Tallinn suggestions

[alex397]

I shall be travelling to Tallinn next week for a few days, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for things to do transport-wise?

I know there are trams and trolleybuses, which I will be making the most of. I will also have a look around the central station which is always interesting in European cities.

I was tempted to have a day trip to Helsinki by ferry, but its just not worth it in the little time I will be there.

Is there anything interesting to see that anyone would recommend? For example, scenic bus/tram/rail routes (and by scenic I mean anything from picturesque to industrial). Any old bits of infrastructure? Anything which would be unusual coming from the UK? Old rolling stock?

Many thanks

 

[rf_ioliver]

I think most of the trains - if not all - are modern electric and diesel Flirt units. I think the services to St.Petersburg and Moscow might still be running and these'll be Russian stock operated by GoRail (update: Yes).

There's plenty to see in Tallinn and a lot of very good restaurants. If you're looking for 'cheap' alchohol then there are the huge supermarkets at the port (10 mins walk), though you'll find more upmarket wine sellers nearer the city.

Helsinki is 2 hours by ferry - worth it if you have more time: https://www.tallink.ee/vali-reis

Some links for you:
https://elron.ee/en/home/soiduplaan/
http://www.gorail.ee/en/timetable/

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

For various reasons I only had a couple of hours on a Saturday morning at Tallinn for a ride on Estonian Railways.
Services were sparse, so I picked a suburban station about 20 minutes out and attempted to buy a ticket.
However, I don't speak Estonian and the sole clerk at Baltijaam didn't speak English, so my attempts to describe which station I wanted failed dismally.
There were no ATMs which normally simplify problems of this sort, and no posters/maps/timetables/PIS on hand to help, just a single old-fashioned ticket window and a dragon behind it.
So I had to be content with photographing the Stadler Flirts in the station, and using the rickety tram system around the city (might have been refurbished since 2015).
Had I had more time, my original plan was to travel to Tartu and back.
This is Estonia's second city, and an old university centre for the Baltic region.
But it needs a full day really (and not at weekends when services seemed very thin).
Baltijaam station is just outside the city walls and is very run down - definitely an eastern European flavour.
I can however recommend a night at the opera!
The airport is also one of the nicer ones that Ryanair uses, with a very easy transfer.
Helsinki is an easy 2-hour ferry ride away, but will be busy and is quite pricey (compared to other Baltic ferries on much longer routes).
And of course, Tallinn itself is a magnificent historical city to explore, especially at times when the cruise ships are not in town.

 

[Chrisbolton]

I got the train to Paldiski, not as a rail related trip but there is lots of old USSR bunkers etc if that floats your boat! (I loved it)

 

[alex397]

Thanks for your replies everyone so far, I shall certainly consider some of the suggestions.

I have arrived today, and was impressed to be able to catch a tram from the airport to the city centre. I found the ticketing system rather difficult to understand at first glance though, and they are clearly trying to encourage people to use smartphones.

Balti jaam is very Soviet in appearance, but appears to have been modernised recently, and felt clean and modern (although rather basic). Trains are all boring Stadler Flirts. But I did see the impressive Go Rail train from Moscow arrive though.

It also appears the trolleybus system has been reduced in recent years, when comparing today's map with 2010.

I really like the mix of Scandinavian/Russian/Baltic cultures, which makes it feel unique. More exploring to come, but now to chill out at the hotel as it was a 6am flight this morning!

 

[Gordon]

I was in Tallinn in 2011, when the trams were still Tatra. The tram routes are all interesting, especially the one which goes past the old railway infrastructure south of the city centre. Things have moved on since then, but by now you will have found out that the main station is boring as there are not that many interesting train services in Estonia. I was lucky to see the station when there the trains were the old Riga built stuff, but even in 2011 it was all unit.

 

[dutchflyer]

The trolleybuses are on the verge of extinction, if not done already. Check trolleymotion.eu.
CITY bus~tram is free for locals and apparently now also for visitors/unclear.
ALL local regional transpo works with a kind of Oyster/chipcard, on which you load either money or some specific trips )or free passes for locals like students etc.). The regional buses are now also free for locals since 1-7-18.
The tram line coming close to the airport has been extended to serve it in front.

 

[306024]

If you are smart phone savvy the Google translate app will get you out of most linguistic difficulties.

Have conversed fluently in Bulgarian using the phone.