We leave Kiev and its golden domes behind and courtesy of Polish Airlines fly (across Poland) non-stop to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

Tallinn boasts Europe’s largest and best preserved walled mediaeval city ( UNESCO World Heritage listed) which began life in the 13th Century when this strategic area on the Baltic Sea/Gulf of Finland was invaded by German Crusaders. The city subsequently became a member of the Hanseatic League of trading centres and was an important link in the trade between Western Europe and Russia. In fact for the longest time, all trading ships passing between the two had to stop in Tallinn and pay the appropriate taxes and dues. All manner of goods were traded, but salt headed to Russia was the most important such that Tallinn has been known as the city “built on salt”. 

Over the next several centuries, Tallinn was occupied by Danes, Swedes, Lithuanians and Russians but after the Bolshevik Revolution and a war with Germany, for a brief period between the first and second world wars, Estonia was an independent country. The Soviets invaded the country in 1940 following the secret deal with Hitler, but the following year Estonia was “liberated” by the Nazis only to be “re-liberated“ by the Soviets in 1944. These were generally miserable times for Estonians with relief and independence only coming when the Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991. 

Unlike most of their neighbours in Eastern Europe, Estonia and Estonians feel they have far more in common with the Nordic countries, Finland in particular than with Slavic countries. Estonian is somewhat related to (and is as equally unintelligible as) Finnish although the country has many Russian speakers, particularly in the east of the country close to the border with Russia. Although a member of the EU and NATO and part of the Euro zone and Schengen area, Estonia treads a careful line in relations with its neighbour to the east. St Petersburg is just a ferry-ride away and we see many Russian registered cars on Tallinn streets. 

Since finally breaking free from the Soviet Union Estonia has come on by leaps and bounds. The tourist industry is massive. During the summer months in particular, the harbour is jammed packed not just with ferries (frequent service to Helsinki, Stockholm and St Petersburg) but also with massive cruise ships which daily disgorge large numbers of tourists who snake their way through the narrow streets of the Old City. Indeed Tallinn is in danger of being as overwhelmed by cruise ship tourists as Venice and Dubrovnik...

But go beyond the port and walls of the Old City, where it seems few tourists venture and its apparent to see that Tallinn is developing into a tech and entrepreneurial centre. Estonia (or Tallinn at least) boasts the world’s fastest internet speeds and everywhere is “wired” with free and easy access to the Internet. The most famous product of this tech revolution is Skype - an Estonian invention! Old industrial areas of Tallinn have been converted into tech hubs - one we visited had been a Soviet submarine shipyard, others into trendy new residential areas.

Ahti, a rather disheveled but very enthusiastic guide and passionate lover of Estonian history who knows the best places and the best times to avoid getting entangled with the cruise ship crowds leads us for a day around old and new Tallinn. We’re staying in a quaint hotel (“sorry we’re not allowed to install an elevator” explains the desk clerk as he leads us up three flights of narrow stairs to our room) within the walls of the Old Town. Although just a hundred metres or so from the main square, the hotel is in a street that is mostly overlooked by the crowds which perhaps explains why it’s a hostelry popular with visitors who’d rather not have their presence too well known - rock stars to monarchs....

....we’re not that fussy, I should point out!