Christmas Tallinn or why you should definitely come to Estonia in winter! Tallinn on the eve of Christmas What museums can you visit on Christmas in Tallinn

The second part of our Christmas trip this year arose from a long-standing desire to visit the capital of independent Estonia, since the only time my wife and I were there was almost 30 years ago with the specific purpose of buying a blanket for our young family. We completed the task, but we practically didn’t see the city. And then my brother visited Tallinn in the summer and was greatly delighted with the old city. My daughter has been there twice and also recommended it. In short, we're going to hell.
The ferry from Stockholm was waiting for us at the terminal, and during the trip one thing really confused me - the ferry departs at 17-45, and dinner starts at 17-15. I even double-checked it on the website - exactly. Interestingly, despite the Swedish Schengen status on board the ferry, an Estonian guy with an experienced eye picked us out from the crowd of passengers and asked us in Russian to show our passport.
The cabin was ordered without a window, but quite comfortable even with a TV, which showed about 15 channels, of which one broadcast a live show from the ferry cabaret, the second – a live broadcast from the captain’s bridge, and the third showed a map with a route - so you know where we are.
Dinner, a buffet, was paid in advance and was cheaper than on the Helsinki-Stockholm line, but with one small but significant addition - drinks were not included in the price. And the drinks were quite expensive - a bottle of wine - 23-25 ​​euros, a glass of wine - 5-6 euros, a glass of beer - 2-4 euros. Although, in general, the choice was richer.
Among the passengers was a group of hot Estonian guys who were trying their best to match their Finnish counterparts - but clearly did not achieve the desired degree.
The extensive cultural program did not attract us, so we went to bed early.
In the morning, I was pleased to see the panorama of the city from the water - it was already light, and two sister ships of our ferry stood at the pier - a spectacular sight.
We took a taxi to the hotel, although the ride there was 5 minutes. A trip with boarding and a discount issued along with ferry boarding passes cost 75 CZK.
The Nordic Hotel Forum pleased us, especially the room with a translucent wall in the bathroom, which gave it a certain frivolity.
The first trip to the city did not pursue specific goals, and it was impossible to follow them - the old city amazed us so much. We entered through the Virus Gate, there are 200 meters to the Town Hall, which we covered as if in a dream - such beauty all around! And then it started snowing. In short, when we walked out onto the Town Hall Square, I was simply in ecstasy! The fair looks magical! And it’s especially nice that all the products there are locally produced and mostly handmade.
Since we walked without a goal, the city opened up gradually and with more and more impression - we passed the Town Hall, here is Pikk Street, here is the Long Leg, then we came to the observation deck - by accident, because... If you search, you will get confused. Each house is like in a fairy tale. There are cozy cafes and shops everywhere – there’s a Christmas theme everywhere.
We walked along Harju Street and went outside the Old Town to the square - and there was a surprise - there were huge Lapland tents - there was some kind of ethnic exhibition in them. The board next to it shows - 12 degrees - fresh! Having decided to warm up, we returned to the hotel, booking a table at Pepperzak on the way - without this we might not have gotten to the show. We had lunch in the building next to the hotel - there is an excellent cafe there - hot food, coffee and cakes cost us 230 crowns.
And outside the window it was already dark - new incentives to explore the city appeared - now we walked more specifically - along Pikk and Lai streets, to Fat Margaret, past the Oleviste Cathedral, the Three Sisters (a stunning New Year's ancient interior inside), we found an unusual snow-covered open air theater. At the Niguliste Church we watched a video on a TV installed in a special niche about the history of Harju Street. And the snowstorm intensified and drove us into the warmth - into the “Pepperzack” that was repeatedly mentioned in tourist reviews. What can I say – we liked it, especially the honey beer. And we ate duck in oranges and meat in cherry wine - no words! It cost 750 crowns. We waited for the show, which started at 20-30 and took place a meter from our table - my wife only ducked when swords were waved over her head. We had a very good place - on the balcony.
