Tallinn (Estonia)

[Clint Iguana]

Any recommendations on where to stay, what to do and all that malarkey?

Particularly interested in live music of the 'underground' variety, but know very little.

Will be getting boat over to Helsinki for the day at some point (to watch Finland v Wales)... have heard it's best to get the slow boat in October, cos the fast one does not always run. Anyone confirm/deny this?

 

[Sunspots]

Will be getting boat over to Helsinki for the day at some point (to watch Finland v Wales)... have heard it's best to get the slow boat in October, cos the fast one does not always run. Anyone confirm/deny this?

Don't know about that (-I went in the summer), but I crossed on the fast(er) boat run by Silja Line. -Maybe they can advise about possible weather/travel problems?

The company's timetable I've got (-which is admittedly five years old now) doesn't feature any info for 'fast' travel between October 31st and April 30th, which might suggest the fast boat doesn't run at all?...

 

[Sunspots]

Don't know about that (-I went in the summer), but I crossed on the fast(er) boat run by Silja Line.

Hang on, sorry, that is the company I went with, but that link has a timetable that covers up 'til December (-I think?), and looks like it's actually for the big slow boat.

Sorry, I've probably just added to the confusion!

 

[1927]

Any recommendations on where to stay, what to do and all that malarkey?

Particularly interested in live music of the 'underground' variety, but know very little.

Will be getting boat over to Helsinki for the day at some point (to watch Finland v Wales)... have heard it's best to get the slow boat in October, cos the fast one does not always run. Anyone confirm/deny this?

I went last time Wales played Finland, and won!!!

Went to Tallin for 3 days before the game. Plenty of good bars around the square in the old town. there is an Ibis hotel down by the docks where we stayed, walking distance to centre. there is a bar up one of the side streets off the square, it was called the Nemetta. Owned by an Aussie who never got round to going home, great welcome and loads of rugby shirts over the walls, Just further up that road is a big night club. If you want the full on footy xperience there's plenty of naughtiness to be had, I could write a very good book on our 3days there. (better PM for full details)

 

[Clint Iguana]

I went last time Wales played Finland, and won!!!

Went to Tallin for 3 days before the game. Plenty of good bars around the square in the old town. there is an Ibis hotel down by the docks where we stayed, walking distance to centre. there is a bar up one of the side streets off the square, it was called the Nemetta. Owned by an Aussie who never got round to going home, great welcome and loads of rugby shirts over the walls, Just further up that road is a big night club. If you want the full on footy xperience there's plenty of naughtiness to be had, I could write a very good book on our 3days there. (better PM for full details)

Well.... at some point i will be looking to get down and boogie football style, but the last thing i want is five days of Irish pubs and lap dancing clubs. I would like to see a bit of the 'proper' Tallinn while i am there, the food the architecture, the history and all that. i am particularly interested in the indigenous music scene.

There will be football involved though, so no doubt there will be drinking of strongbow, inappropriate singing and staggering back to the hotel in the wee small hours as well.

You going out this time 27?

 

[Clint Iguana]

Hang on, sorry, that is the company I went with, but that link has a timetable that covers up 'til December (-I think?), and looks like it's actually for the big slow boat.

Sorry, I've probably just added to the confusion!

cheers, i am sure we will get there in the end, together we can crack it!

 

[not-bono-ever]

friday night Helsinki - Tallin = booze cruise for Finns.

if you want a big night out and encounters with the opposite / same sex. then it may be your thing

If you want a quiet time , a 4* meal and a cocktail at the piano bar before retiring to your En suit luxury cabine, then not for you

crossing take a couple of hours , the booze cruise just gets into the m iddle and pootles around in circles all night until they dock at 8AM or whatever.

It is one of those 1000 things to things before you die things IME.Ranking just under a cocaine fuelled night out and a fight in Newcastles Bigg Market.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Well.... at some point i will be looking to get down and boogie football style, but the last thing i want is five days of Irish pubs and lap dancing clubs. I would like to see a bit of the 'proper' Tallinn while i am there, the food the architecture, the history and all that. i am particularly interested in the indigenous music scene.

