Trip Report: 4 Days in Tallinn and Riga

Day 1: Tallinn

Because of the missed flight, I had to re-tailor my planned itinerary, cutting out some activities and places that I’d planned on visiting. The first thing, of course, was actually getting to Tallinn, which took the bulk of the day. There was a strange thing that happened on the way there: a random police stop where they checked all of the passports of the passengers. Not sure what was up with that, but it was the only moderately interesting part of the drive there. Much of the surrounding landscape was just a flat, frozen-over, snow-covered landscape, occasionally interspersed with clusters of trees and forest.

By the time I had reached Tallinn and settled into my hostel, the sun had started setting, but I utilized this opportunity to scout the Old Town for the next day. Of course, there was just one issue: It was genuinely freezing outdoors, and once I got settled, it was very tempting to camp indoors for the rest of the day. Nevertheless, I decided to just randomly walk around, stumbling upon Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and a Christmas tree in its garden, glistening all by itself. My wanderings down Tallinn’s Walls led me to a church with an oddly modern and sleek looking Christmas exhibit, with fake trees covered in lights and a cross lit up neon green, really contrasting with the medieval-looking walls. As I’d learn more tomorrow, Tallinn is full of these contrasts between old and new. After heading into the modern outskirts for dinner, I decided to check out the Christmas market. Because it was Thursday, I guess that was why it was a bit barren, with a couple dozen or so people hanging around, far fewer compared to what I had expected. But still, even though it was practically a ghost town, the set-up was still quite pretty. There were twinkly lights strung up and draped over a small market, surrounded by cute apartment buildings and a modest church, the vibe almost reminding me of somewhere like Bruges. Although I wanted to do more, I was tired from the travel and cold, so I called it an early day in hopes that I would have more energy tomorrow.

Day 2: Tallinn

I began the morning with a walk through Toompark, which hugs the walls of Tallinn, pink and beige buildings crammed on top of its lower sections, with a small castle andorning its end. After spying the spires of churches from behind the walls, I made my way up, back into the Old Town, and ended up spending a couple of hours just wandering up and down icy stairs and brick roads. Admittedly, I was surprised in Tallinn by how small and compact the Old Town was and how stark the differences between the Old Town and more modem areas are–you can be on one side of the road, surrounded by medieval-esque buildings and cobble-roads and the other side will have sleek, glass buildings. With evening fast approaching (at a whopping 3 in the afternoon, the sun had begun setting), I decided to check out the Kiek in the Kok Museum and Tower Walls, just because it seemed interesting, and I was desperate to go somewhere indoors. I’ll admit that I don’t remember too much about the museum–I have the faintest memories of some exhibits, and I recall that I found them charming–though there were some pretty views from up-top. The tunnels were a lot more memorable, albeit not for their exhibitions but the fact that they were cloaked in the bright, neon green color and because you pop out of the exhibition not where you started.

From there, I decided to check out the pretty, but I learned afterwards, highly controversial, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (due to its history with Russian colonialism). The interior had a beautiful, gold altarpiece, with an intricately decorated frame, but was otherwise a bit dark when I had visited. After this, I decided to swing by the Christmas market, which was significantly more lively that day, with some local talent show / entertainment on a small stage and the Christmas market much less like a ghost town. It felt much more alive than the previous day. After a brief rest to warm up and unfreeze my fingers, I decided that, despite separately wanting to stay indoors, because it was my last day in Tallinn, I had to do my traditional night walk. I’d already shirked it on the first day, chickening out because of the cold, but I decided to make a deal with myself: head out for 40 minutes and then I’d feel free to go back indoors. Because of how chilly it was outdoors, most of the once-bustling streets were barren, just leaving soft street lights and charming apartment buildings (and occasionally interspersed Christmas trees with twinkling lights). The walk through the parks surrounding the Old Town was also beautiful, the walls and buildings teetering on its edge lit with a warm glow. At some of the viewpoints up top, there were some pretty photos, the uneven night-time lighting capturing the same view during daytime from a different perspective. Even though I was shivering by the end of the walk back, I was glad that I pushed myself outside despite my discomfort, helping extend these short, winter days.