Coming out of the restaurant, we were once again enchanted by the view of the Town Hall and the city covered with snow - it was already quite late and therefore deserted.
Returning to the hotel, I still managed to use the services of the relaxation center and the day ended on an excellent note.
Breakfast at the hotel corresponded to the overall pleasant experience - it all ended with watermelon.
The third trip to the city was planned along the route of yesterday evening - I wanted to see everything again in daylight. It turned out to be no worse. Finally we went to the Dome Cathedral, examined the Long Herman Tower, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, St. Nicholas Cathedral and again missed Niguliste - it is only open from Wednesday to Sunday.
At the same time, they tried to solve two important problems - what souvenirs to buy for family and what restaurant to dine at. Both questions were only part of a large selection - I had with me a printout of two reviews from this site - “4 days in Tallinn” and “Tallinn on a silver platter. Restaurants and cafes. A delicious guide”, which we meticulously studied. As a result, having passed all the checkpoints, we chose the Sisalik restaurant. Overall I liked it, although the portions could have been larger. Another duck and lamb ribs with wine cost 610 CZK. By the way, we chose the restaurant based on the criteria of non-tourism and authenticity. This was it in full.
But before that, I took another route - leaving the Old Town. By chance I ended up at a Christmas concert in the cathedral - the hall was full of people, half of them were children, and they brought whole classes. groups of children came to the altar, sang a song, the audience joined in - everyone was given printed texts - in short, a religious and festive event. By the way, in St. Petersburg they also began to hold such events before Christmas - in the Lutheran Church on Malaya Konyushennaya, in Petrishul - children's groups perform reporting concerts there, and the main audience is their parents.
Near our hotel we found another very interesting object - the Rotermann quarter - an area of ​​former factories and factories, converted into offices, shops, showrooms, etc. The atmosphere is very unusual - matching the interiors - everything is exclusive, quite expensive and aimed at young people. Unfortunately, there are not enough people yet. On the other side of the hotel there is the Forum business center - a plaza with 3 upper glass floors with offices - in the evening it is very unusually illuminated with dynamic lights - they literally run and flow over the glass walls and rooms.
Another visit to the Relax Center and a view of the snowstorm from the Jacuzzi over the Old Town completed the second day in Tallinn.
The next day, departure was planned for 14-30, so in the morning I took a short jog to the area of ​​​​Tallinn skyscrapers - the buildings of SEB, Radisson and other monsters look quite defiant against the background of wooden barracks and Khrushchev houses located around. This is probably an attempt to create a new face of Tallinn - but whether they will like it after the beautiful old face of (the city) is a question.
Unlike previous trips, this time we practically did not go to local stores - shopping centers, although there were enough of them around the hotel, incl. the new Solaris, in which a huge birch tree rises to the ceiling, on which a parrot (?) sits. Maybe another mistake in understanding the nature of the middle zone? And all around you sell Christmas trees at prices ranging from 200 to 650 CZK - very beautiful.
The last impression - and not the most pleasant one - was from a tram ride towards the bus station - literally 3 stops from the skyscrapers - and we were again in the province with wooden houses and panel monsters. And in the buffet of the station itself there is a Sachertorte (!) with a chocolate seal (!) for 15 crowns!
But the snow-white, handsome Eurolines bus is ready to take us home. The trip lasts 7 hours 15 minutes, including 1 hour spent at the border - equally in Narva and Ivangorod. And again the mentality - at our customs there is only one toilet - for both employees and tourists.
Conclusion - the trip was a success, it went without any hiccups. I liked Tallinn very much - in its old part, since there is simply nothing to see outside the walls, and there is no need to, so as not to destroy the aura. And there is certainly an aura, especially before Christmas and when it snows. Thank you for your attention.

I screwed up and broke my finger. If there had been less ice on it, the finger would have been intact. But it’s good at least a finger, not a leg or a neck.

