Estonia (Tallinn)
Trip Summary
Tallinn, Estonia was the first stop on our summer 11-day Scandinavia and Russia cruise my husband and I (and his family) took on the Regal Princess. Never having been anywhere in Eastern Europe or anywhere near the Baltic Sea, I was eager to explore a new part of the world, and what an adventure it was!
After a sea day, we arrived at our first land port, Tallinn, Estonia, and even though we traveled there in early summer, the cold, blustery weather welcomed us to this small city on the Baltic coast. In the distance, we could see the red roofs of the city buildings and the spires of churches. The misting of rain added to the ambiance, wetting the cobblestoned streets and creating a mysterious mood as we ventured off the boat and into the city of Tallinn.
This would be the perfect town to spend the day on your own, walking about and exploring as a lot of the sights are close and easy to access. Personally, I like to wander and take pictures away from crowds, and if you like that, too, I wouldn’t recommend taking a tour, but rather just going off on your own with a map and an umbrella!
My in-laws like to go on the cruise sponsored tours, though, both to hear more about the history of the places and to ensure that we get back to the ship on time, so to stay with them, we went on the Upper Old Town and Kadriorg Palace Tour.
Tallinn is actually a smaller port, but when an overcrowded ship comes into port, it really overwhelms the city, so just factor that in if you decide to take an organized tour–especially through a cruise ship. The tour groups are also quite large, and they all had the same itinerary, so when you see the description on your tour ticket that you will have 40 people in your group, you will have 40 people on your tour bus–yes–but dozens of buses all carrying other tour groups are all going to the same places at the same time, so you are fighting against thousands of people to see the same sights.
At one point, our bus dropped us off to see the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, and the tour guide told us we were on our own to see it before the bus picked us up again. The entrance was absolutely packed with people, and the line to get in was not moving at all, so the majority of our tour group didn’t even try to go inside but just waited for the bus to come around again.
I knew we would never have time to see it if we waited in line, and my mother-in-law really wanted to see the inside, so I took her hand, and we made a run for it. Making ourselves as thin as we could, we snaked through the crowd. “Excuse me, sorry, excuse me, excuse me, sorry, excuse me.” After about a million apologies, we slowly made our way up the steps and inside the building. Feeling the crowds on all sides outside made us feel claustrophobic, but we made it! But we were only inside for a short time as the bus would be leaving soon, and we had to make our way back out past all those people. So we snapped a few quick pictures and snaked our way back out.
It is a pretty building, but my goodness, if you go, go early to avoid the crowds. And if you are stuck like we were with a Princess cruise group, be brave, and still see the sights even if you are cutting it close on time due to the crowds! The bus was getting ready to leave when we found our way back out, so we made it just in time!
We also saw Toompea Hill, St. Mary’s Cathedral, and Kadriorg Palace. Kadriorg Palace was probably my favorite part of the tour, because we had to drive out to that site, and it wasn’t as crowded as the other places.
It also had some very pretty gardens, so I liked being able to wander around freely and take pictures without having people closing in at all sides like at the other sites we saw.
Kadriorg Palace was also one of the last stops of the tour, so the bus waited there the longest. The rest of our tour group was still wandering through the palace when my husband and I had finished walking through, so we decided to jet away and see the nearby Japanese gardens at the edge of the Kadriorg Park. It’s a small place, but it was still pretty and enjoyable to see because it was quiet, and no one else was around.
So this tour gets points for the places on the itinerary and the nice tour bus. However, the tour is ridiculously overpriced (as are many cruise tours), because all the sites we saw (with the exception of Kadriorg Palace) were free to see. The tour guide was also very pushy for tips at the end, and while tips are always customary for tours, she spent the entire end of the tour focused on this which was unneccesary. I would have also liked to see smaller tour group sizes and at the very least, varied itineraries with the other tour groups, so we weren’t all competing with one another to see the same sights at the same time.
Princess Cruise’s Upper Old Town and Kadriorg Palace Tour: B-
Overall, it was a beautiful city, and I did enjoy walking the cobblestoned streets and seeing the architecture. It was also a new country for me, so I liked seeing the history and culture up close.
Favorite Experiences
Kadriorg Palace was my favorite place to explore. It had some beautiful rooms and lovely paintings. The place also lets you roam about and is not strictly regimented like some of the other tours we took on this cruise–you could wander and spend as much time as you wanted exploring and admiring the building.
What I Wish I Knew
After having taken both cruise-sponsored tours and non-cruise-sponsored tours, I know that the cruise-sponsored ones are way overpriced and do not offer near as much as ones you can book off the ship. Tallinn is actually a port you could very easily tour yourself, though, and if I could go back and re-do this day, I would totally have done that. Getting off the ship first thing in the morning and heading straight for the more popular sites would have been best because that way, we could have avoided the crowds.
We also didn’t need the bus–everything is very walkable from the ship’s dock. The farthest attraction was Kadriorg Palace, but you can still walk to that–it’s about a mile and a half away. Busses go there, too, so in doing things ourselves, we could have saved money, beat the crowds, and frankly would have had a better time.
I also like walking the streets at ports like these and sitting down and enjoying a drink/meal somewhere, and we didn’t really have time for that with the ship’s tour. I think finding a spot away from the busyness of the crowds would have been nice, and we could have explored more of the city this way.
All in all, though, Tallinn is a beautiful city and has beautiful architecture. If you think you will visit, this forum is helpful for planning, and the posts there answer some common questions about navigating the city.
I also post reels and TikToks regularly of all the places I’ve reviewed on here, so if you want to see some videos of what to expect, check out my social media here:
TikTok: @touristyteacher
Instagram: @touristyteacher
Facebook: @touristyteacher
Happy travels!
