City Break 100 Free Offers & Discounts for Exploring Tallinn!
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City Break 100 free offers & discounts for exploring Tallinn! Tallinn Card is your all-in-one ticket to the very best the city has to offer. Accepted in 100 locations, the card presents a simple, cost-effective way to explore Tallinn on your own, choosing the sights that interest you most. Tips to save money with Tallinn Card Sample visits with Normal 48 h 48 h Tallinn Card Adult Tallinn Price Card 48-hour Tallinn Card - €32 FREE 1st Day • Admission to 40 top city attractions, including: Sightseeing tour € 20 € 0 – Museums Seaplane Harbour (Lennusadam) € 10 € 0 – Churches, towers and town wall – Tallinn Zoo and Tallinn Botanic Garden Kiek in de Kök and Bastion Tunnels € 8,30 € 0 – Tallinn TV Tower and Seaplane Harbour National Opera Estonia -15% € 18 € 15,30 (Lennusadam) • Unlimited use of public transport 2nd Day • One city sightseeing tour of your choice Tallinn TV Tower € 7 € 0 • Ice skating in Old Town • Bicycle and boat rental Estonian Open Air Museum with free audioguide € 15,59 € 0 • Bowling or billiards Tallinn Zoo € 5,80 € 0 • Entrance to one of Tallinn’s most popular Public transport (Day card) € 3 € 0 nightclubs • All-inclusive guidebook with city maps Bowling € 18 € 0 Total cost € 105,69 € 47,30 DISCOUNTS ON *Additional discounts in restaurants, cafés and shops plus 130-page Tallinn Card guidebook • Sightseeing tours in Tallinn and on Tallinn Bay • Day trips to Lahemaa National Park, The Tallinn Card is sold at: the Tallinn Tourist Information Centre Naissaare and Prangli islands (Niguliste 2), hotels, the airport, the railway station, on Tallinn-Moscow • Food and drink in restaurants, bars and cafés and Tallinn-St. Petersburg trains, the passanger port, Eckerö Line and • Purchases in handicraft and design shops Viking Line ferries, the bus station, travel agents and online. • Concert, opera, theatre and cinema tickets • Spas and swimming pools Prices 2014 24 h 48 h 72 h • Car rental Adults € 24 € 32 € 40 • Skiing, go-karting and adventure park fun Children (up to 14 years) € 12 € 16 € 20 • Helsinki Card For up to date prices and information, please check our website. www.tallinncard.ee WELCOME TO TALLINN 1 Contents Explore Tallinn 4 City of Culture 24 Wining & Dining 30 Relax & Recharge 34 Shopping 42 Museums and Attractions 47 Facts and Tips 49 Accommodation 54 Published by Tallinn City Tourist Office & Convention Bureau • Vabaduse väljak 7, 15199 Tallinn, Estonia • Phone +372 645 7777, Fax +372 645 7778 • [email protected] • www.tourism.tallinn.ee • Text by Steven Q. Roman and Abdul Hamid Turay, Piret Saar • Edited by: Virve Vihman • Design by Indrek Sirkel and Jan Tomson • Photos by Allan Alajaan, Tuuli Antsov, Johannes Arro, Ain Avik, Tallinn Cruises, Draakon Gallery, EAS, Estonian Open Air Museum, Estravel, Tallinn Zoo, Tavi Grepp, Kaido Haagen, Jaan Heinmaa, Inga Jaanson, Mari Kadanik, Rein Kotov, Karel Koplimets, Villu Kraan, Paul Kuimet, Lauri Laan, Meelis Lokk, Madis Luik, Andreas Meichsner, Kaarel Mikkin, Kristjan Mändmaa, Madis Palm, Annika Palvari, Pirita Top Spa, Eduard Pukkonen, Andres Putting, Rene Riisalu, Harri Rospu, Serge Rompza, Rivo Sarapik, Port of Tallinn, Scanpix, Niko Soveri, Stanislav Stepaško, Sven Zacek, Mart Taniel, Kaido Teesalu, Liine Toomse, Andres Treial, Toomas Tuul, Sandra Urvak, Anu Vahtra, Sigrid Viir, Toomas Volmer, Sergei Zjuganov • Cover photo by: Anu Vahtra • Printed by Vaba Maa AS • © 2013 2 WELCOME TO TALLINN Welcome to Tallinn! WELCOME TO TALLINN 3 Tales of Tallinn Charmingly Medieval or amazingly modern? Figuring out which describes Tallinn is a tough job. On one hand, the city’s pride and joy is its historic Old Town, an enchanting neighbourhood of centuries- old streets, houses, towers and squares that looks like it was torn right from the pages of a storybook. On the other hand, the Old Town and the City Centre are full of cutting-edge restaurants, cafés and clubs that give Tallinn its energy and buzz. Visitors are often amazed by the newness of the place: the gleaming shops, the stylish interiors, the plush hotels. High-tech solutions go hand-in-hand with life in Tallinn, like free, wireless Internet available practically everywhere and the common practice of paying for parking by mobile phone. This is, after all, the country that invented Skype. Call it old, new, or some kind of hybrid, Tallinn is an ideal destination for a short break. For one, It is a highly compact city, most of which can easily be explored on foot without taxis or buses. Most of the best opportunities for sightseeing, cultural events, dining, shopping, and nightlife are conveniently massed in the city centre. There’s plenty to do, but if you're coming here for a real break, you should know that Tallinn is