• Parking! It's the end of lunch! On January 1st, the transition to the euro took place. And an amazing situation developed. The parking meters only accepted crowns (they didn’t have time to reprogram them) and only in bills of 5, 10 and 25 crowns. While nowhere did they agree to give change in crowns. It was impossible to get crowns even from banks! And of course, all the inscriptions on the information stands of parking meters were ONLY IN ESTONIAN! As a result, on the first evening, in order to pay for parking, we first called all our friends and acquaintances in Estonia to find out how the device was supposed to work, and why it spits out everything we put into it (euros and 100-crown bills left over from previous trips ). Then we unsuccessfully called several times on the phone number listed on the parking meter. We didn’t immediately realize that if we listened to a long speech in Estonian and English, then they would then tell us in Russian that technical support works only during working hours from 9 to 17. By some miracle, we guessed to come to a large bus stop and persuade the conductors to exchange euros for us for crowns in small denominations. Of course, not everyone agreed, and the process of extracting crowns took us about 2 hours. It’s good that at least the police officers on duty near the parking lot understood the situation and did not fine us for free parking of our cars. But they couldn't help in any way. As it turns out, they have no idea how to use parking meters. Apparently all police officers in Estonia are provided with free parking spaces.

• Mobile parking! In Estonia, it is considered convenient to pay for parking using a mobile phone. Perhaps, if you have a personal contract with a telephone operator, in which you have linked your bank account to the contract, this is convenient. You send an SMS and money starts flowing from your account. You send the second SMS and the money stops flowing. But how can we, tourists, have such a contract? And why do we need it? We just bought local SIM cards to have a cheap connection. Fortunately, you can buy SIM cards without even showing your passport. As the Tele2 operator explained to us, in order to pay for parking with such a SIM card, you need to make a bunch of magical combinations. First you need to call a certain short number, and 5 euros will be transferred to a certain parking account. And then send an SMS with the parking number. Only misunderstandings appeared again. We had 3 cars, and from 3 phones we performed the same magical actions - first a call, and then an SMS. We got 3 different results. In the first case, we were immediately charged 5 euros per day of parking (which is what we wanted). In the second case, an SMS request to extend parking was received 5 times, after which (after charging us 5 euros) the system parked our car for a day, and in the third case, at 2 o’clock in the morning an SMS (in Estonian) came, which said that 5 The euros have run out, and therefore the parking is finished. This is despite the fact that the car was delivered at 21-00. That is, they charged me 5 times for 1 euro for each hour, but they didn’t park the car for a day. Only on Monday, when working days began, parking technical support helped us pay for parking from a bank account (it’s not clear what those who don’t have an account in Estonia should do). And with that, our torment with paying for parking ended. True, I had to turn a blind eye to the fact that 10 euros transferred to the parking account turned out to be impossible to return from it. The Tele2 operator offered us to use this money on future visits to Estonia.

• On January 6th, when I came to the parking lot in the morning, I discovered that the side window of my car had been broken and the interior had been thoroughly cleaned. Nothing particularly valuable was taken away, but the fact itself! The most valuable things that were lost were children's cartoons on DVD, which the child watched on the way, and charging from the navigator, which helped us make our way around Tallinn. But it’s not even a matter of losses, but a broken window in winter. The parking lot operator explained to us that they are responsible for the safety of cars only in covered parking lots, where there is a security guard on duty (and where the price per day = 20 euros). Well, we didn’t file a complaint with the police because we already had to leave (the time for leaving the border was booked), and a showdown with the police would take at least 2-3 hours. As a result, we went to Russia with the window covered with tape.

When leaving Estonia, another “surprise” awaited us - although we had a departure booked for 6 pm, we left Estonia only at 8 o’clock, and crossed the Russian side of the border at 10 pm. And again thanks to the Russian side of customs. Estonians let cars through almost instantly, only looking into the trunk for show. On our side, the border guards were not only interested in the contents of all the packages and nooks and crannies in the car, but also found time to regularly disappear from sight for 10-15 minutes. As a result, through their coordinated actions, our valiant border guards were able to increase the border crossing time from the usual hour to an indecent 4 and a half hours!

