Tallinn's beautifully resorted Old Town is a mix of
architectural splendor and jumping nightspots.
Tallinn, Estonia, is the perfect weekend getaway for those entrenched in the front lines of St Petersburg. Only an overnight train ride away, the laid-back pace of this town of 500,000 combined with the modern setting of a European capital to make the chaos of Russia seem like a distant memory.
What's more, the beautifully restored Old Town, the center of Estonian life, puts all the cultural sites, shopping experience, and night life of Tallinn within the range of a single scenic stroll.
The train leaves from Warsaw Station at 11:33 pm Friday and arrives at Tallinn's Baltic Station (Balti Jaam) at 8:44 am Saturday.
The return train leaves at 8:28 pm Sunday and arrives back in St Petersburg at 7:11 am Monday morning, not so bright and but definitely early.
First class tickets cost 147,000 roubles ($31) and second class berths are 86,000 roubles ($18)
There are several well-located places to stay in Tallinn. Both the Viru Hotel, located on Viru Square, and the Palace Hotel, located on Valjak Square, provide swell accommodations with friendly, English-speaking service right next to Old Town.
The more luxurious Hotell Olumpia, located in Kesklinn, Tallinn's modern downtown adjacent to Vanalinn, is a $5 (total rip-off) cab ride away.
For the budget traveler, the Barn (around $10 a night), a dormitory-style youth hostel at the corner of Vene and Viru Streets, provides meager accommodations at an unbeatable location.
Forget smelly buses and crowded Metros: the complete tour of Tallinn for the tourist, the shopper, and the party-goer requires only a sturdy pair of walking shoes.
Bring a map, but prepare to get lost anyway on the twisting medieval streets.
Besides the usual treat of castles, cathedrals, towers, and dungeons, there are plenty of fashion boutiques, art galleries, and record stores mixed in for the more modern explorer.
Vene street can't be missed -- a Chinese restaurant built into the city wall, the roaring fire at the Kloostri Ait restaurant, and the Homeros English-language bookstore are just some of the finds on this side-street. My favorite discovery was the Munga Alley: right next to the cloister on Vene, it boasts some of the most skilled craftspeople in Europe.
Browse through hand-made quilts, stained-glass, and leather goods; just a few of the many unique treasures produced here, and the best glassblower in Europe.
The finest place to take a break and watch it all go by is the City Bar "Gallery Cafe" on Viru.
The hot chocolate is good, but situated as it is, across from the flower market, the people-watching is better. Prices are substantially lower than St Petersburg, but the ease of shopping and the availability of so many cool things can strain the budget.
Try to save money by staying away from hotels, banks, and post office exchanges, and buy currency instead at the competitive bureaux lining Viru Street and the main square. For a superior dining experience, avoid the standard tourist fare of the venerable Eeslitall, and seek out instead the secluded Controvento, on Munga Alley. Better atmosphere for Italian food outside of San Francisco I have not had.
The only slightly less cool Primavera, on Narva, offers better service and a comparable espresso.
For the authentic American-in-Estonia experience, eat at Fat Margaret's cafe, located in the Sea Fortress at the end of Pikk Street.
The cannon tower, Fat Margaret, offers an incredible view of the bay, that can only be matched by the sub-style sandwiches and nachos inside.
Theater, cinema, and music, especially the ever-cool Musika Bar (at Raekoja Square), are at your fingertips thanks to the ubiquitous calendars and placards in Vanalinn, but Tallinn's finest offering has to be the pub crawl.
Estonians have raised the pub crawl to an art form. Bars are tucked in every nook and cranny, with several on every block.
I find no reason to spend all night in the overpriced Boiler Room (in Eeslitall), Kower Korts bar or Nimeta (The Bar With No Name), when I can explore the whole spectrum.
Try to stop into the legendary Hell Hunt ("Gentle Wolf") on Pikk street, which sometimes has live music, and don't miss "Diesel Boots," a surreal attempt by a Finnish enterprise to create an "American" bar. Kitsch? Schmaltz? Schlock? An American's rich yiddish heritage can't begin to describe it.
Heading into the Old Town, skip Piraat, Amigo, Othello, Lucky Luke's and go right to the fabulous Hollywood, located in the Soprus theater. For an outrageous 50 crown (around $5) cover, you too can mingle with Tallinn's glitterati.
But there is a hipper alternative to the standard offering of techno dance: the hopping Van Krahli's remains a perennial favorite for when you need my Recommended Nightly Allowance of jazz and blues.