Helsinki or Tallinn?

[DadofLostBoys]

Hi, we're trying to decide between two cruises with almost identical ports of calls except one stops at Helsinki, Finland and the other stops in Tallinn, Estonia. I don't really know much about Northern Europe - which of the two would you prefer and why?

[PLG3]

That's a tough question to answer. But if I had to make a choice between the two, I guess it would have to be Tallinn. It's really an old, old city with the ancient walls, gates, and twisty narrow streets that go along with it.

 

Helsinki, however, should not be taken lightly. It's a bustling contemporary city to walk and visit. And if you're visiting Helsinki following St. Petersburg (as we did), the Temppelianukio Church ("Church in the Rock") offers a wonderful contrast to the opulent churches in St. Petersburg.

Both are easy one-day do-it-yourself tour stops.

 

If you want, you can find a few of my "snaps" from both locations here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoney_g/collections/72157605242491794/

 

Regards,

 

Paul in NoVA

[Jana White]

Tough question. I love both of them for different reasons. Saying that I would choose Tallin for exactly the same reason as PLG3. Both are fabulous cities, but the old quaintness of Tallin is my pick, if pick you must

[Peregrina651]

I agree with my fellow posters -- hard choice! Very hard choice! I loved them both, each for different reasons.

 

Well, I guess if you can't find a cruise that has them both, we are going to have to help you make a choice.

 

How long are you going to be in each port?? That might make a difference. I am not going to say blindly that you should go for the longest but if one is significantly longer than the other, then I would say go with the longer.

 

I also want to know what your other ports of call are, which ships are involved, who you are traveling with? Wife/partner/lover, kids, in-laws, friends? It all makes a difference.

 

[DadofLostBoys]

I agree with my fellow posters -- hard choice! Very hard choice! I loved them both, each for different reasons.

 

Well, I guess if you can't find a cruise that has them both, we are going to have to help you make a choice.

 

How long are you going to be in each port?? That might make a difference. I am not going to say blindly that you should go for the longest but if one is significantly longer than the other, then I would say go with the longer.

 

I also want to know what your other ports of call are, which ships are involved, who you are traveling with? Wife/partner/lover, kids, in-laws, friends? It all makes a difference.

 

I know nothing about either place, so please tell a little about both!

 

Cruise is 12 nights early/mid July on Disney's Magic

 

Two 40ish married adults and 3 boys (17, 15, & 10)

 

Itinerary is: Dover, Oslo, Copenhagen, Warnemunde (Berlin), St. Petersburg, Helsini or Tallinn, Stockholm, Dover

[NKG6002]

I have always been a "Medieval Buff"...I even have a suit of armour (very nice replica....we call him "Sir Costalot") and lots of medieval accents including authentic relics. That's why I am anxious to see Tallinin...from the pics I see online I think I am going to feel out of place not being in Medieval dress. It is one of the 2 best preserved Medieval cities in Europe. :D

[belle907]

I know nothing about either place, so please tell a little about both!

 

Cruise is 12 nights early/mid July on Disney's Magic

 

Two 40ish married adults and 3 boys (17, 15, & 10)

 

Itinerary is: Dover, Oslo, Copenhagen, Warnemunde (Berlin), St. Petersburg, Helsini or Tallinn, Stockholm, Dover

What are your boys interested in?

We are going on the Tallin cruise since we really liked the city when we were there this past summer. Helsinki was nice, just not as old.

But the Rock Church in Helsinki really is a site to be seen.

[as19111]

I, too, would choose Tallinn before Helsinki. I agree that the Church in the Rock (Helsinki) is a real highlight, but the contrast of Old Tallinn against New Tallinn as you enter the port is really memorable. Old Tallinn is very walkable, and there are lots of outdoor restaurants in the town square for people watching. It's good for amber shopping, sweater shopping, and as mentioned above a beautifully preserved medieval town.

[goody1]

Hi,

I've been at both places twice on cruises and will visit them both again next year on HAL's Eurodam. Both are great to visit, but if I was forced to choose I'd go for Tallinn. As previous posters have stated, the old town is really good, a very well maintained medieval town. However in saying all that, if the cruise you choose only goes to Helsinki rather than the two cities you will not feel short changed IMO.

