Last month I had my first trip of 2019! Helsinki, Finland & Tallinn, Estonia.-3 Degrees Celsius, lots of snow and lots of ice. Packing was nice and easy, plenty of layers, thick snuggly jumpers and thin jumpers for layering under them. Jeans (I should have put my leggings under them as my legs were the coldest part), fluffy socks, hat, scarf, gloves and a nice thick coat. Not to mention I had to take my mums walking boots because I needed the grip.
We flew with Finnair, their planes are so clean and I didn't feel cramped like I usually do on flights. From the airport we got the Finnair bus which takes you into the centre of Helsinki, it was €12.50 for a return ticket which is valid for a month, so its much cheaper than getting a taxi too and from the airport, the journey takes around 30 minuets. We were only in Helsinki for one night, we landed at around 3.50pm, it was starting to get dark so we couldn't see much. By the time we got to our hotel it was pitch black. We stayed at Hellsten Hotel Apartments, it was around a 5-10 minuet walk into the main area (probably would have been quicker if we weren't carefully walking through snow and ice). On our first night we didn't do much, we had to walk past a few of the sights on my list to get into the centre. We had a walk around looking for some place to eat and we settled on a Mexican restaurant called Pancho Villa which was in the Kluuvi shopping centre. The food was SO good. If you are going to Helsinki I would highly recommend it. After we ate we had a walk around, the shopping in Helsinki was very good (there was a maxmara outlet and I had to restrain myself from buying a teddy coat that was 400 reduced from 1000!). The next day we set out on our sight seeing, Helsinki is quite small so its not hard to do. Our ferry to Tallinn was at 4.30 so we had to make sure we saw everything before going back to where we stayed to get our stuff and get a taxi to the port.
Just a few minuets walk from our hotel was Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral. Built in 1868. This is the largest Orthodox Church in western Europe and is considered to be one of the best examples of Russian influence on Finnish culture. Inside was very beautiful also, its a rich red brick on the outside with green and gold on the roof. Inside is stunning with the high ceiling in the main dome, with gold everywhere from the walls to the ceiling. Another few minuets walk up the road is Senate Square & Helsinki Cathedral. This is one of the oldest part of Helsinki, in the same area is the government palace and the main building of Helsinki university, these are some of the city's most important historical and cultural landmarks. The Cathedral is set upon lots and lots of steps so the cathedral is actually quite high and can be seen from most areas, we didn't get to go inside as it was closed. Nearer to the train station is Ateneum, the most famous art museum in Finland and the centre of Finnish art. It has everything from 19th century pieces to the current period.
They were the three main things we saw, other places on my list was the market square which is popular and other than that we just wondered the streets. We found a lovely park, it was covered in thick snow and people were sledging down the hills. We walked around just enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful buildings and churches that were all around until we had to get to the port to get our ferry over to Tallinn. If you have more than a day in Helsinki there are more places to see/visit. I get all of my information and sights that i'd like to see off an app called Visit A City, one of my best app finds! Not everywhere is on it but most places are, Tallinn isn't on the app so google was my sight planner.
We were in Tallinn for two nights. There is a lot more to see in Tallinn, again its very small and its all around the same area. The ferry to Tallinn was two hours, which flew by because we had Wi-Fi, shops, restaurant's & comfy seats (to nap). We arrived in Tallinn and from the ferry terminal our hotel was a 10 minuet walk. we stayed in the Tallink Express Hotel. The rooms were really spacious and clean with a comfy bed, not to mention nice and warm which was very much appreciated when the temperature outside is -3, breakfast was also included in the price. Again we got there when it was dark so we headed into the main square in hunt for food. It was a quick 5-10 minuet walk from the main area, Raekoja Plats. This is where the town hall is and is the centre of old town Tallinn. We spent a while looking for somewhere to eat as usually we judge the place off how many people are in because we never research places to eat. Obviously January in a very cold, very small place isn't going to be packed full of people. After we walked passed the fifth restaurant with only one couple in we settled for a place called Caffé Centrale (kesklinna kohvik) we ate there twice, our first evening and the next day for lunch. It was only when I got back and was trying to find out the restaurants name that I saw the reviews, they were not good. BUT we had really good meals both times and the service was fine. We walked in through the amazing old stone walls of the old town (the first picture in the one above) and not far in was St. Olafs Church. It is believed to have been built in the 12th century and was extensively rebuilt in the 14th century. We couldn't go inside the church because it was Sunday and every church in Tallinn had a service on so we didn't get to see inside of the church, its also really hard to view from the streets as its so high and the area around it is quite built up. In summer the tower's observation deck is open where you can go up the tower (232 steps) and look over the city. There's lots of amazing view points you can go to in the winter months to get beautiful views of the city, the first one we found was the Danish Kings Garden, its not the best one though because around the corner is the Kohtuotsa viewing platform and Patkuli viewing platform. They both have stunning views over the city, just type it into google maps and it will guide you too them (a little tip, I always write a list of all the sights in the place I'm going and once I'm there I will find out how far away each is from the hotel and make note of it so we know the order of the sights and don't waste time walking forwards and backwards from place to place. Like I mentioned before Tallinn is really small so it wouldn't matter too much if you were just seeing the sights as they came). Another gorgeous building is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a 19th century orthodox cathedral in a typical Russian Revival style. It's a gorgeous building, the cathedral is on Toompea hill which leads me to Toompea Castle, an ancient stronghold site in use since at least the 9th century, today houses the Parliament of Estonia, the Parliament building is a pretty pink building facing Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. When we was there everything was covered in snow, it made everything look like it was from a fairy tale. We didn't actually know it was the Parliament building until later on. Another church we didn't get to go inside was St. Nicholas' Church and Museum, it's a former medieval church which was built in the 13th century and it was partially destroyed in Soviet bombing in WW2. Another church established in the 13th century and the oldest church in Tallinn and mainland Estonia is St Mary's Cathedral, again we didn't get to go inside, it was the only building in Toompea which survived a fire in the 17th century. Honestly the whole of Tallinn is so beautiful and is a sight to see, there was one more place that was on my list but it was a little drive away and we didn't get time to do it, I think if we had day light on our side it would have been fine but it started to get dark around 3-330. We had to leave our hotel at 6am to get the 7am ferry back to Helsinki to get our flight home to Manchester. If you had more time you could even get the ferry over to Russia from Tallinn/Helsinki as its not too far then fly home from there. I would love to see Moscow and St Petersburg. My next destination is quite the contrast to the small cities I recently visited and also the weather, my next travel with me will be about my trip to Dubai which I visit at the end of March, so excited!
If your looking for some travel inspiration I have a two other 'Travel with Me's on Iceland & Italy. I have a few more on Marrakech & Lisbon but never got around to doing them as I thought it would be too late. I did a poll on instagram and the majority vote was to still post them so they may pop up along the way for people who are thinking of visiting those places.
I love travel and I love writing these blog posts! For more travel pictures follow my Instagram @ellietaylorrxx.
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