As an epigraph to the review, I wanted to make an old politically incorrect anecdote about a Slavic tourist who arrived in Estonia : -) ("A Russian-speaking person arrives in Estonia. He slows down a private trader. A local is driving. The tourist asks: - Is it far from Tallinn? - Nyet, nye far. - So I sit down? - Sit down.
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As an epigraph to the review, I wanted to make an old politically incorrect anecdote about a Slavic tourist who arrived in Estonia : -) ("A Russian-speaking person arrives in Estonia. He slows down a private trader. A local is driving. The tourist asks: - Is it far from Tallinn? - Nyet, nye far. - So I sit down? - Sit down.
They go, sometimes, an hour, Tallinn is not visible. Tourist: Listen, is it so far to Tallinn? - Now it's already far ...").
But there are at least 2 misconceptions in this.
1) In fact, it is not far from Tallinn: 1 hour 40 minutes of air travel, for example, "Estonian Airlines".
2) All residents of the city with whom I had a chance to communicate (even young people under 20) perfectly understand Russian, although I initially started communication just in case with the phrase "Do you speak Russian? "
Now for the travel notes.
As I said, it is most rational to get to Tallinn by plane. For fans of the bus marathon - there are scheduled buses (of different companies), to go around 20-22 hours.
There was no direct railway connection between the capitals of Ukraine and Estonia historically (even under the USSR - only with a change in Vilnius or Riga).
When approaching the city from an airplane window, you will undoubtedly enjoy the panorama of the city by the sea, where the spiers of ancient buildings and high-rise commercial real estate harmoniously contrast, surrounded by a forest in which a rather large freshwater lake lurks. The airport is located on the outskirts of the forest and you will undoubtedly feel the difference in the surrounding air, especially after the smog that you felt a couple of hours ago at the entrance to Boryspil ...I won’t tell you what public transport goes to the airport, because our The group had a bus transfer. 15 minutes to the city center from the airport, 25 minutes to the hotel.
The center of Tallinn (namely, the administrative, and not the Old Town) is very peculiar, it was built up in the 1940s-1950s, but there are a lot of private 2-story mansions, mostly wooden ones. It is in them that the Embassies of foreign states, including Ukraine, are located.
The hotel itself is located practically in the port, 300-400 m from the ferry terminals of the company, whose name partially coincides with the name of the hotel: "Tallink&Silja Line".
The purpose of the hotel follows from its name: business meetings and relaxing holidays. The hotel has several conference rooms of different capacities, and almost from the hall you can get to a huge spa center. The rooms are clean, of normal size, all the equipment is new, new building or not - I can’t say, maybe the hotel was undergoing restoration. The peculiarity of the hotel is very long corridors, in which the backlight turns on, changing color after a certain time.
The hotel has a restaurant (buffet, very varied), several bars. In the lobby there are 2 computers with free internet, there is a left-luggage office. The staff is fluent in English and Russian, friendly. In the building adjacent to the hotel (separate entrance), there is a cafe with a buffet of hot first courses.
For 4.50 E - an unlimited number of approaches, about 10 different soups from different cuisines of the world.
Opposite the hotel is the "SadaMarket" store (I think the name comes from the area of the city - "Sadaama").
But the prices are high there, which is probably due to the fact that it is the closest to the port and is designed for tourists arriving from ferries and cruise ships. A 10-minute walk (bypassing the bay with a parked "pirate" boat) is a large mega-market "Rimi" with a good assortment, prices and a boutique of chocolate of the local brand "Kalev".
If you are interested in shopping in a big way, then the central avenue of the city (Viru) is a single-storey shopping center (a high-rise retail and office building, it is impossible not to notice). A feature of shopping (possible only in Viru) when buying, discounts are possible (for a thing from 200 E when buying, they drop 15-25 E, and this is not Tax-Free yet), but the prices are European, manufacturers and the quality of goods are similar.
Souvenirs are best bought in the Old City, there are many souvenir shops, especially in the Rahukohtu street area. The main souvenir is amber products, the choice is huge, for every taste and budget (from 30 E).
Public transport.
