, I ran into precisely one American, and I'm not sure it counts because it was during the free walking tour and I didn't actually converse with him. A hostel room that would have cost well over $100 in Iceland cost me less than $30.
I wish I had allocated more time in Tallinn to see more. There are at least a dozen other sites that I would have liked to visit that I saw in various articles online--the KGB headquarters in the Hotel Viru, which is bizarre for reasons that are definitely worth reading about, sticks out. If architecture and history are your main draws as a traveler, Tallinn is every bit as beautiful as Paris or Florence, at a fraction of the cost. It’s safe, everyone I encountered was very friendly, and everyone speaks English. (As an aside, I almost feel guilty for how easy it is to get around Europe as a monolingual English speaker. It feels like I'm cheating.) I would love to plan another trip to Tallinn and take the ferries around to the different harbor cities around the Baltic, including Riga, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg, which are all easily accessible and relatively inexpensive to reach, and as a bonus, you get to ride on a raucous booze cruise with it. What could possibly be better than that?