Tallinn? What's that?

Having lived abroad majority of my life and currently being ever further than ever before I have gained some perpective when it comes to my home country Estonia. While people living far from the Baltics often ask "Estonia? What's that?" there's also equally large amount of those who know the country very well and can easily point it out on a map. Quite often these incredibly knowledgeable folks can be found in surprising locations such as Bosnia, Hawaii and Taiwan - not exactly neighbouring countries!

I could write a praising post on the tech development and innovations or the rich history, years under the soviet occupation and current era of innovation but I won't. You can read about it elsewhere. Instead, I'll share everyday tips on why Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, should be your next destination for a weekend away.

Medieval Tallinn

Tallinn is small yet has something for everyone. A must see location is, of course, the medieval old town (UNESCO heritage site) that has been an important trading hub since the 13th century. Walk along the city walls, step inside one of the museums or cafes built literally into the walls or one of the towers and inhale all of the history! Join a walking tour and get to know the stories and the tales of those who used to walk the cobbled streets of this enchanting city.

Tasty Tallinn

My most favorite activity in Tallinn is enjoying all of the cafe's, restaurants and bars. The quality is incredible and you can choose a place to get a drink at pretty much any theme you can come up with. New places arise constantly so there's always something new to try. Compared with many other cities in the region, Tallinn is a very energetic and bustling city - a little like Berlin.




Indulging Tallinn

Visiting a spa is quite a popular activity among both, the locals and the tourists. The city of Pärnu as well as the islands have some of the best spa's but also Tallinn has it's share. Not into getting in your swimsuit? Well, get a haircut or a facial instead. Tallinn has definitely one of the best, if not the best beauty professionals in Europe when it comes to hair, skin treatments, make-up, nails, you name it. Especially local ladies love to look beautiful on a daily basis and are frequent users of the beauty services making the quality of beauty treatments high and the prices low.

Green Tallinn

With nice weather, summer or winter, you should visit the Kadriorg Park, have a picnic surrounded by the beautiful nature, visit the art museum KUMU (you really should!), view the presidential palace or have a run around the park all the way to the direction of Pirita while enjoying the fresh sea breeze. You can also rent a bike and cycle to Kadriorg and Pirita. Pirita beach is absolutely beautiful, surrounded by a forest of pine trees, nearby the beautiful St. Birgitta's Convent ruins dating back to 1407. Traveling during hot summer days? You must spend a day at the beach! While it doesn't sound like the number one activity to come to mind when thinking of the northern regions, the water is surprisingly warm during the summer months, especially August. On the opposite direction, also on the shore, you have the young Kalamaja district. Haven't been there myself but it definitely has people talking so it must be good!




Other suggestions

Planning a trip in the late July? Visit the annual Öölaulupidu, Night Song Festival. It's an annual song festival where you can enjoy traditional music performances by local musicians. It's quite a cool event even if you don't understand a word of it. Check Google for dates and more information.

Shopping is always a success in Tallinn. You should try local brands such as Ivo Nikkolo, Baltman, Monton and lots of smaller boutiques you can find spread out across the city centre. Visit visitestonia.com for more information, http://www.visitestonia.com/en//things-to-see-do/interests-lifestyle/shopping/design.

For some great reading to better understand Estonia and its history I recommend one of the amazing bestsellers written by an incredible author Sofi Oksanen.

While in the area, you should take a ferry to Helsinki and spend a day or two. Consider continuing to Turku for a day followed by a trip to Stockholm either by sea or air and spend a couple of days in the beautiful Swedish capital. Visiting these three/four cities really gives you a great understanding of the differences of the countries, the cultures and the richness of the region.

Porto, Portugal

Destination: Porto, Portugal
Time of travel: July 2012
Duration: 14 days
Travel plan: 7 days in Porto with day trips to nearby towns, overnight trip to Santiago de Compostela via Vigo (Spain), 6 days on the island of Madeira. Beginning and end of trip from Porto.

Porto is a great base to explore northern Portugal, including Douro valley and all the vineyards as well as north-west part of Spain. Porto itself is amazing also; you can easily take a weekend trip to explore the city without paying a small fortune.

The climate in Porto is not even nearly as hot as it can get in Lisbon due to it's location by the Atlantic ocean. Makes it even nicer to explore the city by foot. While Porto might not be the best beach destination due to the winds and chilly water, it is however, great for history, food, shopping, architecture and more.


Why should you travel to Porto instead of a more popular city in Europe?

Porto is very authentic, to us it seems like the most authentic Portugal. It is somewhat touristic with the Port wine tastings but that's about as touristic as it gets - which isn't that much at all!

The city is very beautiful and if you've been to Lisbon before, you will surely love Porto! Due to it's long and rich history, the city is full of beautiful architecture, museums and sights. 

The cost of the trip will most likely be a fraction of what you need to pay for pretty much any other European city destination including flights, hotel and food. From further parts of Europe flying can be pricey, though. In that case we recommend a longer trip. 

Port wine at Graham's

Talking about food, Porto is a great food destination. In our experience the food was even better than in the capital itself! Try the espresso and one (or many) of the amazing savory pasties, Pasteis de Nata (of course!), or the sandwich everyone, especially the locals are boasting about, called Francesinha. However, be aware that it's important to pick a really good restaurant to try the sandwich, if it's not well made you'll probably hate it, like we did at first because it was cold and mushy. The meat and the fish is, however, the best! Try the Espetadas, meat skewers as well as the Bacalhau, the cod. 

Porto is known for it's excellent seafood

Few tips for port wine tastings:

- Do 2 or max. 3 tastings a day, otherwise you'll be quite tipsy by the end of the day
- Walk up the hill to the more authentic, traditional wineries
- no need to pre-book a tour, just walk in. You might have to wait for a while in case you’re interested in a tour around the winery also (recommended!) but you can taste some port while waiting.

Visit at least the following wineries

- Caves Croft, Rua Barão de Forrester, 412, 4400-034, Vila Nova de Gaia

- Caves Sandeman, Largo Miguel Bombarda, 3 , 4400-222, Vila Nova de Gaia

- Caves Grahams, R. Rei Ramiro 514, 4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

During a longer trip you can easily have your base in Porto and travel around the surrounding areas especially by car as car rental is very cheap and the service is great. Being located in the North of Portugal, you can explore the beautiful yet windy coast and it's beaches, the nearby towns and villages that will blow you away in their beauty, drive up to the Douro valley for the wines and take a trip to Spain to visit the famous Santiago de Compostela which is only 2,5h drive away from Porto.

Bewildered horses in the mountains somewhere near the borders of Portugal and Spain

right across the ancient Via Nova Romana.

Great places to visit nearby in Portugal are Guimaraes, Braga and Coimbra.

You can also easily fly to Azores or Madeira.

Ponto da Rosto, Madeira, Portugal

We go on and on about combining destinations and Porto is one of the greatest destinations for a multi-location trip. Have a 2 week holiday? Book 5 days in one city, 6 in another one and three in the third one. It's cost efficient, you see more and this will make the holiday feel much longer than staying in one place.

On the cost efficiency I have a good example here;

From central Europe you can fly to Porto for 50-150 euro's, from Nordics and Baltics 200-350.

You can combine this and fly to one of the Portuguese islands for about 40-70€ (Transavia, Ryanair) and 90-120€ (TAP Portugal), which is a great deal! There are several airlines flying daily to Madeira and Azores from Porto.

Flights from further Europe to the islands are about a double in cost. It really pays off to combine!