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Walking Tour of Tallinn now in pdf format


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First I would like thank Lair Bear for putting the walking tour on Tallin on this thread.Tallin is such a beautiful place.We are planning on following that walking tour this July.

Unberwoub--- We did Tallin in 2003 on our own and spent about 6-8 hours just walking around the town.At that time I was 73 years old and the wife was 70.Had no problems at all.Really enjoyed it.Like all "old Folks " we do have some health issues but everything work out fine.

We planning to return to Tallin this July with our son and his family and doing the Tallin walking tour just to see what we miss the first time.We don't anticipate any issues.If you still have concerns I don't think you can go wrong with the down hill approach.

Anyway,enjoy Tallin.Beautiful city and wonderful people

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Liar Bear,

 

Thank you so much for putting together this walking tour for everyone. Quick question: our cruise ship is docked in Tallin only until 1:00, which means we must be back to the ship by 12 or 12:30 at the latest. In your opinion, is it still doable, or should we consider doing an organized tour from the cruise ship?

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Several years ago we went on the bus tour, and in my opinion the bus part was a total waste of time. The Song Festival Ground is nothing more than a big amphitheater. The Olympic Yachting Complex is a marina.

However, the Old Town is fascinating. I suggest you take a taxi to Toompea Hill/Palace Square and proceed on your walk from there. Once you see the upper Old Town, you can go down hill and visit the lower Old Town. It is all down hill. Then it is a short walk or taxi ride back to the ship.

 

Unberwoob, I would agree that I am not entirely enthralled by the content of the tour either- I just saw it as a means of getting to "higher ground".

 

 

Let me just add that the cobblestone streets are typically as shown in the pictures of Katherine Passage above.

The gentleman in the blue shirt in the other picture was 82 at the time. He and his wife, who is a couple years younger, did the whole walking tour with no problems. He also walked to the train station in Zeebrugge, but that is another story.

 

Perhaps there is still hope for these old bones of mine.

 

Thanks to you both of you for your feedback. I think I am going to leave it to the day and then point out the task in hand when we arrive at the dock (with your walking tour in hand) and then offer the option of a taxi to the main square if my mum thinks it all looks too much for her.;)

 

I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you.:)

Lair Bair - your photos look wonderful. Can't wait to get to Tallinn.

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Liar Bear,

 

Thank you so much for putting together this walking tour for everyone. Quick question: our cruise ship is docked in Tallin only until 1:00, which means we must be back to the ship by 12 or 12:30 at the latest. In your opinion, is it still doable, or should we consider doing an organized tour from the cruise ship?

 

If you can leave the ship at eight you will have four or so hours to walk the town. That would be fine to do the walk, but of course would limit the amount of time for some shopping.

 

In addition, I might suggest to walk to the first gate as shown on the map, and then stay on Pik street instead of going right to the wall, etc. You will miss some quaint alleys and the feel of the size of these defensive walls, but you end up at the little square with the grey building that has the port leading up to Toompea.

 

See Toompea, the churches and then walk down to the main square. From there you can judge what else you want to see. The total walk as shown can be done in a couple hours. So you plan accordingly. But a ship tour with too many people crowding in the narrow little streets is a waste of time, in my opinion.

 

PS. I use the name Lair Bear, but have been referred to several times as Liar Bear, which, I hope, is not applicable.

Edited by Lair Bear
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THANKS to Liar Bear for his pictures and tips! Below is a sample of what we saw and enjoyed walking down from the hilltop down to the main square, Town Hall, shopping areas, etc. Liked the two churches as we walked down, plus the views from up there, etc. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

1A-Tallinn-Rooftops.jpg

 

1A-Tallinn-ChurchInsideOrth.jpg

 

 

1A-TallinTowersSteples.jpg

 

1A-TallinShopkeeperLinens.jpg

 

1A-TallinFlowersBldg.jpg

 

 

1A-TallinChMosiac.jpg

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THANKS to Liar Bear for his pictures and tips!

 

Hi Tender Loving Care in Ohio, I am really referred to as Lair Bear (not Liar Bear, please). I have been known to lie a bit, but the name knick-name refers to the University of California's summer camp in the Sierra Nevadas called 'The Lair of the Bear'. And yes we do lie a bit there, but it is more in a reclined position (in hammocks for example).

 

Your pictures are great. Is there a way you could reduce the size a bit?

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Hi Tender Loving Care in Ohio, I am really referred to as Lair Bear (not Liar Bear, please). I have been known to lie a bit, but the name knick-name refers to the University of California's summer camp in the Sierra Nevadas called 'The Lair of the Bear'. And yes we do lie a bit there, but it is more in a reclined position (in hammocks for example). Your pictures are great. Is there a way you could reduce the size a bit?

 

Sorry, Lair Bear, for mixing up those two letters. Somebody else did that and I thought I was trying to get it right and avoid that error, but I goofed. Will try to reduce a little the picture size. Many have already been uploaded at this current size. Will try to adjust on future pictures that I will upload.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

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Lair Bear -- Your walking tour of Tallinn sounds great, but I'm wondering if my husband can manage it. He has peripheral artery disease, so he has to walk slowly and avoid inclines...once the pain starts in his legs, it just keeps getting worse. Is a walking tour of Tallinn possible without climbing hills? If it's flat, we can just walk slowly and he's okay. Thanks for all your info!

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Lair Bear -- Your walking tour of Tallinn sounds great, but I'm wondering if my husband can manage it. He has peripheral artery disease, so he has to walk slowly and avoid inclines...once the pain starts in his legs, it just keeps getting worse. Is a walking tour of Tallinn possible without climbing hills? If it's flat, we can just walk slowly and he's okay. Thanks for all your info!

