Weekend in Helsinki/Tallinn

mjt · 17 Oct 2013 at 18:51

Off to Helsinki and Tallinn for the weekend with the gf.
Went to both years ago and can't remember much so just out for some tips of where to go and what to see.
Any decent recommendations for bars/restaurants and museums?

Kiitoksia!

mjt · 17 Oct 2013 at 20:57

el_dazza · 17 Oct 2013 at 21:23

I've sent my Finnish mate a message asking because I'm sure he spent a while working in Helsinki but he's from Tampere. I'll see what I can coax out of him, if anything.

RoboCod · 17 Oct 2013 at 22:46

Moses said:
There's a ye olde restaurant in the central square of Tallinn, which is pretty funny. It's decked out like a medieval place and they offer you 'your weapons' when bringing the cutlery, etc . It tickled me, at least.

Presumably you know about Suomenlinna, but I'd probably take a trip out to that for sure. I can't remember when all the stalls at the central harbour/dock/whatever stop selling stuff, but if they're still there you can get a load of nice fish for a decent price (massive hunk of salmon, a load of whitebait, etc, and it's pretty tasty). Then near there you'll find the old market which has a load of stalls where you could grab a nice reindeer kebab .

It depends how much time you have, really - there are the two cathedrals near the central square, then I'd have a wonder around that area and the harbour (the central square and harbour where the food stalls/old market/ferries to Suomenlinna leave from/etc are really close to one another. If the harbour market isn't there, you still have the option of the restaurants on lightships/in that area. I'd love to be able to say I'd eaten in all the restaurants, but when I lived there I was a student and made use of the Unicafes (student price meals for 2.50€ ). If you stroll in the direction of the railway station you'll also get to the museum of contemporary art/their parliament/etc.

Yeah there are a couple of Olde Worlde restaurants in the old town of Tallinn. The GF and I went to the following:

Estlander - Really nice gamey food. In the evening they had entertainment in the form of two guys dueling with swords around the restaurant. It was humorous and quite a surprise mid-meal.

Olde Hanse - Another themed restaurant with medieval style musicians playing harps and drums. The waitress comes to your table and introduces to you as your "serving wench" for the evening. We ordered the banquet which was expensive but well worth it. Wild boar was the best!

Telegraaf Hotel Restaurant - our hotel, so we ate here often. Really nice, and good selection of wines and whisky.

EDIT: It was the Peppersack that had the sword fighters! Great place to eat, all these restaurants I mention were very good.

Tunney · 17 Oct 2013 at 23:03

All you need to know is that saunas are naked affairs in Finland.

mjt · 18 Oct 2013 at 00:14

Cheers for the tips so far

Tunney said:
All you need to know is that saunas are naked affairs in Finland.

Well, yes, obviously.

Honestly, clothed saunas and spas are ****.

Mr Blonde · 18 Oct 2013 at 00:17

Captain Planet said:
Olde Hanse - Another themed restaurant with medieval style musicians playing harps and drums. The waitress comes to your table and introduces to you as your "serving wench" for the evening. We ordered the banquet which was expensive but well worth it. Wild boar was the best!

Having never had Elk before I gave it a whirl at this place a few years back, when me and the missus went there. I'd equate it's taste to being a cross between old shoes and someone's bottom. Other than that we had a great time.

almoststew1990 · 18 Oct 2013 at 06:41

The zoo in Helsinki is pretty good. Worth a visit if you run out of Finnish things to do.

Make · 18 Oct 2013 at 08:43

I'd recommend the zoo as well, though at this time it might be cold and most animals in indoor closures.

Other than that, enjoy the shops. I would go to some of the "Rock pubs" such as Virgin oil, Tavastia Club, etc.. I hope those are still in the same places as before. I haven't been there in a while. This is for Helsinki. And only if you like rock.

Helsinki is kind of a boring place; to see Finland you have to go somewhere else.

As for Tallinn, it has cheap booze and cheap girls.. that's what the visiting Finns do there

The_blue · 18 Oct 2013 at 10:23

Hell sinky

Didn't like a bit. Just another modern city. Best bit was the fort and the small micro brewery near the ferry

Tallin was great though. The sea plane museum is very good as is the old ships in the harbour there.

We had a week so hired a car and headed to the forest to the east and had a few days walking.