In general, the trip to Tallinn left a favorable impression on everyone. The rest in the city itself is beyond praise. But we’re definitely not going to drive our car across the border for long holidays anymore.

Summer is over, and the time for the beautiful bright waltz of autumn leaves has begun. Seasons change quickly, so it's time to think about the New Year holidays. Going to Estonia for the winter holidays is a good choice, because Estonia has a fabulous atmosphere at this time of year. If you are planning a New Year's holiday in Estonia, then pay attention to the capital of our country - Tallinn. In Tallinn you will feel a special Christmas atmosphere, here it is created not only by ancient streets, paved with paving stones and snow-covered tiled roofs, but also by the special aroma of spiced cookies, the aroma of hot wine and blood sausages - this is the real smell of New Year and Christmas!

Estonia is a country with several religious denominations, mainly Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Christmas is celebrated here, so the Christmas holiday period begins earlier than in many countries. Preparations for Christmas begin in November, and the holidays last almost until mid-January. Already at the beginning of November, Christmas decorations, candles on windows and Christmas trees begin to appear in the central squares of the country. The most important Christmas tree in Estonia is located in the capital - Tallinn on Town Hall Square. The main tree is always the tallest and fluffiest, decorated with lights that are lit on the first day of Advent - this is the four-week period of anticipation for Christmas. The beginning of this period is especially awaited by children, to whom, until Christmas, magical gnomes “päkapikud” will come at night and leave sweets in hanging socks. Thanks to this fun children's tradition, you can see red Christmas socks or boots on the windowsills.

During the Christmas period, every Estonian family prepares different delicacies. Christmas dishes include “verivorst” blood sausages, which are made from pearl barley with the addition of blood; potato piglets “kartulipores”, stewed cabbage (mulgi), and of course spicy ginger cookies in the form of figures, which are painted with “pipparkook” icing. Since it can be quite cold in Estonia in winter, they offer to warm up with spicy hot wine (hõõgvein), which is offered in almost all bars and cafes; it can be either alcoholic or non-alcoholic made from grape juice. In addition to these dishes, rabbit, duck, pickled pumpkin and marzipan cakes are served at Christmas.

The entire celebration will be concentrated in the old city. On Town Hall Square, under the Christmas tree, there will be a Christmas market, where anyone can find a gift to their liking. Everything that is sold in these wonderful shops is made only by hand. Christmas music keeps you in the festive mood. And on the large screen located on the stage, you can enjoy the visual effects.

For the youngest visitors of the fair, they will be able to ride on a train, pony, or Christmas carousel, admire Santa Claus’s reindeer, or go straight to Santa Claus himself. In our country he is called the Elder of the Nativity “Jouluvana”. He happily receives the kids in his house on Ratushnaya Square, asks how the child behaved all year and what gift he wants for the new year. If the baby tells him a poem or sings a song, then the Christmas Starche will treat him with goodies. And on the terrace there is a mailbox where you can drop a letter with your deepest desire.

On weekends, the fair offers an entertainment program where cheerful gnomes will come to your aid. There will be many competitions organized, such as: a competition for making a Christmas toy, competitions for the best decorated Christmas tree, a poetry competition and much more.

In a word, Christmas in our country is celebrated fabulously, sweetly and calmly! For the Christmas dinner itself, it is best to go to a restaurant with national cuisine, where you will be even more inspired by the Christmas traditions of the Estonians. It is worth booking a table in advance. Recommendations for restaurants: 1) restaurant Eesti soogi tuba (Pikk street 29); 2) restaurant Kuldne Nortsu (Dunkri St. 8); 3) Beer House restaurant (5 Dunkri St.).