 

I am afraid that Tallinn does have some hills if you want to see Toompea which is one of the main attractions. If you look at some of the pictures that are in the description you can see that one section from the grey building up to the Russian style church, is pretty long and a bit steep.

 

The Old Town with the main square and little alley ways is flat and probably OK for you husband. To reach that from the ship you would just reverse the direction as shown on the map. It is all flat.

 

What I might suggest, however, is one of two things.

1. Take a taxi to take you to the top of Toompea, then slowly work your way down to the main square. I don't recall seeing taxis there, but maybe someone else can help you there. Even from the main square to the edge of Old Town is only a couple blocks. There you should be able to take a cab again, if you really have to.

2. Consider the HOHO bus which (when we were there last year) is waiting for passengers right at the dock. I really don't know where it goes and what you will see with that. Perhaps others who have done that, can shed some light on its route.

 

Good luck and have fun, no matter what you do.

Edited by Lair Bear
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There are 3 lines for HoHo at Tallin (blue, green & red) all lines go to port..You can see the lines here: http://www.istopoli.com/cruise/point.php?id=118

 

Thanks for your reply, but I want to compliment you on a great web site. Obviously you spent a lot of time and effort into putting the Baltic trip details together. I know it is time consuming!!! But fun to do.

 

I would encourage anyone who is planning to go to the Baltic to have a look at your web site. If you don't mind I like to repeat it here.

 

Baltic Cruise with Emerald Princess Guide - UPDATE WITH WALKING TOURS MAPS

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Thanks for your reply, but I want to compliment you on a great web site. Obviously you spent a lot of time and effort into putting the Baltic trip details together. I know it is time consuming!!! But fun to do.

 

I would encourage anyone who is planning to go to the Baltic to have a look at your web site. If you don't mind I like to repeat it here.

 

Baltic Cruise with Emerald Princess Guide - UPDATE WITH WALKING TOURS MAPS

 

thanks for your feedback.. you teach us:D

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Great walking tour of Tallinn. Thank you!!

 

One question:

 

Am ordering some currency for other ports. Any need to order Tallinn currency, or will taxi take Euros or USD?

 

Bev

 

We did not take a taxi, but found that we could pay with dollars or euros for the various souvenirs and other small items no problem. Old town is really tourist oriented. If you go outside these areas it might be a bit different.

Keep in mind that Estonia is not all that big and they are flexible enough to accept other currencies. I don't think it is really necessary to order Estonian kroon.

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this is really awesome stuff. we are traveling to northern europe in late june. i think we will use the tallin and amsterdam walks. about how far from the ship is it in amsterdam? also would you have any other walking tours for other scandanavian cities.? stockholm, coppenhagen, oslo, etc???

 

 

We just returned from the Baltic this weekend and wish we had seen this post before we left. It describes many of the sights we saw more clearly than our guide and certainly a lot more comprehensive. Follow this walking tour -- it is a winner!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks, Lair Bear. DW has focussed on St. Pete and I have been delegated to research other ports. We'll be in Tallinn in three weeks or so and your pdf is invaluable. Your time and effort in putting this together is much appreciated.

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Lair Bear,

Thanks for taking the time to put together this walking tour. It is greatly appreciated and it is printing as I am typing this. I think now we will probably try to do Tallinn on our own, rather than take a private walking tour. I also enjoyed all of the pictures and since I am into photography, I can't wait to take several photographs of my own. Hope we have good weather like those in your photographs.

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Lair Bear,

Thanks for taking the time to put together this walking tour. It is greatly appreciated and it is printing as I am typing this. I think now we will probably try to do Tallinn on our own, rather than take a private walking tour. I also enjoyed all of the pictures and since I am into photography, I can't wait to take several photographs of my own. Hope we have good weather like those in your photographs.

 

I have to be honest and tell you that some of the pictures in the actual 'walk' were not mine to take. They were from sources on the internet as I was doing my 'research' about what to do and see in Tallinn. What was the history, how could we do this on our own, etc.? The more I learned and the more notes I took, the more I wanted the result to be something worth sharing. For us the experience of being there and actually doing the 'walk' was not only fun but gratifying. I found out that Tallinn was really there to enjoy.

 

The place is fabulous and so are the people. Be sure to talk to some of the youngsters and don't be afraid to enter alleys that may be dead-ends. They can lead to treasures and I don't think anyone will say 'stop'. They will love you for it.

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Just how "hilly" is Tallinn old town?

 

I will be travelling with my 76yr old mum who whilst she is very active and is great on level ground, she would struggle with any big uphill walks.....

 

Many thanks Linda

 

 

Having now returned, I can agree with all that Tallinn really is quite lovely. The walk from the port berth to the city walls took slow 15 mins and whilst we walked pretty much all over the town and back to the ship, the walk up to Toompea was too much for my mum so we sadly missed that bit.

 

Thanks Lair Bear for the walking tour - it was great!

I know recognise most of the photos posted on this thread;)

 

Linda

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Congratulations to your 76 year old mum, Linda.

 

I am glad my pictures and descriptions were of some use. As I mentioned to you before your trip, the climb up to Toompea might be too much for her, although for most others it is not all that bad.

I say that because some have expressed some doubt along those lines. If a person of your mom's age can walk from the ship's dock to the town, I think most people can handle the same thing.

 

I hope the rest of your trip was also a success.

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