also a great place to do very little: take a quiet stroll through a park, relax in a health spa or – if the weather permits – sit on a beach. Whatever your agenda, whichever Tallinn you need – the romantic, Medieval Tallinn or the trendy, high-tech Tallinn – the doors are open. Just head on in! 4 EXPLORE TALLINN Explore Tallinn Go right ahead and gape. You’ll be in good company – curious visitors have been awestruck by Tallinn ever since the city sprang up eight centuries ago. Steeped in Medieval charm, yet always on the cutting edge of modernity, the city offers today’s travellers much to see. EXPLORE TALLINN 5 The Story of Tallinn 8,000–3,000 BC: Finno-Ugric ancestors of the Estonians migrate to the Baltic coast. Explore Tallinn 11th–12th centuries AD: Estonian clans use what’s now the Tallinn area as marketplace and a harbour; maintain a wooden fortress on Toompea hill. 1154: Tallinn first mentioned in historic records by Arab cartographer al-Idrisi. 1219: Danish forces capture Tallinn. 1227–1238: German merchant families from Gotland settle at the base of Toompea, sowing the seeds of Tallinn as a Germanic trade town. 13th–15th centuries: City sees rapid growth as a major trading point between East and West. In 1248, Lübeck Law is adopted, giving Tallinn self-governing status.In 1284 Tallinn joins the Hanseatic League. 1346: Danes sell their Estonian holdings to the Livonian Order. 1558–1583: During the Livonian War, Tallinn is attacked and besieged by the forces of Ivan the Terrible. Estonia ends up under Swedish rule. 1710: Great Northern War (1700–1721) leaves Estonia under Russian Empire. Tsar Peter the Great sets up a summer estate and calls it Kadriorg. 1860–1880: National Awakening gives Estonians a newfound sense of cultural identity. 1918: With World War I raging, Estonia declares independence on February 24. 1920s–30s: Republic of Estonia is an internationally recognised independent country. 1940–1944: Red Army forces occupy and annex Estonia into U.S.S.R. Mass arrests and deportations follow. Nazi invasion in 1941 brings its own occupation and Holocaust. When U.S.S.R. reinvades in 1944, tens of thousands flee to Sweden by ship. 1945–1991: Soviet occupation, Estonia is cut off from the West. 1987–1988: The “Singing Revolution” – large-scale protests against Moscow’s rule in the form of traditional mass singing events. 1991: Estonia declares independence on August 20. 1990s: Economic transformation accom- panied by widespread development of IT infrastructure. In 1997, Tallinn is added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. 2004: Estonia joins the European Union and NATO. 2011: The country becomes the 17th member of the Eurozone. Tallinn takes on its role as European Capital of Culture. MART TANIEL MART 6 EXPLORE TALLINN Medieval Old Town Town Hall Square Tallinn’s & Town Hall Raekoja plats 1 Old Town www.tallinn.ee/raekoda Twisting cobblestone lanes Picturesque Town Hall Square has been the undisputed and iron street lamps. Gothic hub of Old Town for eight spires and Medieval markets. centuries. Surrounded by Cappuccino and Wi-Fi. This is historic merchant houses and, the city’s famous Old Town. in summer, packed with café If you’re looking for that mix tables, it’s a natural magnet for tourists. Originally it served as of historic ambience and a market and a meeting place, cutting-edge culture that and was the site of at least one defines Tallinn, you’ll find it execution (resulting from a here. Built up from the 13th to dispute over a bad omelette). Find the round stone marked 16th centuries, when Tallinn with a compass rose in the was a thriving member of middle of the square. From this ALAJAAN ALLAN the Hanseatic trade league, spot, with a little stretching this enclosed neighbourhood and bending, you can see of colourful, gabled houses, the roofs of all five of Old old thomas, the town’s Town’s spires. Dominating favourite guard half-hidden courtyards and the square’s east side is the Back in the days of yore, an grandiose churches is, quite Town Hall, built in 1402–1404 archery contest was held each rightly, the city’s biggest as the headquarters for the spring to see who could shoot tourist draw. And the fact ruling burgermeisters. Today a wooden parrot off the top of a it’s Northern Europe’s only that it’s all neatly packaged high pole. It was a serious annual intact – and best-preserved – tradition, reserved exclusively within a mostly-intact city Gothic town hall. Look closely for the men of noble families. One wall and dotted with guard at the top of the 64-metre spire year, so the legend goes, none of the towers gives it an extra dose to see a weather vane in the contestants was able to hit the target. of fairytale charm. In 1997, shape of Old Thomas, Tallinn's A plucky boy called Thomas was in the mustachioed mascot.