City Rating: Tallinn
Population: 430’000
Date of visit: May 2017
Attractions & sights: 3/5
Nightlife: 3/5
Safety: 5/5
Infrastructure: 4/5
Low budget factor: €€€/5
Total: 👍👍👍/5
The city in a nutshell:
Tallinn is a cute medieval city with a few nice sights, good restaurants and solid nightlife. The real highlight is the architecture, the buildings make this city a fairy-tale. Estonia’s capital is one of Europe’s most charming cities and a great place to spend one or two days.
Where to stay:
All the action is in old Town. However, a hotel a bit outside of the walls of old town is not a problem. Tallinn is not large. Therefore, accommodation 5-10 minutes from old town is also a good choice (Swissôtel, Radisson Blu, …).
The Good:
The city sells itself as a medieval city, as you can see knights, maids and other things referring to that time. Obviously, the architecture of the city helps a lot. Viru Gate for example are two towers at the entrance to old town. Moreover, you have old medieval buildings, castles, churches etc. It’s only logical therefore that the responsible people for Tallinn’s tourism capitalize on that.
The city also offers a few good viewpoints. Some of them are in Old Town, but having a drink at the rooftop bar of Swissôtel Tallinn is also a great option to have a 360 degree view of the city.
Tallinn is a laid-back city during the day. When the weather is fine, old town is crowded and many people enjoy the sun by having a coffee or beer in one of the many restaurants.
At night, the city has some decent bars and nightclubs. However, in my opinion Tallinn’s nightlife is a bit overrated and the city is not THE party town many people are talking about.
The Bad & The Ugly:
Many people call Tallinn a cheap city. However, it is not as cheap as the Latvian capital Riga. I would say that Tallinn’s prices are comparable to those in German cities, at least for food and drinks. Hotel prices are cheaper in the Estonian capital though.
When it comes to the nightlife, I would also give the advantage to Riga. Tallinn is smaller than Riga and nightlife options are also more limited. Club Hollywood was the nightclub where most the action took place.
Weather is a minus too. It’s a Northern European city and it can be very cold. I have been there in mid-May and temperature was 0° at night.
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