Estonia

A nice country with soviet as well as Western-European impacts that has wild nature, beautiful Old-Town of Tallinn, some hospitable people, cheap drinks and a lot do do and see in day and of course in night. As life has shown - Tallinn is a great stag do destination. If you have plans to visit more than just Tallinn, the islands (Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Vormsi, Kihnu) would be worth it as well as some cities like Tartu, Pärnu Viljandi and so on.

Tallinn

Beautiful small city with historic Old Town and a lot of activities to offer in night and day. Most of the activity is going on in the centre and in Old Town so while being in Old Town all the useful stuff should be near and available for you.

Weather

In Estonia summers (June-September) can be very warm (up to 35 degrees), winters (December- March) can be very cold (-20degrees) and autumns (September-end of November) very damp.The best time for visiting Estonia would be late spring (April-May) and summer. Still visiting during autumn or winter can offer a lot of fun and experiences as well, especially because Estonian winters are known for the limited number of daylight hours.You can look up weather forecast in Internet: www.weather.ee/tallinnMoneyUse your chance to visit Estonia before “THE EURO” comes. These days everything is still cheap enough. You can get a beer for £1-2 from bars (maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less). Cash is accepted everywhere, credit cards as well, at least when it comes to Tallinn.

Food

Food is good and cheap mostly. Estonia can offer multicultural cuisines. If you want the biggest and best pancakes ever for only £1-2, visit “Kompressor” in Old Town of Tallinn, if you want to try traditional Estonian food find “Eesti Maja” in the centre of Tallinn. If you want just a good meal almost any other place is good to visit. There are quite many fast food places as well and as Estonia is catching up with Western-Europe, food poisoning is not what you should be afraid of.

Accommodation

Accommodation in Estonia ranges from hotels to hostels and B&B-s and from Old Town locations in the centre of Tallinn to more peaceful locations on the edges of town or in small towns of Estonia. Tallinn as the main tourists port in Estonia is likely to have just the niche for you. So whatever you need for accommodation, you might find it.

The price range for accommodation varies from 1200-1500 EEK (£ 48- 60) per night in multi-star hotels to 200-600 EEK (£ 8-24) in hostels and etc. Prices usually include breakfast and VAT.

What to do and where to go!

By day: You could take a Tallinn Official Sightseeing Tour or Old Town Walking Tour. Get more information about them from page http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/
While doing sightseeing in old-town don’t forget to visit sightseeing platforms. The view from there is amazing.

Also some shopping is possible. The biggest shopping centres or malls are all close to Old Town, in the centre of Tallinn. Just a 5 minute walk, if even that. All kind of souvenirs and stuff like that can be bought from small shops in Old Town. They are rather expensive but most of the souvenirs there should be handicraft.
For more extreme shopping the markets are fair enough. You can find anything you can every imagine from “Jaama market” near trainstation of Tallinn, about 10 minute walk from Old Town. Just be careful and keep an eye on your wallet and other assets, can be dangerous there every once in awhile.

And of course museums and art-gallerys are waiting. The exhibitions of young Estonian disainers, photographers and artists are worth of visiting.

By night: Most night-life is going on in the area of Old-Town. There are all kind of places for entertainment from pubs to strip-clubs. The advantage of this geographic quirk is that you can browse all the places you like, instead of picking a specific destination. Many of them are just meters apart so it is possible to see which has the most interesting crowds and music.

People are usually out Friday and Saturday nights from 11. Pm – 4,5,6 Am. In the middle of the week it is a bit quieter (not really in summers though) but on Fridays pubs and discotheques are crowded. Wednesdays are a great time to visit dance clubs as it is free entry for ladies that day. So lots and lots of women hanging out in dance clubs on Wednesdays.

Pubs: Most of the good pubs and bars are all in the Old Town area as mentioned before. The most popular pubs, with a lot of pop music and British stag do people, “Nimega”, “Nimeta” and “Avenüü” can all be found in one street. That is also the most popular street during Friday and Saturday nights. Just be careful you don’t bump into someone from your hometown.

If you are interested of pubs with Estonian traditional music and etc. try to find “Kloostri Ait” or “Seiklusjutte maalt ja merelt”. Those are always crowded on Friday and Saturday nights as well, also “Scotland Yard” that is a bit away from Old Town and “Havana Club” that is full of Estonian and Russian people trying to understand the Latin music and dances.

If you are looking for some trendy places - “Kaheksa” and “Moskva” are the most appreciated in area of Old Town. In “kaheksa” the most interesting coctails and shakes in town are offered, as in Moskva the music is cool and there is possibility to dance and listen to it upstairs all night long.

Dance Clubs – “Hollywood” is the most popular one as it plays the music for almost every taste (country and heavy are not touched but...). They open their doors about 10pm or 11 pm but the party really starts 12am-1am. The timeschedule is same for almost all the dance clubs. Before that time people are browsing bars nearby.

“Venus” is the paradise for guys who are looking for beautiful and bold Russian girls. There should plenty of them in Venus, especially on Wednesday nights.

“Terrarium” and “Club Decolte” are more known as trance clubs and they are full of young first year college students as there are a lot of parties held for them in those clubs.

For more exclusive taste “Club Privé” and “Bon Bon” are invented. Not everyone are allowed to enter in those clubs but if you dress well and act nicely and almost sober there should be no problem.

If you are in the mood of seeing how old Finnish people are having fun, you should visit “Café Amigo”. It is a fun place that is gathering more and more popularity among young Estonian people as well as there are great live shows of most loved Estonian bands and etc. Though the drinks are more expensive there, a lot of fun is guaranteed.

Strip clubs: There are some, actually many, in Old Town area as well .......never been in any but the level of those is high i’ve heard.