Places/Estonia

Harju

Tallinn

A Hanseatic old town on the Baltic, small enough to walk and easy to mistake for a stage set.

Tallinn’s old town is intact in a way that makes people suspicious, as if prettiness were a trick. It is real, and it is small. Two nights let you see it early, walk the walls if they are open, and eat in a room that is not facing the square.

Estonia is in the Union and in the euro and in Schengen. It is not a quirky annex of Finland, though the ferry makes them neighbours.

See

• The upper town at opening

  Toompea, the viewpoints back over the red roofs, the Russian cathedral if you want the later layer. Go before the day-trippers from the ships.

• The lower town, once

  The square, the guild houses, then a side street. The whole centre is a short walk and should not be repeated until it bores you.

• A neighbourhood beyond the walls

  Telliskivi or Kalamaja for the city that is not medieval. This is why the second night exists.

• The sea, briefly

  A walk toward the harbour so you remember Tallinn is a port. The old town is the souvenir. The water is the reason the town is here.