Estonia
Discover Estonia
Introduction
Estonia is the northernmost of the three Baltic states and the one that faces Finland across the gulf: a flat, wooded country of nearly 1.4 million people, its highest point 318 metres, its forests covering 47 per cent of the land, its coast 3,794 kilometres long with the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa and more than 2,300 smaller ones off it. The Estonian language is Finnic, close kin to Finnish and unrelated to its Latvian and Russian neighbours, and the sauna, the song festival and the bog are the things Estonians name when asked what is theirs.
Tallinn holds the medieval and Hanseatic old town that has kept its whole structure since Lübeck town rights of 1248, a World Heritage Site since 1997 -- Old Tallinn on this site -- and a port that handled over 10 million passengers in 2016, most of them on the ferries from Helsinki. Beyond it are Tartu, the university town; Lahemaa, the first national park in the former Soviet Union and the largest in Estonia; Soomaa's bogs; Saaremaa with its castle town, its windmills and its meteorite crater; and Pärnu, the summer resort.
The country's modern story is short and hard: independence declared in February 1918, Soviet occupation from June 1940, German from 1941, Soviet again from 1944 with deportations in 1941 and 1949, the Singing Revolution of 1988 to 1990, independence restored on 20 August 1991, the last Russian troops gone in 1994, the EU and NATO in 2004, the euro in 2011. Since then Estonia has made itself the most digital state in Europe, the first to offer e-residency, and one of the least religious countries in the world.
Do I need to change money?
No, if you come from the euro area: Estonia has used the euro since 1 January 2011.
How do I get to Saaremaa?
By TS Laevad ferry from Virtsu to Kuivastu on Muhu, then the causeway: €4.30 per adult, €12 per car, €1.20 per bicycle, with vehicles 20 per cent dearer leaving the mainland on Friday afternoons and the islands on Sunday afternoons. Hiiumaa is €4.85 and €14.30.
Is Tallinn's public transport really free?
Within the city limits, since January 2013, for those with the right to it -- Tallinn's residents. Visitors buy tickets; the city's ticket page did not answer, so the price is not given here.
How do I buy a train ticket?
From the machine by card, from the on-board staff, or at the station offices in Tallinn and Tartu; advance sales end five minutes before departure, so buying on board is normal.
What is the emergency number?
112 for ambulance, rescue and police; 1247 for the state helpline.
When is the best time to visit?
May to June for the light and the first warmth, September to October for the bogs in colour and the crowds gone. January and February can reach minus 35 at night.