Street vendors, Tallinn

All over the old town you will notice stalls that sell postcards and booklets on Tallinn. Most of these are operated by young women. These stalls have been set up by the City of Tallinn and sell their items at fair prices, so they are trustworthy. They also sell stamps for your postcards. They accept Euro for sure, not sure which other currencies.The girls speak several foreign languages and are all very polite.

I assume this has been done because of countless complaints about 'wild' postcard vendors who became a nuisance and charged outrageous prices - complaints about those show up on older Tallinn pages here on VT, too. Obviously the city has done something about this problem and banned the wild vendors from the old town. I did not see any other postcard sellers in the streets than these girls with their more or less uniform stands.

What to buy: Postcards and stamps, gudebooks, calendars

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In several places along the main tourist route through the old town, this company have set up their verndor carts in medieval style. These carts add to the flair of the medieval city.

What to buy: They sell roasted almonds and other nuts. You will most probably be offered a taste from a girl's basket. Try them, they are really tasty. The crust is much softer than the sugary roasted almonds we know in Germany, thus easier to chew, and spicy. They also have roasted pecan nuts with chili which are also tasty.

What to pay: Packs of almonds are available for 40, 50 or 100 krooni.

When you walk from Viru hotel to the Old Town Gates you pass by old ladies who are selling flowers. On my way back home on the boat I've seen many carrying bouquets of flowers they've bought from these vendors.

Not a shop exactly, just stalls set up by people of pictures they've painted, drawn, photographed or bulk manufactured of Tallinn from all different angles and perspectives. There are a lot of beautiful pieces of art, so your only problem will be which one you like the best!

What to buy: Whatever strikes your fancy, I ended up buying a small framed watercolour 'landscape' of the city.

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We saw several shops along the city wall which appeared to be selling flowers, food and souvenirs. Unfortunately, my back was too painful for me to walk over and look at their wares.

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On Viru Street near the Viru Gate, there are a bunch of outdoor flower vendors. I think they add a touch of beauty and class to this outer edge of the Old Town.