Tallinn, Estonia Walking Tour recommendation

[uwis66]

We were in Tallinn for a day and decided not to take our ship's tour of the town.

 

Instead, we followed Rick Steves' walking tour of the town and it was absolutely perfect. We recommend it highly. There is also a link to a map adjacent to the written tour.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/ricksteves/A-Walking-Tour-of-Tallinn.html

 

One note of caution: Be careful of pickpockets!!!!! They operate in pairs -- one distracts you in front and the other grabs your wallet from behind.

[Cornishpastyman1]

We were in Tallinn for a day and decided not to take our ship's tour of the town.

 

Instead, we followed Rick Steves' walking tour of the town and it was absolutely perfect. We recommend it highly. There is also a link to a map adjacent to the written tour.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/ricksteves/A-Walking-Tour-of-Tallinn.html

 

One note of caution: Be careful of pickpockets!!!!! They operate in pairs -- one distracts you in front and the other grabs your wallet from behind.

 

I also did that walk. It looks like this

 

Tallinn is a terrific little city and because the dock is so close and within easy walking distance of your ship you can explore it fully without worrying about missing your departure time.

[travellover3]

Cornishpastyman1:

I leave for the Baltics next week, and just looked at several of your videos! I LOVE them and love the musical accompaniements. Thanks for the extra excitement they bring to my actually getting there. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

Phyllis

[NCMtnBoys]

We were in Tallinn for a day and decided not to take our ship's tour of the town.

 

Instead, we followed Rick Steves' walking tour of the town and it was absolutely perfect. We recommend it highly. There is also a link to a map adjacent to the written tour.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/ricksteves/A-Walking-Tour-of-Tallinn.html

 

One note of caution: Be careful of pickpockets!!!!! They operate in pairs -- one distracts you in front and the other grabs your wallet from behind.

 

Thanks for the thumbs up on Rick Steves' walking tour of Tallinn. This is exactly what I've planned to do when we're there next month, already have his Scandinavian guidebook.

Edited August 12, 2010 by NC Mtn Boys

[Giantfan13]

Tallinn is just a wonderful city to walk around in. One of our regular posters put together just a magnificent walking tour of Tallinn, that many, many of us used last year, including myself. I haven't seen Rick Stevens walking tour, but it is probably about the same as this one

 

http://www.*****.com/tallinnwalk.html

 

It will save you money to buy his book or whatever. Just print it out and away you go.

 

But more than that, some of the real fun of walking around this city, is exploring things on your own. yes the walking tour is the outline, and gives you the places to see and visit, but you should take some time and wander around on your own. We did this several times, and found some really quaint little shops where we bought some things that we never saw anywhere else. You simply cannot get lost in this city, as you either go to the top of the hill and see the rest of the town, or follow the wall till you find an entrance or exit.

 

Here are a few more pix of Tallinn and some of the more unusual things to find and explore.

 

IN the summer, many wild flower grow and are in a stark contrast to the stone walls and towers

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe531.jpg

 

Some of the cobblestone, narrow streets, just itching to be explored

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe518.jpg

 

One of the many Russian influences on this city

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe566.jpg

 

Tallinn's main square, a great place to jsut sit and relax, have something to eat and just enjoy the entire experience

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster602.jpg

 

Old Hansa, where so many stop to eat. This IS the place

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster591.jpg

 

All along the outside of the town walls are these vendors selling remarkable stuff. You can get anything woolen, sweaters hats, gloves etc. it is easy to bargain with them and their wares are great.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe622.jpg

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Cornishpastyman1]

Cornishpastyman1:

I leave for the Baltics next week, and just looked at several of your videos! I LOVE them and love the musical accompaniements. Thanks for the extra excitement they bring to my actually getting there. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

Phyllis

 

Thank you for your kind words Phyllis. We are all so lucky to be able to go to these places but especially on cruises it's so easy to see a lot but remember very little. Unless I do this sort of thing I tend to quicklyforget where I've been and what I've seen.

 

I love that you are excited about you're upcoming cruise. You totally get that we are privileged to have the health and resources to travel and I'm sure you'll have a great time on this trip.

 

I will get round to doing St P but probably not before mid-October as each of Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, Peter & Paul Fortress, St Isaac's Cathedral, Church on the Spilt Blood and the Hermitage need their own little film so I'll have to do a fair bit of research for these.

 

Tony

[travellover3]

I guess I will enjoy your St. P video in retrospect... If I love it this time, I could return? The video will be a huge, but loving project. Happy future sailing.

Phyllis

[Webguy]

Thank you for the good walking Map and commentary.

[NancyIL]

I did the same, with the help of Rick Steves' Scandinavia. That book was all we needed in 5 of the 6 ports on our Baltic cruise in 2005. The 6th port was St. Petersburg, and we loved our 2-day private tour with DenRus.