Immediately after Christmas comes New Year. Throughout the New Year holidays, the Town Hall market continues to operate at the Town Hall. And on New Year's Eve itself, the old city becomes a gathering place for all residents and guests of the city. Until the morning, at the Town Hall they conduct a program in different languages, at exactly midnight, as is tradition, they sing Abba’s song “Happy New Year”, and a beautiful fireworks display is launched from the free square. We recommend celebrating New Year's Eve itself in restaurants with a program; also, each hotel offers a program with dinner, a host and a nanny for your children.

When the holidays are over, and you still have time that you want to spend usefully, then we advise you to attend excursions and master classes. All New Year's holidays, you can go to a tasting of Estonian liqueurs, take part in a master class on Estonian cuisine, you can bake and paint gingerbread, and make a Christmas toy. Every day there will be evening excursions about legends and ghosts in our city, walking and bus excursions.

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New Year's holidays and Christmas days are probably the most awaited time for everyone. You are waiting for a miracle, you want to give and receive gifts. Enjoy the Christmas story. People of different nationalities live in Estonia, especially in Tallinn. And people celebrate in different ways, some in a noisy, cheerful company, and some in a small family circle.

All visiting guests always try to visit the old part of the city. All the main streets of the Old Town will lead to the Town Hall Square, where the tradition of celebrating Christmas has developed for centuries. They say that the first Christmas tree was installed here by the Brotherhood of Blackheads in 1441.

Town Hall Square, from the beginning of its existence, served as a market square. There is a lively trade here to this day - various fairs and concerts, summer street cafes, and in winter a Christmas market near the beautiful Christmas tree. It's just that there isn't enough snow these days. But maybe you will be lucky and snow will fall on your visit.

I visited the Old Town twice in December and it was always drizzling. Despite the cloudy weather, there are many people walking in the square. In the trading houses you can buy handicrafts and delicious sweets as gifts.

Don't need gifts? You can simply take a walk around the houses, plunge into the festive atmosphere and enjoy the taste of hot sausages. Black blood sausages are a festive national food served on the Christmas table in Estonia. Their large selection in the store can only be found for a couple of months, in December and January. And for the main course, they offer stewed sauerkraut, baked potatoes, roast pork, lingonberry salad/jam and sweet pickled pumpkin. This set of food is considered the main Estonian dish and is served in many Estonian restaurants for Christmas and New Year.

In cold weather, hot mulled wine or aromatic tea with homemade sweets will be very useful.

You can also meet our Baltic neighbors from Lithuania at the market.

Don't forget to visit Grandfather Frost! He is waiting for everyone in his house next to the stage from 12.00 to 19.00.

In each historical building around the town hall square there are cafes and restaurants, each with its own design and theme, and a different menu. So the choice is yours as to who suits what.

If you are used to Russian cuisine, go to the Troika restaurant.

Or maybe you want the Middle Ages? Look into the basement of the Town Hall, they will conjure something for you there.

Old Tallinn is interesting in any weather and at any time of the year. Walking through medieval streets gives a certain feeling.

I am a lover of delicious desserts made from natural products, where the quality of the product’s composition comes first, and not the appearance - an exclusive decoration made from unknown things and how to eat it. Therefore, I will recommend two of my favorite cafes in the old town - this is a very small cafe/shop Gourmet Glub immediately after the Tallinn Gate at the entrance to the Old Town and a little further along the same street cafe Rukis

In addition to delicious desserts, the Rukis cafe also sells fresh bread. And you can also have a full lunch or dinner there.

You can add to the mood in festively decorated gift and souvenir shops. It's so beautiful there now!

Every city is especially beautiful on holidays. It is believed that the most beautiful Christmas tree in Europe is in Yes, that's true. But medieval Tallinn beckons with its magic.

Come to Tallinn! This is a great place for a fun New Year's Eve! There are many entertainment activities in Russian. Search or watch the program

I wish you a peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year!

More exciting travels, joy and good luck!

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