Is it far to Tallinn. St. Petersburg - Tallinn-St. Petersburg, on your own by car
My husband and I have been to Tallinn many times, in childhood, in our youth, as students, for work, both together and not together. But our children, who are no longer small, having visited many European capitals, went to Tallinn for the first time. Having read horrors about queues at the Ivangorod-Narva border, for a long time they could not decide how to get there and especially how to return. But they took the risk anyway and went by car.
ROAD AND BORDER. We left St. Petersburg on Tuesday at 6 am and at 9 am we were already at the border. The road, of course, is not very narrow, there are many settlements, almost all the time one lane, a very bad road with pits, a total of 30 kilometers. The border, especially after the Finnish one, surprised me. No signs for you, no border area, one traffic light and one barrier. We were not interested in ours at all, the stamps were slapped and free. By the way, we were the only car with a Russian license plate both at the border and all the way to Tallinn.
Estonians asked to open the hood and trunk. They asked how many packs of cigarettes, they said 4 for two adults, the 5th was open. We looked very carefully at the alcohol from the dutik, counted how many liters in total (1 liter of alcohol and 2 packs of cigarettes per adult over 18 years old are allowed). They asked for insurance, a green card, where you are going, where you will stay. Well, that's all. We spent 30 minutes at the border together with duty free. There is active foot traffic on the bridge in both directions. People with bags, with shopping bags, without anything at all, in pairs, one at a time. They stop, say hello, stand, smoke, talk. The daughter said that this was not a border, but a passage yard.
EXCHANGER. Money was changed in Narva, in the exchange office on the square, to the left of the border. As it turned out, the rate there was the best, in Tallinn the rate was worse, and in the old town it was much worse. Exchanged 400 euros was enough for food, coffee and 1 time in the evening SPA center for four. This is for 4 incomplete days. On the way back, I had 25 crowns left, I left it as a keepsake. All purchases were paid by card, in some places in souvenir shops they willingly took euros.
EXIT PASS. As it has been repeatedly written here, the coupon must be taken at Transservice. No problem booked departure on Friday at 22.00 Estonian time. On the way back, you need to drive there in 30 minutes or less, present documents for the car, a passport with a Schengen visa and their copies (you can do it there, 15 kroons) and pay 30 kroons. Please note that the benefit is valid only for citizens who entered on a passport with a Schengen visa, and not for all cars with a Russian number.
THE ROAD TO TALLINN. The road is not bad, only very narrow, there are many signs 40.50, 70 for no reason, all around the field. Repairs in several places, but more closer to Tallinn. Many downed small animals, did not understand who. Whether groundhogs, or someone else. It's a pity. Approximately 60 km from Tallinn there is a motorway, 4 lanes, you can drive 110. We saw about 10 windmills on a hill, it looks beautiful.
HOTEL. Meriton Conference SPA 4* In search of a better price, I rebooked the hotel twice. As a result, when we arrived and presented a booking from Booking, it was not in their system. The girls at the reception were very apologetic and of course they sat us down, but in general I encountered this for the first time. Arranged by the way two hours before
Liked the hotel. It is conveniently located, you can quickly get both to the old city (although you have to climb the hill, but not high), and to the City, to the Viru hotel. Decent SPA center, good baths, jacuzzi, everything is new. The room is good (two doubles were taken), safe, internet, tea and coffee set, which is replenished all the time, minibar, condo, TV, telephone. Disadvantages - there is nowhere to hang a towel in the bathroom, only one hook, the bathroom itself is small, the windows do not open, the bed is very soft. The breakfast is good. The hotel has several restaurants and bistros, you can eat or drink at any time of the day.
Parking costs 10 euros per day. The girl at the reception advised to put the car in the garage under the hotel, she said, it's more reliable, the same 10 euros. The parking ticket must be put under the glass.
We extended the hotel (15 euros), and the parking ticket also needs to be extended, they set the departure time.
TALLINN. Tallinn is charming! Personally, I can wander around the old city endlessly. Very beautiful views from the observation decks of the upper city, even the glazed skyscrapers organically fit in. In the evening it's just fabulous! Merchants, barkers, waiters in antique clothes, the smell of almonds and cinnamon complete the atmosphere. On one of the evenings at about 11 p. m. , going up the Short Leg, they saw a kind of flash mob: almost simultaneously, in several places, characters unexpectedly appeared - death with a scythe, two men and a girl in historical costumes, who played out a family scene, a few more people, then or costumed. There were four of us on the street and another elderly couple. Impressed. Surprising us, the artists went downstairs to scare the tourists further.
In the info center we took a walking tour of the old town for 2 hours. Every day at 11.00, 13.00 and 17.00, a guide with a blue and white Tallinn Guide Club sign is waiting at the Town Hall Square. It costs 5 euros if there are more than 6 people, or 30 euros individually. Really went not 2, but 3 hours.
We climbed the fortress wall from the side of the Viru Gates (The Terrace tour is called 2 euros). Very interesting, you can walk along the wall in both directions, climb the tower along a narrow staircase. A place for relaxation has been made there - sofas, linen pillows, a fireplace, all kinds of accessories, you can touch everything. All windows in the tower also open, you can take pictures. There are almost no people, but in vain.
For some reason, the Kiek in de Kok tower was closed all the time, and it was not possible to get there.
We looked into the museum-marzipan shop, bought sweets in chocolate sprinkles, delicious. We drank coffee there. By the way, excellent coffee is brewed almost everywhere in Tallinn.
RESTAURANTS.
We had dinner at Olde Hansa. The place is of course purely touristic, but still very tasty and pleasant. The menu is interesting and humorous. Of course, they didn’t forget to take a picture of their famous teapot-washer. We spent three hours there.
LIDO. Delicious, varied, inexpensive. The interior is wonderful. It's a pity that there is no such thing in St. Petersburg.
BEERHOUSE. Husband and son went while shopping with my daughter. They say they liked it.
We threw coins into a small fountain on the roof of the Solaris shopping center.
THE ROAD HOME AND THE BORDER. Leaving Tallinn on Friday at 18.00, I had to stand in a traffic jam at the exit to the highway, apparently the townspeople were heading to their dachas. In Narva, we stopped at Transservice, took an exit ticket and drove to the border. In front of the barrier, you need to give the ticket to the booth, they will give you back a ticket, which for some reason must be kept until crossing the border (as it is written on it).
Both borders were crossed in 1.5 hours, this time we saw a couple of cars with Russian license plates at the entrance to Estonia. And people continued to walk along the bridge even late at night, and in both directions.
In Narva, everything is illuminated, but in Ivangorod our fortress is in total darkness, and it is also dark on the border. After 3 hours, happy and satisfied, we reached the house.
Well that's all. We had a great rest, the children really liked the city, I still want to see a lot.
So see you next time Tallinn!