[cruisemom42]

Talinn: Old, well-preserved medieval town with towers, buildings, gates.....etc. Good for walking on your own (I got a do-it-yourself walking tour from one of my guidebooks). It would be very interesting for your sons and a contrast from the "cities" that will make up most of the other ports on your cruise. Don't miss the beautiful old iron signs hanging in front of the shops that identify them.

 

Helsinki: Delightful, walkable city that is still shaking off some of the dust from the Communist days. The harbor area and market are fun to wander around. The Rock church, as others have mentioned, is certainly interesting and embodies the "modern" design aesthetic of the Finnish people. There is some good shopping along the Esplanade if you happen to like this kind of modern design (I do!). As a family you might enjoy taking the ferry over to Suomenlinna island which is sort of a large open air museum, including a fortress. (I'd only recommend if it is a nice day!)

 

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25996

 

I'd find it very hard to choose. I know there are cruises that do both. Perhaps you could look for one. (Princess cruises that go round trip from Copenhagen do both....)

[epixx]

We visited Helsinki and Tallin in August with our girls, ages 14 and 10. In Tallin, the kids loved walking around old town, shopping (cheaper than Helsinki), and climbing to the top of the medieval church tower for a wonderful view. In Helsinki, we took public bus to Seurasaari Open Air Museum, which is located on a beautiful island about 15 min from downtown Helsinki and showcases farm life from around the country in the early 1900's. We also took ferry to Suomellina Island.

 

The kids loved both cities, and I asked them your question. Of course, one of the girls said go to Tallin and the other one said go to Helsinki.

[Broch]

Hi, we're trying to decide between two cruises with almost identical ports of calls except one stops at Helsinki, Finland and the other stops in Tallinn, Estonia. I don't really know much about Northern Europe - which of the two would you prefer and why?

 

We are booked on the Jewel of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) next year from Harwich and this cruise takes in both ports Helsinki 10 am tioll 6 pm and Tallin 7 am till 4 pm

[SelectSys]

I really enjoyed the intimacy of Tallinn as a stop. The ship docks very close to the old city. The people were quite friendly. On our trip we went for a bike ride which included the heritage park in the morning and spent the afternoon wandering around in the old city after a short walking tour. Tallinn was one of our favorite ports on the Baltic cruise and we liked it better than Helsinki.

[goldenprincess53]

It is a hard choice - both are very different. But I have to give the edge to Tallin.

 

I was more impressed with Helsinki than I had originally expected though and would like to have spent more time walking around the downtown area. It is an easy city to get around but you really need to take the tram for most of the sites (Rock Church, Siebelius Monument, Olympic Statium). Very easy to get too, but with traffic etc. it takes time. One thing I would caution people. If you are on your own in this city, make sure you leave to get back to the ship in plenty of time. Traffic at the end of the day is horrendous. We were on a shore excursion to Porvoo in the afternoon, and our bus was late getting back to the ship because of the bad traffic. We were the last people to board the ship before it left. Fortunately it was a ship excursion.

 

As for Tallin, we loved the walled old city. Very quaint. Lots of nice shops and the City Hall square was fantastic for local food. It is totally different from any of the other ports you will stop at and very easy to get around. It was one of the most relaxing ports to visit because it was all right there in one spot and you could take your time to browse around all the little side street.

[vacationmadness]

That's a tough question to answer. But if I had to make a choice between the two, I guess it would have to be Tallinn. It's really an old, old city with the ancient walls, gates, and twisty narrow streets that go along with it.

 

Helsinki, however, should not be taken lightly. It's a bustling contemporary city to walk and visit. And if you're visiting Helsinki following St. Petersburg (as we did), the Temppelianukio Church ("Church in the Rock") offers a wonderful contrast to the opulent churches in St. Petersburg.

Both are easy one-day do-it-yourself tour stops.

