Practical Information for visiting Estonia

Estonia adopted the euro on 1 January 2011, so there is no currency to change for visitors from the euro area. Elron's ticket machines take payment cards and smartwatches and its on-board staff take bank cards; the ferry company sells online and at the ports. Card acceptance elsewhere, cash habits and tipping are not summarised here until they have been read on an authority's page, though a country that put 99 per cent of its public services online is not one where cash is expected.

Estonia is a low-risk country and the risks it does have are concentrated in one place and one time: late at night, around the nightlife of Tallinn's Old Town. Pickpockets work the bars and nightclubs there.

Attacks and assaults, including sexual assaults, are rare but do occur, and the risk is highest late at night around popular nightlife locations. The advisory's own precautions are worth following because they are specific rather than generic: save your accommodation's location in your maps app so it is easy to find at the end of the night, keep a group chat running, watch each other's drinks so they are not spiked, do not let a friend walk back alone, and do not give a drunk person more alcohol.

One detail catches visitors out: drinks served in Estonian bars are often stronger than those in the UK. Alcohol and drugs reduce vigilance, so know your limit — and report anything that does not feel right to the local authorities or to hotel or club management.

For taxis, use pre-arranged cars or official taxis with TAKSO signage, and do not accept lifts from unmarked vehicles or strangers. If you use an app, check the car details match the car assigned to you. Keep bank cards in sight when paying in shops and restaurants; card skimming is the other recorded risk.

In the forest and the bogs, the State Forest Management Centre's rules apply: the freedom to roam is limited in protected areas, whose own protection rules govern; use existing trails, campsites and campfire sites; take the fire risk seriously and check it on the state line 1247 before lighting a fire; stay on the trail and on the boardwalks.

On the ferries, every passenger needs a passenger ticket -- the vehicle ticket does not include one -- and a discounted ticket without the proof it requires is invalid.

On the trains, advance standard-class sales close five minutes before departure; buy on board from staff after that.

In the sauna, the customs are Nordic: shower first, sit where you are shown, and treat silence as normal. Laws on alcohol, driving and drones are not summarised here until they have been read on the authorities' own pages.

Emergency number: 112 -- for an ambulance, the rescue service or the police, the Emergency Response Centre's single number.

State helpline: 1247, the state information line, which also gives the day's forest fire risk.

Ferry information: TS Laevad on +372 618 1310, 8.00 to 20.00.