[TLCOhio]

Len and others have made lots of great suggestions on Tallinn. It is one of our favorite cities in the Baltics and has some great shopping options, especially for woolen and linen, etc., items. The historic and charming areas are fairly compact and easy to explore. Below are some of my visual samples on what is there to love and experience.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

From our docked ship, here is the view of Tallinn’s historic church towers, etc.:

 

 

 

Shopping is great in Tallinn. Inside a nice linen shop:

 

 

 

 

Inside of Tallinn’s historic St. Mary's Cathedral Lutheran church with parts of the building dating back to the 12th Century. The main church was built in the 14th Century:

 

 

 

Outdoor lunch on Tallinn’s main square:

 

 

 

Here are outside and inside views of Tallinn’s Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built in the Orthodox style 1894–1900. This church crowns the hill of Toompea. The church has been meticulously restored since Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.:

 

 

 

[madra2112]

I would just add that the church in the centre of Terry's first photo is St Olaf's, and you can climb the tower to the base of the steeple (where the four smaller steeples start), The staircase is a spiral stone climb, moderately difficult in places, but the views from the top are superb.

[TLCOhio]

I would just add that the church in the centre of Terry's first photo is St Olaf's, and you can climb the tower to the base of the steeple (where the four smaller steeples start), The staircase is a spiral stone climb, moderately difficult in places, but the views from the top are superb.

 

THANKS for the added info item on the church viewing location! From the hilltop area overlooking the lower town are some nice views. Here are a few more visuals samples from charming Tallinn. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Tallinn’s rooftops in this charming Estonia Capital with docked cruise ships in the background:

 

 

 

Dancers marching in Tallinn’s festival parade near the stone towers of the famous Viru Gate:

 

 

 

At the top of Tallinn’s Toompea hill, this shows part of the Estonia Parliament building in the historic Pink Baroque Palace and the old Pikk Hermann watchtower with their flag on top:

 

 

 

Tallinn street with shops, flowers, church tower, etc.:

 

[madra2112]

Lovely pics as ever Terry, I love the element of culture clash seeing the traditional dancers march through the Viru Gate, past the hsitoric walls and towers, right beside McDonalds!

 

Here's a shot I took from the St Olaf's Church Tower on August 30th

 

Edited September 12, 2010 by madra2112

[madra2112]

Edited September 12, 2010 by madra2112

[Cornishpastyman1]

I guess I will enjoy your St. P video in retrospect... If I love it this time, I could return? The video will be a huge, but loving project. Happy future sailing.

Phyllis

 

Hi Phyllis

 

I hope you had a great time. I finally got round to doing these :

 

The Fountains of Peterhof

 

The Catherine Palace at Pushkin

 

Peter and Paul Fortress/Cathedral

 

St Isaac's Cathedral

 

Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood

 

The Winter Palace/Hermitage State Museum

 

Tony

 

[dileep]

[Cornishpastyman1]

The link to Peterhof should be

 

Sorry for the error.

[JaneBP]

Tony, Thank you very much for the splendid videos. I doubt I will ever get to St Petersburg, but I feel as if I am there when watching them.

[Giantfan13]

Hey Jane

 

Never say never.:D:D:D:D

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Cornishpastyman1]

Tony, Thank you very much for the splendid videos. I doubt I will ever get to St Petersburg, but I feel as if I am there when watching them.

 

Thanks for your kind words Jane, much appreciated. And I'm with Len on this one, you can never rule anything out for definite, so maybe one day I'll your photos/vids from St P !

[TLCOhio]

Lovely pics as ever Terry, I love the element of culture clash seeing the traditional dancers march through the Viru Gate, past the hsitoric walls and towers, right beside McDonalds!

 

As many times as I have seen and posted that picture, I had not noticed the McDonald's sign. Great eye and attention to details.

 

THANKS for the nice comments! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[jennywren46]

Thank you for posting the lovely pictures it brings back happy memories, we loved cruising the Baltic , every port was wonderful in its own way.

[madra2112]

As many times as I have seen and posted that picture, I had not noticed the McDonald's sign. Great eye and attention to details.

 

THANKS for the nice comments! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

To be honest, the reason I knew it was there is we walked through the Viru gate into the old town on August 30th, so it's quite fresh in my mind! It's a point worth noting, particularly for Royal Caribbean guests, that the Viru gate is where the shuttle bus stops, so if you're using Lair Bear's walking map, you're starting in the wrong place!

[Lair Bear]

It's a point worth noting, particularly for Royal Caribbean guests, that the Viru gate is where the shuttle bus stops, so if you're using Lair Bear's walking map, you're starting in the wrong place!

 

Not necessarily. The map shows the Viru gate at the end. So if you did the walking tour in reverse you would still see everything that I thought worth seeing. However, I also pointed out that the walk from the ship to the old town is really easy to do. Either way, Tallinn is a great port of call.

 

BTW We also found a 'discrete' Big Mac place in Bergen, Norway.

 

 

[rhskls]

Thanks for the insight. This looks like a great walking tour.