* bear steaks- very good apparently, but ise a veggie innit.
* pear cider

 

[Clint Iguana]

* bear steaks- very good apparently, but ise a veggie innit.
* pear cider

me veggie too...

 

[chainsaw cat]

phonetically:


ux oloo, pah-loon

= a beer please

tervi sex

= cheers.

That's all I remember.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Tallinn is one of my favourite places - been three times and it's great. Here are some travel pages wot I wrote - a couple of years old now (written after my first trip) but they may be useful

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/629e6/648b4/

The Vana Wiru Hotel usually has decent rates and is right in the centre

http://www.vanawiru.ee/index.php?lang=eng

I would recommend Hell Hunt, Pikk 39, as a good place to drink - excellent beer

St. Patricks at Suur-Karja 8 is a lovely bar and quite quiet


The Beer House is touristy with some of the worset music ever but there unpasteurised beer is good - Dunkri 5, (http://www.beerhouse.ee/)


Oh and there are now not one but two Depeche Mode themed bars!!

 

[fubert]

October you might get lucky and still get the fast boat. You can also get a helicopter and if you're *really" * lucky Finnair can do you a flight for forty quid.

 

[Clint Iguana]

cheers everyone keep em coming!

 

[not-bono-ever]

fuck it, pull out all the stops

fly return to Helsinki & get in a big night out with some of the bigest piss artists in the world

dawn train to St Petersburg - wonderful place , I cant stress this enough

sleeper train from the st pete baltic station

arrive in Talinn at dawn

big day out

slow boat back to helsinki for the flight home

Ive done variations of this for Scotland games in the past

 

[Clint Iguana]

fuck it, pull out all the stops

fly return to Helsinki & get in a big night out with some of the bigest piss artists in the world

dawn train to St Petersburg - wonderful place , I cant stress this enough

sleeper train from the st pete baltic station

arrive in Talinn at dawn

big day out

slow boat back to helsinki for the flight home

Ive done variations of this for Scotland games in the past

Booked my flights direct to tallin ages ago to get 'em cheap. Love the idea of train though, did interail for a month many moons ago.

 

[Clint Iguana]

Headed out in October... looking at the map i suspect it is going to be cold. Should i take a coat or a jacket? ie, should i take my big fury hemp parka to protect me from baltic winds?

also.... what's the prices like beer and food wise?

cheers

 

[Bajie]

I was there in August last year and it was not exactly warm, so I think October would be pretty cold.

From memory could have dinner in a restraunt for about £10 a person, this was in the old town so no doubt prices where less outside of that area and I can not remember the price of beer, do not think it was too expensive though, certainly not more expensive that the UK.

 

[not-bono-ever]

I remember that is started to get a bit nippy - somthing like under 10 C, bit colder at night. Not exactly freezing, but you may want a jumper

The prices of F & B have gone crackers over the years - you are looking at £2 a pint now - the stag parties have pushed the prices up.still decent though - the "pavement " cafes in the old town are thronged with visitors and have prices to match - find a just out of centre bar and decamp there if you are into economy - may be more interesting than a slick stag wekeend place - anything under 20 EEK is a bargain beer wise

Still cheaper than Finland tho - when is the game ? beware that you cant buy carry oots after something like 5PM on a saturday - they are still tight on alchhol in Finland IIRC

 

[Clint Iguana]

Cheers.. like the idea of economy, but also like the idea of drinking in more authentic boozers.

anyone been to any of these ?

Levist väljas sounds interesting

*ETA game on 10th october

 

[Clint Iguana]

Nothing particulalry important to report.... other than i am off next week and am actually excited about something for the first time in years.

All the travel and accomodation sorted, the tickets for the game have arrived, the kroons are on order, the bars and music venues researched. "Here we go, here we go, here we go!"

 

[teuchter]

I went there about ten years ago and the main thing I remember is that the town seemed a bit dead in the evening.

I get the impression that since then it's become another place taken over by british stag/football learyness.

