Tallinn Travel Forum

Hi Guys,

I am looking to book a trip to Estonia (Tallinn and Riga) from London for a weekend Thursday to Sunday for me and two friends, all men.

I would like to know who would you recommend to fly with for the cheapest deals?

How to approach this weekend - where to go first and how long to stay?

We are all men up for drinking and having a laugh and mainly coming to party. So I guess where is the best nightlife and recommended to go ? and where to stay in Tallinn or Riga for what duration?

Also any places of accomodation that you can recommend that's not too expensive. I guess our Budget is £200 each inc flights and hotel.

Look forward to yuor replies all help will be gratefully excepted as we have never been to Eastern europe.

Any Do's and Don'ts ?

Thanks in advance

Hi...for flights check out www.harefares.com. The site should help you narrow down which cheap airlines from from London to Tallinn or Riga.

It might help you to know that Tallinn is in Estonia, and Riga is in Latvia. they are different countries. I doubt you will be able to easily visit both in one weekend, if you wish to allow time for sleep as well as nightlife/drinking.

Look at Easyjet and Ryanair for the best fares, but be warned that flights to both cities leave very early in the morning.

As for do's and don'ts: do please be aware that you will not still be in the UK, and behaviour which is tolerated here may well not be acceptable elsewhere. Watch how others behave, and read up a little before you go.

http://www.balticsww.com/tourist/estonia/ and http://www.balticsww.com/tourist/latvia/ might be useful starting points.

You should also be aware that (as in London, and every city which has many visitors) there may well be some bars/clubs where you may find yourself being ripped-off and/or scammed.

Budget is £200 is too low for a weekend flights...

http://www.skyscanner.net/lvl/flights/lond/tll/april-2008/april-2008/cheapest-flights-per-day-to-tallinn-from-london-in-april-2008.html

You'll be able to get to either city for a good price as long as you are booking a long way ahead. At the moment, Tallinn in July with Easyjet is possible for around 80GBP; I know, because I plan to visit then.

In Riga I have stayed at the POSH Hostel, right next to the old town, it's basic but very cheap.
In Tallinn I stayed at the Old House Hostel which was very clean and again right in the centre of the old town.

It will be hard to do both Tallinn and Riga in a long weekend and either city has enough to occupy you for 3 to 4 nights.

Both cities are very historic and have a lot of cultural things to see and do, going all that way just for *** up seems a bit silly so make sure you check out the museums and old churches.

In Riga you can have a day trip to Sigulda and canoe through the national park. This is cheap and just a short train ride from Riga.

In Tallinn citybike do an excellent 2-3hour bike tour which takes you to some places we'd have never found by foot.

I couldn't recommend trying to do both Tallinn and Riga in one weekend. I think attempting to do that would kill your fun and bust your budget. I'd pick one city, stay there all weekend and have a good time. I'm biased towards Tallinn because I live there though. Won't be hard to have a good time!

Cheers!

I wouldn't recommend trying to fit in both Tallinn and Riga in just a weekend - the bus ride between the two cities takes 5 hours or so (see www.eurolines.ee and www.ecolines.ee)

I have spent around 3 months or so in each of the two cities, and must say that Tallinn is my favourite. See the In Your Pocket guides www.inyourpocket.com for more info about accommodation in both Tallinn and Riga.

Be aware that prices in Riga have increased a lot in the past year or two - you might have heard that Riga is a fairly cheap destination, but that's not really true anymore. (Expect to pay ca 2 lats (2 GBP) for a beer in the Old Town). Be aware that groups of "British men up for drinking and having a laugh and mainly coming to party" aren't terribly popular in Riga - the city does get more than its fair share of British stag groups...

I wouldn't try to fit in both cities in a four day period, especially as two are travel days. Your time spent on the bus would be close to 12 hours if you fly in and out of the same city. If you are set on doing it, I would book two one way flights - one going into Riga and one leaving Tallinn, or vice versa. Easyjet flys into Riga as does Ryanair, and sometimes you can get good deals with AirBaltic too. Your budget of 200 is a bit unrealistic - travel costs could reach that as it is, and accomodation can get expensive too unless you want to try and stay in hostels. As far as time spent in each city, you would need a bit more time for Riga. Tallinn can be as expensive as other major European cities, if not more so. www.rigathisweek.lv can help in finding accomodation in Riga, and in Tallinn, hotels on the outskirts of the city can be good value (for example, 50 euro a night) but you may end up paying some difference in cab costs anyway. www.tallinn.ee can help with finding hotels, tours and interactive mapping as well as public transport links. City Hostel in Tallinn seemed to be inexpensive enough when some people I knew stayed there. As far as nightlife is concerned, take a look at the inyourpocket guides (www.inyourpocket.com/latvia and www.inyourpocket.com/estonia, or find first hand accounts here on this website, Virtual Tourist. Hope it works out for you. P.S. Estonia is not in Eastern Europe.

Thank you for all your answers to my questions and apologies for my ignorance regarding locations of the destinations mentioned.