Country 7 - Estonia... The hidden gem of Europe

We arrived in Tallinn (our halway point by time and distance) by ferry from Helsinki late afternoon, yesterday. To be honest, we had very little knowledge of what to expect other than it was recommended by a Dutch friend of ours, and that all of the EU car rental agencies forbid you from taking one of their cars into either Estonia or Latvia.

According to my friend who works in the Dutch gov, the reason rental agencies don’t allow their cars into Estonia is not because of crime, but because of the constant Russian threat. We also heard from our tour guide today that local tourism is largely from Baltic countries because these are the people that also live under the constant shadow of the Russians. She said she does not see many US tourists, or tourists from Western EU countries, which was kinda nice for us.

All that said, our tour guide shared that other than basic bullying and D-DOS attacks from Russia, they were not too worried about a Russian invasion, at least not anytime soon. That said, they are huge supporters of the Ukrainians, with a full-time protest outside of the Russian Embassy accompanied by a constant police presence. Estonia is part of NATO.

Other than the Russian Embassy… Tallinn is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe that we’ve seen. We were expecting a huge Russian influence with every building being a concrete box, but that was not the case. They have a very cool old town that was partially rebuilt by the Soviets for the 1980 Olympic sailing event hosted by the Soviets (that the US boycotted).

Outside of “Old Town”, the city is still quite beautiful. It’s also one of the cleaner cities we’ve been in, with lots of green areas and very low traffic which makes driving much easier than most. Most the of the old Soviet era factories have been repurposed into very cool modern offices, lofts and vibrant markets. There’s also been a sizable influx of foreign investment into the economy.

There’s also a very strong startup community in Tallinn. Skype was founded here in the early 2000s. When the founders cashed out, they went on and funded some of the largest companies in Europe including Bolt, Wise, and others … all started out of this little gem of a country that was a poor Soviet satellite country until 1991.

For us, there are two factors that really elevate Estonia – people and food! Again, we expected an enormous Soviet influence in everything, so we were pleasantly surprised to find excellent local dishes, pastries, chocolates, fresh produce, and more… all with people who were exceptionally friendly, gregarious, and very proud of their nation. Although we will have seen most everything we wanted to see in Tallinn by the time we leave for Riga tomorrow afternoon, there is a part of us that wishes we could stay longer to explore areas outside of Tallinn.

For anyone still wondering... Tallinn is an excellent European destination.