The booze cruise ferry trip might be entertaining. I didn't do this on the Helsinki-Tallinn leg but on the Stockholm-Finland boat. I seem to recall general mayhem and a long conversation with some Swedish bloke explaining amongst other things that all Finns fought with knives, or maybe it was vice versa; I forget.

 

[1927]

I got stopped coming out of a toilet cubicle and was approached by a guy who looked very CID. He quizzed about whetehr I was one of the Welsh contingent and when he went into his pocket and flipped open what looked like a warrant card I shit myself, probably literally. He then explained he was president of the Estonian rugby union and he was looking for an assistant!! Interesting recruitment practice!!

 

[ilovebush&blair]

i went to Riga and it was fucking expensive is Tallinn expensive???

 

[Clint Iguana]

I went there about ten years ago and the main thing I remember is that the town seemed a bit dead in the evening.

I get the impression that since then it's become another place taken over by british stag/football learyness.

The booze cruise ferry trip might be entertaining. I didn't do this on the Helsinki-Tallinn leg but on the Stockholm-Finland boat. I seem to recall general mayhem and a long conversation with some Swedish bloke explaining amongst other things that all Finns fought with knives, or maybe it was vice versa; I forget.

It certainly does seem to pride itself on attracting stag parties. It is also apparently a listed town, so i am hoping to get a mix of culture and history during the day and boozing in the evening ... although i intend avoiding expat boozers, lap dancing clubs, Irish bars and aim to go the week without getting puked on (or puking). I will be seeking out some local live music and avoiding any super clubs.

I like the look of "Levist väljas", which is apparently "Tallinn's most grotty, seedy and all-around diviest dive bar. Students, Rastafarians and rockers alike congregate in this medieval cellar bar known for cheap drinks and uninhibited fun".

i went to Riga and it was fucking expensive is Tallinn expensive???

I hope so, will let you know when i get back. our hotel is in the centre of the old town and is only £20 a night, which is a good sign.

 

[teuchter]

Some bits of Tallinn.

 

[ilovebush&blair]

It certainly does seem to pride itself on attracting stag parties. It is also apparently a listed town, so i am hoping to get a mix of culture and history during the day and boozing in the evening ... although i intend avoiding expat boozers, lap dancing clubs, Irish bars and aim to go the week without getting puked on (or puking). I will be seeking out some local live music and avoiding any super clubs.

I like the look of "Levist väljas", which is apparently "Tallinn's most grotty, seedy and all-around diviest dive bar. Students, Rastafarians and rockers alike congregate in this medieval cellar bar known for cheap drinks and uninhibited fun".



I hope so, will let you know when i get back. our hotel is in the centre of the old town and is only £20 a night, which is a good sign.

you hope it going to be expensive??? why???

 

[Clint Iguana]

you hope it going to be expensive??? why???

correction... hope not

 

[Fingers]

Any recommendations on where to stay, what to do and all that malarkey?

Particularly interested in live music of the 'underground' variety, but know very little.

Will be getting boat over to Helsinki for the day at some point (to watch Finland v Wales)... have heard it's best to get the slow boat in October, cos the fast one does not always run. Anyone confirm/deny this?

No idea if the fast ones run or not but I got the boat from helsinki to Tallin in December last year and it was icy cold, snowing and windy as hell. Whichever boat I got it only took two hours.

It wa quite magical arriving by to and seeing all the spires covered in snow

 

[Fingers]

friday night Helsinki - Tallin = booze cruise for Finns.

if you want a big night out and encounters with the opposite / same sex. then it may be your thing

If you want a quiet time , a 4* meal and a cocktail at the piano bar before retiring to your En suit luxury cabine, then not for you

crossing take a couple of hours , the booze cruise just gets into the m iddle and pootles around in circles all night until they dock at 8AM or whatever.

It is one of those 1000 things to things before you die things IME.Ranking just under a cocaine fuelled night out and a fight in Newcastles Bigg Market.

I found the booze cruise between Stockholom and Helsink to have been better, no pootling about and solid drinking from start to finish (unless you pass out like I did after engaging large amounts of booze with random Finnihs people. It was utter carnage.