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CHAPTER 3 : TALLINN Main attractions in Tallinn
Some facts about Estonia
Capital city: Tallinn (440 000 inhabitants)
Area: 45 339 km2 (the smallest of the Baltic countries)
Population: about 1 312 000 inhabitants
Density: 30 inhabitants/km2
Life expectancy: 72,5 years for men and 81,6 years for women
GDP per inhabitant: 11 850€
Unemployment rate: 10%
Currency: euro (since 2011)
Time zone: GMT (+03 :00), meaning 1 hour more than in France
Language: Latvian
Political regime: parliamentary democracy
Head of state: Kersti Kaljulaid (since October 2016)
Prime minister: Jüri Ratas (since November 2016)
St Alexander Nevski Cathedral: this 1404 when Tallinn was a flourishing Hanseatic city.
spectacular, onion-domed structure perched atop It was a meeting place for the ruling burgomeisters
Toompea Hill is Estonia’s main Russian Orthodox and has been a showpiece of the city ever since. The
management of the city worked in the Town Hall
Budget in Tallinn and banks cathedral. It’s also by far the grandest, most opulent until 1970. From June to August, visitors can climb up
Orthodox church in Tallinn. Built in 1900, when
the 64- metre tower to get some amazing Old Town
A stay in Tallinn is still affordable although with the Almost all larger hotels, stores and Estonia was part of the tsarist Russian empire, the views, or head down to the cellars for the occasional
cathedral was originally intended as a symbol of the
changeover to the euro and the European leveling Money restaurants accept Visa & MasterCard, empire’s dominance over this increasingly unruly exhibition.
of prices, those of the guests tend to climb seriously. many of them also Eurocard, Diner’s Baltic territory.The church’s towers’ hold Tallinn’s
However, they are still inferior to those of the major Club and American Express. However, most powerful church bell ensemble, consisting of Address : Raekoja Plats EST Tallinn
European capitals. The rest of the country is more it is advisable to carry some cash Euros 11 bells, including the largest in Tallinn, weighing 15 Opening hours : 10am-4pm Mon-Sat Jul-Aug
affordable and the restaurants are very often cheap. Price : 5€/adult
with you. tonnes.
There are many Banks in Tallinn. There
Restaurants are ATM’s in all of the city. Address : Lossi plats 10 EST - 10130 Tallinn Estonian Open Air Museum: travel back to the
• Cheap : less than 10€ Opening hours : Mon–Friday 08:00 - 19:00 rural Estonia of old in this vast, living museum filled
with recreated, 18-20th century villages. The forested
Price : free
• Average prices : 10-18€ park comprises numerous thatched farm buildings
• Chic : over 30€ Toompea Castle has always been the seat of as well as historic windmills, a wooden chapel and
Emergencies and PHone power in Estonia. Ever since the German Knights of a village school. Staff is period costume demonstrate
Drinks the Sword first built a stone fortress here in 1227- how people lived and worked in times past. Visitors
can buy handicrafts and try out the traditional foods
Fairly affordable prices. A beer (in half) costs about If in a serious emergency, there are two 29, every foreign empire that ruled Estonia used served in the village tavern.
1.50 to 2 €, an espresso around 1 €, a soda roughly numbers to be remembered: the castle as its base. Today it’s home to Estonia’s Address : Vabaõhumuuseumi tee 12, 13521 Tallinn
1,50€, cocktails from 3 to 6 €. 110 - Police Parliament. Opening hours : Every day 10-20h
112 - Emergency (Police, Ambulance and Fire Address : Lossi plats 1a, Tallinn Old Town Price : 9€/adult
Taxi department)
Taxis are also cheap. Taxi ride 4 to 6 € and from the To call to Estonia, dial +372 Tallinn Town Hall is the oldest surviving town Other places of interest: Paks Margareeta Museum, St.
airport maximum 10 €. hall in the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. The Catherine’s Passage, Viru Gate
building history of the Town Hall goes back to the
25 13th century. In its present form it was completed in 26