 

If you want, you can find a few of my "snaps" from both locations here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoney_g/collections/72157605242491794/

 

Regards,

 

Paul in NoVA

 

Thanks for sharing your pictures. We also had to choose between 2 cruises that were identical except ofr the choice of Helsinki or Tallin. I'm sure they're both great cities, but we really love the look of Tallin, so that's the itinerary we chose.

[Longtonian]

For us, Helsinki was the most boring location on our Baltic cruise last summer - dull. Tallinn was a beautiful, fairytale city. No contest for us.

[D300]

Helsinki: Delightful, walkable city that is still shaking off some of the dust from the Communist days.

 

Excuse me Cynthia, but what do you mean with that Communist days?

[Jana White]

I did not understand that either.

[Al_Frescoe]

Helsinki: Delightful, walkable city that is still shaking off some of the dust from the Communist days.

 

Excuse me Cynthia, but what do you mean with that Communist days?

 

Glad you caught that D300, if no one else had mentioned it I was going to. So, where did that information come from?

 

Skål

 

Al

[bellelinus]

To the OP, I was looking at that same choice and ended up going with the July 18 DCL cruise that includes Tallinn. I was in Prague a few years ago and really loved being able to walk around a very old intact medieval city and am looking forward to a similar (yet of course different!) experience in Tallinn.

[cruisemom42]

Glad you caught that D300, if no one else had mentioned it I was going to. So, where did that information come from?

 

Skål

 

Al

 

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that Finland was Communist -- poor choice of words. What I meant to refer to was the Cold War era and the effects of Finland's close proximity to Russia. (In America sometimes referred to as the Communist era...).

[California Native]

To the op...

I would choose Tallin, though I did like Helsinki...I have spent 3 days in both.

If you love modern art/architecture Helsinki would be the direction I would lean in...as there's the Kiasma, Rock Church, Finlandia Hall.

The Central Market and Esplanade are enjoyable to wander and of course the 2 main churches Lutheran and Russian Orthodox.

Tallin, well it's just wonderful..a little charming jewel of a town. It is hard to put into words why I love this place

except that I've stepped back into time. Thank goodness it wasn't destroyed! A picture is worth a thousand words!

I would suggest taking a look at DK Travel books, along with Rick Steves Scandinavia Book for information on both places.

and of course our good friend GOOGLE....

I have pictures on our personal travel website, along with our thoughts about our Baltic cruise and sights to see lists for many of the ports.

Go into the link below and check the photo section and where we've been section.

Enloy roaming the rest of website, it been a labor of love...

there will never be an advertising and NO political commentary...just travel :)

[tg_lindo]

yes, not to nit pick, but:

 

Estonia was part of Soviet Union and therefore communist for the last half of the last century.

 

Finland's architecture (the 19th century bits at least) is inspired by imperial Russia having been an autonomous duchy of Russia for a bit over 100 years. During WWII, Finland fought against Russia / communism in the winter war and continuation war. Never did they fall under control of the Soviet Union.

[cruisemom42]

yes, not to nit pick, but:

 

Estonia was part of Soviet Union and therefore communist for the last half of the last century.

 

Finland's architecture (the 19th century bits at least) is inspired by imperial Russia having been an autonomous duchy of Russia for a bit over 100 years. During WWII, Finland fought against Russia / communism in the winter war and continuation war. Never did they fall under control of the Soviet Union.

 

Neither were they exactly unfriendly to the Soviets either....nor could they be in order to survive.

 

See discussion of Finlandization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandization

[as19111]

yes, not to nit pick, but:

 

Estonia was part of Soviet Union and therefore communist for the last half of the last century.

 

Finland's architecture (the 19th century bits at least) is inspired by imperial Russia having been an autonomous duchy of Russia for a bit over 100 years. During WWII, Finland fought against Russia / communism in the winter war and continuation war. Never did they fall under control of the Soviet Union.

 

I felt the strong Russian influence in the architecture as you mentioned above. We also went to Hvititrask (sp?) which reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, and it was lovely. That said, the Tallinn medieval architecture and streets really gave a perspective of how towns existed within the walls and I enjoyed that very much.

 

Oh heck, I just want to go back and experience it all again! Glad our cruise stopped in both places and I didn't have to choose.