Day 3: Riga

Much like the first day, the bulk of my time, especially given the fact that the sunset was around three or four in the afternoon, was just spent in transit. Weirdly enough, unlike last time, there was no border patrol check as I crossed back into Latvia. By the time that I’d arrived and gotten settled (funnily enough, the hostel staff recognized me from a few days back despite my very brief stay), it was already dark. Still, much like Tallinn, I was not going to let the night stop me from exploring, especially since I had only one full day to explore the city. Plus, even though Riga was still a chilly 10-ish degrees at night, that was a solid 10-15 degrees warmer than Tallinn, making exploration post-sundown much more bearable.

To begin, I of course checked out the Old Town and Christmas Market area. One surprising thing about Riga’s Old Town is, at least in comparison to Tallinn, is how modernized it was. There were rustic buildings alongside bright, neon lights and department stores, though I’ll say that the main market square is beautiful. Surrounded by elegant, multi-colored apartments and a snow-capped brick-church, with a picturesque dome tower, the bustling and crowded Christmas market definitely had a great vibe. With the sun rapidly setting, I decided to spend the rest of the night wandering around “moat,” half-frozen over and covered in a thin sheet of ice dusted with snow, and green space surrounding the Old Town. There were lots of beautiful light arrangements everywhere, from twinkling stars and moons on the barren trees to string lights wrapped around figurines of horses and keys. Outside of the Old Town, there was another smaller Christmas market, with a glowing ferris wheel and some religious display, presumably because it was near a church. After making it back to the Old Town, crossing under the pine-needle arch to enter the Christmas market, I just spent the rest of the night enjoying the warm glow of the Christmas tree and the celebratory atmosphere until the flurries of snow kicked up and sent everyone scurrying home.

Day 4: Riga

I’ll admit that I hadn’t properly researched Riga, which was why, in the morning, I decided to visit the Little Moscow neighborhood merely because the hostel’s tourist guide highlighted the Latvian Academy of Sciences as a local attraction of interest. Of course, the building was striking in person, its golden bricks and blocky shape almost reminded me of some of the historic buildings in NYC or other East Coast cities, though the area around it felt oddly empty and deserted for something seemingly significant. After wandering the nearby areas, some buildings in (purposeful?) disrepair, with faded and peeling yellow paint that revealed the splotchy gray and textured wooden walls, I decided to head towards Riga’s famed Central Market. One interesting thing is that while the covered buildings, looking like greenhouses (and were certainly also a welcome reprieve from the cold), were this massive contiguous block of markets, the market also spills outside. In rustic, almost industrial-looking brick buildings on nearby streets surrounding the Central Markets, there were various vendors selling warm clothes, hats, and other touristy trinkets too, though if you want food, it was mostly sold indoors. Having finished exploring the market, I made my way back into the Old Town for St. Peter’s Church, which had a plainly decorated and designed interior, with bare brick walls and little decoration, but great views of Riga from the belltower. Despite the dense tangle of buildings, occasionally cut with roads, and snow-covered roofs that, while pretty, dulled the colors, Riga’s architecture was surprisingly layered and photogenic, beautiful buildings and churches rising up from behind each other.

One thing that I hadn’t realized before reading more into Riga was that it has some splendid architecture, with many apartments built in the Art Nouveau style along with various other eclectic but fascinating buildings. Given the limited daylight hours during winter, rather than visiting museums, I decided to wander around the city and check out some of the city’s famous buildings, some of which particularly stood out to me. I thought that the House of the Black Heads, with its steeply-sloped and unusually large roofs, whose brick facade was covered in marble-colored columns and status, was quite distinctive, even if it looked a bit funny. Across the snow-covered green space surrounding the Old Town, almost like a moat, there were many interesting university and museums scattered about: the cream-colored (but small) Riga Castle, lovely looking Museum of Photography, and an unnamed but retro-futuristic glass building that appeared to have been plopped straight out of a Star Wars film. Although I wasn’t able to dash fast enough, as the sky began darkening, I arrived at Alberta Street, lined with extravagantly decorated apartment buildings. I suppose if I had to use a single word to describe these buildings, it’d be dynamic, which is a strange way to describe static buildings, but I think encapsulates the organic mismash of styles: the intricate stonework on columns and arches, the statues and symbols carved into ordinarily-plain supporting beams, the balconies and rooms that jutted out, supported by graceful arches. And as the night set in, I went back to the central portion of the Old Town, enjoying the snow-free Christmas Market, eating delicious (but overpriced) bubble waffles before heading to the airport for the flight home.

