Ok here is the choise I have to make.
1. Fly to Helsinki. Take the 2hr boat over to Tallinn for the day and 2hr boat back. The the next day take the Overnight boat from Helsinki to Stockholm.
or
2. Fly to Helsinki. Send the day and the take the overnight boat to Tallinn. Spend the day in Tallinn and then take the overnight boat from Tallinn to Stockholm.
Any help on this?
I have several questions for you - What is the overnight ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn? It's only a 1-2 hour trip. You can take the high speed ferry easily.
Where are you flying from? If from the US then you will have to deal with jetlag and having a place to settle in for a night is important. That suggests staying in Helsinki so you can check into a hotel and freshen up.
Tallinn is a nice city and good for a day trip. But Helsinki is also a nice city. Which you will prefer and will want to spend more time in is hard for us to say.
We fly in to Helsinki and have the rest of the afternoon and spending the night it is the next day that we would going to Tallinn.
The journey is only 2hour you are correct, however thre is a night ship that leaves at 2300 and arrives in Tallin at 10:30am (so you sleep on board). By leaveing at 2300 the day after we arrive we would have a full day in Helsinki and wake up in Tallinn.
The ship from Tallinn leaves at 1800 for Stockholm so give you most of the day in Tallinn.
The fisrt choice would give pretty much two 1/2 days in Helsinki and about 5 hours in Tallin
The second choice would give 1 full day and one 1/2 day in Helsiki and 7hours in Tallin.
We had the same decision to make for our trip next month. We fly into Helsinki, arriving mid-afternoon. We will spend that afternoon and night and all the next day and night in Helsinki, then take the fast ferry to Tallinn the next morning. That way we save the back and forth business. It will give us a full day in Tallinn, arriving early morning and leaving on the late afternoon overnight ship to Stockholm.
Thanks Amy I had not considered that but is another way to go.
On the slower ferries the trip across to Tallinn only takes 4 hours. They aren't as big and don't have as much entertainment as the bigger boats that travel HKI-Stockholm and Tallinn-Stockholm. Personally I don't find it much fun to anchor off Tallinn in the early evening then be held captive on the boat until the next morning. Get a faster boat and enjoy being in the town, not stuck in the harbor like a pirate on a prison ship.
I'd skip the overnight ferry to Tallinn. Stay in one of the two cities and enjoy the nightlife there.
The main advantage to staying overnight in Tallinn is to avoid the 90 minute return trip and extra cost. But you can see the old town with 5-6 hours easy and have time for a nice lunch. You might even have time for dinner and take a later ferry back. It really comes down to which city you feel you'd rather spend an extra night in.
PS - Be sure to book your Tallinn ferry trips the day before. The best times do fill up and if you do return to Helsinki, you definitely need to buy the return ticket to avoid getting stranded.
Thanks for all the input.
I guess I failded to mention that we are taking our 1year old daugther with us, so nightlife right now is on hold. Trying to maximize sightseeing with the small time we are allowed.