Represented by buses, trolleybuses and trams. There are no minibuses as a class : ). There is no metro even in the project (apparently there is no need for a city of 500.000, although Europe knows other cases). The fare is 0.80 E (if you buy a ticket outside the vehicle - they are sold at newsstands) or 1.60 E (if you buy from the driver).
Parking lots at stops are longer than ours (the driver does not sell tickets while driving), but the transport travels at high speed, because the first lane is specially allocated for buses and trolleybuses. There is an unlimited one for a day (24 hours from the moment of composting), the cost is 4 E.
Since the beginning of 2013, the administration of Tallinn planned to make public transport free of charge (covered from the city budget), but how this initiative ended is unknown.
Attractions.
Most of them are concentrated in the Old City - on a hill behind the fortress wall with towers. From where unique views of the seaside part of the city are opened. The old city is a pedestrian zone, an exception is made only for tourist "trains". The bulk of tourists are Russian-speaking, and, oddly enough, Italians. Representatives of Japan and China have not been seen.
The central square of the Old Town (where the Town Hall with "Old Thomas") and many restaurants, for some reason reminded me of the central squares of Polish cities. There is also a Ukrainian trace in the Old City - the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Of the sights outside the Old Town - the park "Kadriorg", can be reached by tram from the center, the park is beautiful, but very small. Nearby is the residence of the President of Estonia. Not far from the park is the Museum of Modern Art (a characteristic hi-tec building). As well as the embankment (from the yacht club to the city center, past the Pirita monument - about 2.5 km), an ideal place for walking and cycling, and sports for city residents.
There are also modern quarters in Tallinn (the Singing Field area is the eastern part of the city). Houses are being built according to Western European projects, including the so-called "condominiums".
It makes no sense to talk a lot about Estonian culinary, because.
this topic is fully revealed in the corresponding LaFifa review. From myself I will only add that the cuisine in Estonia is very meaty.
Culture.
The center of Tallinn is cleaner than the center of Kyiv - certainly. People are definitely more polite. The country from the moment of the renewal of independence (just a few days earlier than we do - Estonia's Independence Day is celebrated from 20.08. 1991) has been striving for Europe, and has almost completely integrated into European civilizational structures (the European Union, the Euro zone, Schengen).
Although the problems of other countries of Eastern Europe have not spared this Baltic republic, labor migration, primarily to Ireland and the Scandinavian countries, is quite significant
They go, sometimes, an hour, Tallinn is not visible. Tourist: Listen, is it so far to Tallinn? - Now it's already far ...").
But there are at least 2 misconceptions in this.
1) In fact, it is not far from Tallinn: 1 hour 40 minutes of air travel, for example, "Estonian Airlines".
2) All residents of the city with whom I had a chance to communicate (even young people under 20) perfectly understand Russian, although I initially started communication just in case with the phrase "Do you speak Russian? "
Now for the travel notes.
As I said, it is most rational to get to Tallinn by plane. For fans of the bus marathon - there are scheduled buses (of different companies), to go around 20-22 hours.
There was no direct railway connection between the capitals of Ukraine and Estonia historically (even under the USSR - only with a change in Vilnius or Riga).
When approaching the city from an airplane window, you will undoubtedly enjoy the panorama of the city by the sea, where the spiers of ancient buildings and high-rise commercial real estate harmoniously contrast, surrounded by a forest in which a rather large freshwater lake lurks. The airport is located on the outskirts of the forest and you will undoubtedly feel the difference in the surrounding air, especially after the smog that you felt a couple of hours ago at the entrance to Boryspil ...I won’t tell you what public transport goes to the airport, because our The group had a bus transfer. 15 minutes to the city center from the airport, 25 minutes to the hotel.
The center of Tallinn (namely, the administrative, and not the Old Town) is very peculiar, it was built up in the 1940s-1950s, but there are a lot of private 2-story mansions, mostly wooden ones. It is in them that the Embassies of foreign states, including Ukraine, are located.
The hotel itself is located practically in the port, 300-400 m from the ferry terminals of the company, whose name partially coincides with the name of the hotel: "Tallink&Silja Line".
