Tallinn

The picture-perfect medieval city of Tallinn will charm the pants off you the moment you arrive. It’s compact – you’ll feel like you know it intimately after just one day. The impressively preserved Old City has all the battlements, spires, walls, and fortresses that make you feel like you’re wandering about in a fairytale.

Inside the old city it’s easy to forget that Estonia spent years under Soviet rule. With a quick walk down to the harbour you’ll find the abandoned concert hall of Linnahall – an enormous communist structure that now serves as a view point over the water, a canvas for graffiti artists to practise their art, and a hang-out for local youths. Visit the Museum of Occupation to learn more about Estonia’s darker years.

The beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the Olvieste Church are must-visits, as well as Kadriorg Palace and the Town Hall. There are multiple view-points around the Old Town that provide stunning vistas.

Tallinn used to have the reputation of the ‘Bangkok of the Baltics’ due to its cheap booze and easy access to every vice imaginable, that groups of young men would come to the city to find. It’s cleaned up its act dramatically and whilst the booze is still cheap and the nightlife is still top notch, the darker aspect of recent decades is no longer visible.