Tallinn In Your Pocket: the best tour guide by far
by CatherineReichardt
The hotel we stayed in provided a copy of Tallinn In Your Pocket in each room, which turned out to be a much more useful travel guide than the Lonely Planet guide to the Baltics that we had used to plan our trip. In many ways, it's an unfair comparison, as the 'In Your Pocket' series focus on a single city, and are updated every couple of months, so, as you would expect, it is more current - particularly on events - and can provide information on a wider range of attractions than a regional guide which is only updated every couple of years. Still, I was staggered by how good a guide it was, and I will certainly use the website (listed below) to research future European trips.
For me, the strength of this guide is that it is written by English-speaking writers who are resident in the city. This means that the descriptions are livelier than often awkwardly phrased tourist material which is clearly translated from another language. The person who wrote the Tallinn guide has a very wry sense of humour that I loved and will particularly resonate with travellers of British origin (but could appear somewhat sarcastic to those from more polite cultures).
I also thought that the mix of attractions and events listed was varied and would appeal to a range of interests and ages.
Follow this link: http://www.inyourpocket.com/estonia/tallinn
Very well-preserved medieval architecture
by BillNJ
Old Town Tallinn is one of the best retained medieval towns in Europe. All the most important state and church buildings from the Middle Ages have been preserved in their basic original form, as well as many citizens’ and merchants’ residences, along with barns and warehouses from the medieval period.
Further information about the history of Old Town Tallinn can be found at http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/eng/fpage/explore/attractions/oldtown
City Hall Pharmacy
by bugulma
The pharmacy, which stands on the corner of the Town Hall Square, was first mentioned in historical documents in 1422 and over the centuries, it has changed slightly. Wll, looks like medieval medicinal ingredients like bat powder and snakeskin are no available here :-)
Old Town Days: Tournament of the Count of May
by brazwhazz
Every year, usually on the first weekend of June, Tallinn holds its "Old Town Days". On this occasion, the atmospheric streets of the Old Town become full of artisans and merchants in medieval costumes, which accentuates the "time warp" impression of Old Tallinn.
The high point of the weekend is the Tournament of the Count of May on Sunday: horse-riding contestants and their ladies gather at Town Hall Square, then parade through the Old Town all the way to Toompea Stadium. Beautifully set outside the city fortifications, Toompea Stadium is the site where the contestants compete in several events, namely races, obstacles courses and even jousting. After the tournament, it's back to Town Hall Square, where the winner is presented to the crowd.
This was one of the coolest things we had ever seen. Oddly enough, only a few hundred people (the vast majority of them locals) attended the contest. Maybe was it due to the fact the announcer spoke only in Estonian, which may be a turn-off for some people? We felt it made the celebrations all the more authentic.
Lonely Planet Guide
by HORSCHECK
The Baltic States are rapidly developing countries, therefore an up to date guidebook is very useful. I used the Lonely Planet Guide Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania which offers information for all budgets on what to see and do, and tips on dining and accomodation.
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St Olaf's church, Tallinn
Tallinn Christmas market at night
'Gallery of heads', KUMU
Inside the mall