The purpose of the hotel follows from its name: business meetings and relaxing holidays. The hotel has several conference rooms of different capacities, and almost from the hall you can get to a huge spa center. The rooms are clean, of normal size, all the equipment is new, new building or not - I can’t say, maybe the hotel was undergoing restoration. The peculiarity of the hotel is very long corridors, in which the backlight turns on, changing color after a certain time.
The hotel has a restaurant (buffet, very varied), several bars. In the lobby there are 2 computers with free internet, there is a left-luggage office. The staff is fluent in English and Russian, friendly. In the building adjacent to the hotel (separate entrance), there is a cafe with a buffet of hot first courses.
For 4.50 E - an unlimited number of approaches, about 10 different soups from different cuisines of the world.
Opposite the hotel is the "SadaMarket" store (I think the name comes from the area of the city - "Sadaama").
But the prices are high there, which is probably due to the fact that it is the closest to the port and is designed for tourists arriving from ferries and cruise ships. A 10-minute walk (bypassing the bay with a parked "pirate" boat) is a large mega-market "Rimi" with a good assortment, prices and a boutique of chocolate of the local brand "Kalev".
If you are interested in shopping in a big way, then the central avenue of the city (Viru) is a single-storey shopping center (a high-rise retail and office building, it is impossible not to notice). A feature of shopping (possible only in Viru) when buying, discounts are possible (for a thing from 200 E when buying, they drop 15-25 E, and this is not Tax-Free yet), but the prices are European, manufacturers and the quality of goods are similar.
Souvenirs are best bought in the Old City, there are many souvenir shops, especially in the Rahukohtu street area. The main souvenir is amber products, the choice is huge, for every taste and budget (from 30 E).
Public transport.
Represented by buses, trolleybuses and trams. There are no minibuses as a class : ). There is no metro even in the project (apparently there is no need for a city of 500.000, although Europe knows other cases). The fare is 0.80 E (if you buy a ticket outside the vehicle - they are sold at newsstands) or 1.60 E (if you buy from the driver).
Parking lots at stops are longer than ours (the driver does not sell tickets while driving), but the transport travels at high speed, because the first lane is specially allocated for buses and trolleybuses. There is an unlimited one for a day (24 hours from the moment of composting), the cost is 4 E.
Since the beginning of 2013, the administration of Tallinn planned to make public transport free of charge (covered from the city budget), but how this initiative ended is unknown.
Attractions.
Most of them are concentrated in the Old City - on a hill behind the fortress wall with towers. From where unique views of the seaside part of the city are opened. The old city is a pedestrian zone, an exception is made only for tourist "trains". The bulk of tourists are Russian-speaking, and, oddly enough, Italians. Representatives of Japan and China have not been seen.
The central square of the Old Town (where the Town Hall with "Old Thomas") and many restaurants, for some reason reminded me of the central squares of Polish cities. There is also a Ukrainian trace in the Old City - the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Of the sights outside the Old Town - the park "Kadriorg", can be reached by tram from the center, the park is beautiful, but very small. Nearby is the residence of the President of Estonia. Not far from the park is the Museum of Modern Art (a characteristic hi-tec building). As well as the embankment (from the yacht club to the city center, past the Pirita monument - about 2.5 km), an ideal place for walking and cycling, and sports for city residents.
There are also modern quarters in Tallinn (the Singing Field area is the eastern part of the city). Houses are being built according to Western European projects, including the so-called "condominiums".
It makes no sense to talk a lot about Estonian culinary, because.
this topic is fully revealed in the corresponding LaFifa review. From myself I will only add that the cuisine in Estonia is very meaty.
Culture.
The center of Tallinn is cleaner than the center of Kyiv - certainly. People are definitely more polite. The country from the moment of the renewal of independence (just a few days earlier than we do - Estonia's Independence Day is celebrated from 20.08. 1991) has been striving for Europe, and has almost completely integrated into European civilizational structures (the European Union, the Euro zone, Schengen).
Although the problems of other countries of Eastern Europe have not spared this Baltic republic, labor migration, primarily to Ireland and the Scandinavian countries, is quite significant
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