Tallinn

I booked myself a birthday trip to Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn, saving Tallinn for last, hoping it would be the cherry on my birthday cake. And it fit perfectly right on top. It’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen hundreds. It rivals other cities from my personal top favourites, like London, Singapore, and Barcelona.

I took my best travel mates with me: Florence, my partner, and our son, Alex. They made my  truly memorable. But what also amazed me was the beauty of Tallinn itself. I was really impressed with how well-structured it was. The Old Town, right in the middle, was perfectly preserved with its medieval colourful buildings and stunning churches with tall towers. The financial district, although not too far from the Old Town, felt completely separate. Near the train station, a former industrial area has been redeveloped into a fantastic mix of museums, galleries, coffee shops, and ice cream places. The residential areas were lovely and peaceful, but what I liked most was that the commercial areas were kept outside the city centre. You don’t see that so often in former communist cities. I believe the city and the whole country have been greatly influenced by Scandinavian countries, and being generally small, it wasn’t too hard to hide the scars left by the Soviet Union.

I really enjoyed my days in Tallinn and will definitely come back to explore it even more.