Final Ratings:

Tallinn: 7.5/10
Riga: 7.5/10

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, I had a pleasant time in Riga and Tallinn. They’ve got beautiful Old Towns that are charming and walkable along with some cool green spaces surrounding them, making picture-taking especially easy and rewarding. Still, I feel bad about saying this, mostly because I don’t want to dissuade people from going there, but my subjective experience did weigh down my experience in both cities. It’s not really the fault of the destination but more so outside factors. The missed flight rattled me, but more critically, it was bitterly cold when I had visited due to a massive cold front. I suppose that I had just gotten unlucky, the weather a chilly but reasonable 20 to 40 degrees the weekends before and after I had visited but plummeting down to -5 to 5 degrees F when I happened to visit. Hot weather doesn’t phase me at all, but cold weather is my kryptonite. Even after wearing four or five layers, I was chilly during the daytime and flat-out shivering at night, my fingers losing sensation every time that I took my hands out of my pockets to take pictures. It was a real struggle negotiating with myself to go outside and explore, particularly when it gets dark, which is generally when I enjoy walking around Old Towns the most. When compounded with the very short days, it meant that I didn’t feel like I’d been able to experience the cities to the fullest extent.

More positively, though, I had a pretty solid experience with the hostels here, particularly in comparison with the nightmare that was Prague. The hostel in Riga was practically luxurious: surprisingly few people (meaning that I didn’t have to share a room), free breakfast, a nice quiet place for me to start on my coursework essays–all just for $20 a night. It was a steal! Transportation and other logistics were relatively easy to navigate, especially since the bus depots between Tallinn and Riga were fairly close to the city center, allowing me to make the trip between both countries fairly easily. The only strange thing, though maybe it’s because I’m from the snowfree West Coast, but there were tons of underground pedestrian paths in Riga that were mildly confusing to navigate. They were well-populated during the daytime, so I never felt unsafe, but it was a somewhat unusual sight.

The next set of entries, split in half, will be about my final solo trip, though I might post a bonus trip report about my day-trip to Oxford, which happened a day after I’d returned back to London from this trip. With classes ending and my semester wrapping up, I decided that I’d end my Europe journey with a bang by taking trains across Central Europe to explore their cities, learn about some important WW2 history, and check out their famed Christmas markets. Next week’s trip report will cover the first half of my 9-day trip, where I visited Strasbourg, Munich, and Nuremberg, so I’ll see you then!

Pics: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGb33TSPko/IbCQqPeDp7CMWAQC-InoQw/edit?utm_content=DAGb33TSPko&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Bummer about the weather, but good for you for venturing to lesser travelled destinations. The Tallinn photos look like a fairytale.

Thanks for another great trip report and for sharing your photos.

I too am unfamiliar with both cities. I had to look them up on a map to see where they are.

I always appreciate the honestly in your repots. Traveling is not always all sunshine and roses.

Glad you got to experience both cities! Hopefully at some point in the future you can go back when it's a bit warmer and can spend more time to really enjoy both cities, especially Tallinn's outdoor cafes and parks and the beautiful architecture in Riga. Both are interesting cities full of interesting history (especially during the Soviet rule) as well as interesting day-trips into the countryside. The Baltic countries are very interesting and not very touristy and you can get a unique perspective on all that's going on in nearby Ukraine and Russia that could easily impact them in the near future.

Excellent report! Tallinn is a favorite of mine, I've visited twice now and will hopefully go again. Riga is also quite fascinating, and I paired Vilnius with both on one of my most-enjoyed trips in late April 2019--I had really mixed weather in Tallinn; one day it was 70 and sunny, the next freezing cold rain that turned into snow overnight. Riga had low 40s during the day and I struggled to want to be outdoors at all--but when you're on vacation you've got to get out and make the best of it! My first trip to Tallinn was mid-September and that felt perfect weather-wise.