Travel to Tallinn
Flying to Tallinn
Tallinn is a popular city-break destination and naturally many European airlines fly direct to Tallinn. From the UK, Air Baltic, British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair operate direct flights to Tallinn. Cheap fares are available year-round. From Germany, Air Baltic and Lufthansa fly direct to Tallinn. From the Netherlands, Air Baltic, KLM and LOT fly direct to Tallinn. There are no direct flight from the USA to Tallinn.
Tallinn International Airport is about 4km (2.5 miles) southeast of the Tallinn city centre.
Flight times
From London - 2 hours 45 minutes
From New York - 10 hours (including stopover)
From Los Angeles - 13 hours 40 minutes (including stopover)
From Toronto - 11 hours 15 minutes (including stopover)
From Sydney - 23 hours (including stopover)
Travel by road
Estonia is a modern and impressive country and you can expect the roads to be well maintained too.
Traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18. Speed limits are 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas, 90kph (56mph) outside towns and cities, and 110kph (68mph) on some roads in summer. Dipped headlights are required at all times.
Don't drink and drive. The legal limit for drivers is 0.02% alcohol in the blood and if you exceed that limit, the punishment can range from heavy fines to imprisonment.
Winter tyres are compulsory from 1 December to 1 March. You must carry a safety vest, two warning triangles, wheel chock and fire extinguisher in your car. Drivers must have the original vehicle registration document as well as insurance documents covering them for Estonia if driving into the country. EU licences are valid, otherwise an International Driving Permit is recommended.
Emergency breakdown services
Falck (tel: 1888, in Estonia only).
Routes
There is a good network of roads in Estonia with highways connecting Tallinn with various cities. Route 4 connects Tallinn to Pärnu in the south and from there you can drive towards Riga in Latvia. The multi-lane E20 stretches eastward all the way to St Petersburg in Russia.
Coaches
The main bus station (Tallinna Bussiterminal) is located a 10-minute walk from the Old Town at Lastekodu 46. Services run to all major Estonian towns and cities as well as outside the country to Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and all of Europe.
The main operators are Lux Express (tel: +372 680 0909; www.luxexpress.eu) and ECOLINES (tel: +372 606 2217; www.ecolines.net).
Time to city
From Pärnu - 1 hour 45 minutes; Tartu - 2 hours 15 minutes; Narva - 2 hours 30 minutes; St Petersburg - 5 hours; Riga - 4 hours; Vilnius - 7 to 8 hours.
Travel by Rail
Services
Tallinn Railway Station, Balti Jaam, Toompuiestee 35, is located just on the edge of the Old Town and offers services to domestic destinations such as Narva, Pärnu and Tartu. From Tartu, you can catch a train to Riga in Latvia.
Russian Railways also runs a direct service from Moscow and St Petersburg to Tallinn. The journey from Moscow to Tallinn is about 14-16 hours while the journey from St Petersburg to Tallinn is about seven hours.
Operators
ELRON (tel: +372 673 7400; www.elron.ee) runs Estonia's domestic trains. The daily train to/from St Petersburg and Moscow is run by Russian Railways (www.russianrail.com).
Journey times
From Pärnu - 2 hours 20 minutes; Tartu - 2 hours; Narva - 2 hours 45 minutes; St Petersburg - 7 hours; Moscow - 14-16 hours (overnight service).
Travel by boat
The ferry port of Tallinn, Sadama 25 (tel: +372 631 8555; www.portoftallinn.com) is the biggest port in Estonia and the surrounding Baltic region. It is located close to the Old Town. Tallinn ferry port facilities include tourist information, bureau de change, ATMs, bars and shops.
Ferry operators
The Tallinn-Helsinki route is serviced by three companies while two companies manage the Tallinn-Stockholm route.
