After a week on the Estonian coast, we ventured into the capital city of Tallinn. There were surprisingly limited Airbnb options with two bedrooms in Tallinn so we ended up staying a bit farther outside of the Old Town center than we would have preferred, in the quiet and residential but unremarkable neighborhood of Kesklinn. It was about a 15-minute walk to the Old Town but unlike other cities we’ve visited, the public transit was not necessarily faster or more efficient to get to some of the sites and attractions (no transit runs within the Old Town itself). We ended up driving or walking more than expected, which is not easy in a city that seems to be under major construction on every corner.
Thanks to a lovely babysitter named Nana, Dave and I were able to do our walking tour of the Old Town without Jacob, which was a good thing since Tallinn is a lot hillier than other cities and the amount of walking, steps, and cobblestones would have been a real challenge and probably not very enjoyable for him. Tallinn’s Old Town is quite interesting, given the complicated history of ruling/occupying powers and various influences over centuries (Danish, Swedish, Polish, German, Russian). Fortunately there is good signage in English at key landmarks and buildings throughout the Old Town. Some of our favorite sites were the Town Hall Square (which reminded us of the expansive town squares in Brussels or Warsaw), medieval defense wall on the western edge, and of course, two overlooks on the northern edge of the Old Town for those famous views you see in your guidebook.
There are several nice parks in Tallinn and on a cloudy, dreary afternoon we spent some time in Kadriorg Park, east of the Old Town. It’s quite pretty with tree-lined paths, museums, gardens, sculptures, and the former royal summer manor. There’s also a cute cafe, Katherinethal, on the edge of the park with a good selection of sweet and savory treats. From there you can walk to the Russalka Memorial and follow the pedestrian promenade hugging the harbor bay. It’s bordered by a busy highway so there is a lot of adjacent traffic, but in good weather it could be quite scenic.
I’d read that there were many kid-friendly museums in Tallinn but the more research I did, it seemed like more of them were geared towards elementary-age and older (such as the Estonian Open Air Museum, Estonian Health Care Museum, and Energy Discovery Center). I imagine younger children may also do fine there, but Jacob does much better when there are more hands-on, physical, and interactive activities. As a result, Dave and Jacob opted to check out the Lennusadam Seaplane Harbour maritime museum, which preserves and presents Estonian maritime culture and in particular, a 1930’s-era submarine. On another afternoon, Jacob and I went to the Tallinn Zoo but unfortunately, a combination of unexpected rain showers and numerous exhibit closures/significant construction (and very few animals to see despite what was advertised on the zoo map) made it a disappointing experience. On a more successful note, on our last day with the rental car we decided to spend a few hours at Atlantis H20 @atlantish2oaquapark, an indoor water park outside of the city center. It actually ended up being a really fun family activity. Though Jacob could only go on two of the slides, he actually preferred doing the rafts on the lazy river and practicing his swimming. Dave and I managed to try all six water slides; many were quite exhilarating and creative. After all that stair-climbing and swimming, we were all exhausted (hence, naps for everyone!).
There were two other very cool places I’d recommend checking out in Tallinn:
- Balti Jaama Turg Market @baltijaamaturg – next to the train station, this multi-level, modern market and food hall is great for picking up fresh produce, specialty products, breakfast or lunch, or doing some crafty souvenir shopping.
- Telliskivi Creative City @loomelinnak and the F. Hoone Restaurant @fhoone – this area northwest of the Old Town, under redevelopment which reminded us of parts of the Arts District in LA, has several intriguing restaurants, cafes, shops, a playground, art installations, and more.
After 25 days on the road through Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, we covered nearly 1,200 miles and to our knowledge, only received one ticket! We enjoyed having the freedom to explore these countries with a car, especially more of the remote, rural, and natural regions, but not surprisingly, found the city driving to be quite stressful, particularly in Riga and Tallinn. However, it was quite nice to be able to rent a car and travel through the three countries with a nominal, one-way drop-off fee.
A few lessons learned from our Baltic States road-trip:
- Watch out for speed limits, as they can be reduced quite quickly when approaching cities/towns. There are also numerous speed cameras positioned along major roads in all three countries, so you really do have to obey the speed limits or risk a hefty ticket (which gets sent to the rental car company a lot faster than you’d expect).
- Outside of the cities, the driving is quite easy, stress-free, and pleasant, with very flat roads and very little elevation change.
- If bringing a car into a city, try to secure parking through your accommodation in advance, as the street parking rules can be hard to decipher and rates can be high in some areas.
- Gas prices are high in this area of the world: the equivalent of $7 USD/gallon in Lithuania and increasing slightly as you go north, to $7.50 USD/gallon in Estonia.
- Avoid driving in Tallinn over the next few years, as the entire city seems to be under construction.
Our final country, and last stop of this two-month summer travel itinerary, is Finland, which started with the easy and comfortable two-hour ferry ride from Tallinn to Helsinki. Once again, genius thinking in having a large play area for children on board, strategically placed near the boarding entrance/exit, with a reserved seating area for families, and even a large screen projecting what’s happening inside the play area to the seating area outside. If only they could have something like this on airplanes!
