Visiting Estonia

I’ve visited Estonia five times since 2021, but telling people that it’s one of my favourite destinations often earns blank stares. All three Baltic countries are underrated tourist destinations, and I hope to write about my visits to Latvia soon. I haven’t been to Lithuania, but from what I’ve read it also deserves to be called “underrated”. I’ll give a few reasons that I love making trips to Estonia.

The atmosphere

Estonia has a wholesome and refreshing atmosphere. This even applies to its largest city, Tallinn (population 450,000). It’s easy to forget Tallinn’s size when walking the streets of its Old Town or trendy Rotermann Quarters. Cars are scarce in both of these areas, and the resulting silence imbues both areas with a feeling of tranquillity. A person doesn’t feel pressure to get off the streets and to their destination; they’re free to wander and explore where they will. Compare this to Dublin, where the pavement is saturated with heavy pedestrian traffic and adjacent to busy roads, and busy souvenir shops start to seem like a welcoming respite from the noisy chaos outside.

This tranquillity is temporarily disturbed when a cruise ship regurgitates its brood (of tourists) onto Tallinn’s cobbled streets. Up to hundreds of people gaggle and throng as one disjointed unit, concentrating near the most fabled sights and rarely straying far from the rest of the group. They often cluster around a tour guide, making it easy to them at distance even without leaving the central square. They’re not known to harbour black plague, but it seems silly to tempt fate.

Vanalinn: Old Town Tallinn

Tallinn’s Old Town is something to be experienced. Most obvious are its medieval churches and town hall, but I think the atmosphere owes just as much to the fact that nearly all of Old Town’s other buildings also hearken back to long ago. It’s immersive. Intoxicating, even. It’s like the geographically-themed areas of Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, except these buildings are real and hold centuries of history within their walls. To take the immersion even deeper, I absolutely recommend a meal at Olde Hansa: enjoy medieval-themed food served by staff in period attire, in a building dating back to 1655.

Rotermanni kvartal: Rotermann Quarter

The cityscape of Old Town, wonderful and priceless as it is, holds second place in my heart to that of the nearby Rotermann Quarter. I’ve never seen so many instances of modern, daring, Nordic architecture in one place. Each building is a work of art in its own right, and walking the streets of Rotermann can start to feel like a visit to an art gallery. The buildings all manage to complement each other and contribute to a unified feel, in spite of their individual uniqueness. To me, this concentrated collection of high-quality modern architecture was, and continues to be, a meditative and almost religious experience. It is a reminder that architecture is truly art, and that in Tallinn modern architecture is alive and well.

To top it all off, the small but fantastic Estonian Museum of Architecture is located here! Tallinn’s history has resulted in some unique building designs, as Estonian architects found creative ways to challenge and push the uniform and conservative architectural boundaries enforced by the Soviets during the USSR’s occupation of the country that lasted until 1991. In addition to lots of photos and models of various architecture in Tallinn, the museum provides information on themes and meanings that are sometimes hidden in the design of particular buildings.

If architecture isn’t your thing, the area is full of chic shopping and dining opportunities. There are two standout places for me. Røst brews great coffee, but their pastries are next level. Pastries come and pastries go, but the taste of Røst’s kardamonisaiake (cardamon pastries) will never be forgotten. Seriously, if you’re not diabetic you ought to try one.

Just across the (pedestrian-only) street from Røst is Purée, a vegetarian spot offering soups and savoury pastries. Let me emphasise: I am not a soup guy – not even a little bit. Yet I make a point of coming here at least once every trip, because the chef is magic and creates dishes with flavours that can honestly be called a revelation: a flavour explosion that I would not have expected from a healthy, vegetarian soup. So far, every dish and soup I have tried at Purée has been nothing short of delightful, and so I continue to return. As an added bonus, the food is simple, fresh and nutritious, so lunch doesn’t hinder you from further exploration (apart from heartburn, maybe).

There is new and ongoing construction each time I visit Tallinn, proof that the Estonians continue to reclaim their city.

Value

Estonia’s character is second-to-none, but other countries have similar offerings. Finland has even larger forests, and possesses a similar language and culture to Estonia. Old Town Turku is also pedestrian-friendly and has areas that are largely free of four-wheeled traffic. Europe has other cities that maintain a medieval old town, that were either spared from the 20th century’s destruction or were restored post-war. What really makes Estonia stand out among the Nordic countries is its affordability.

Meals, coffee, hotels and taxis are all significantly cheaper than Finland, Sweden, Norway or Denmark, and this gives you options. You might choose to stay and experience Estonia longer; you might opt to shell out for a few really nice dinners or a better hotel. Whatever you decide, you’re getting more for your money here. In fact, apart from airfare, the daily cost while visiting Estonia for me could very well be as expensive as my day-to-day life in the States, especially considering that Estonia doesn’t have tipping culture (consider it a 20% discount) and taxes are generally included in Estonia’s listed prices (add another 5-15% to prices in the U.S. to get the out-of-pocket cost).