TALLINN - St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Tallinn - page 183

▲ Museum of Occupation Estonia's tumultuous, sometimes secret history under
Soviet and Nazi occupiers from 1940 to 1991. Hours: June-Aug Tue-Sun
10:00-18:00, Sept-May Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, closed Mon year-round. See here .
▲ KadriorgPark Vast, strollable oasis with the palace gardens, Kumu Art Museum,
and a palace built by Tsar Peter the Great. Hours: Park always open. See here .
▲ SongFestival Grounds National monument and open-air theater where Estonians
sang for freedom. Hours: Open long hours. See here .
▲ Estonian Open - Air Museum Authentic farm and village buildings preserved in a
forested parkland. Hours: Late April-Sept—park open daily 10:00-20:00, buildings
open until 18:00; Oct-late April—park open daily 10:00-17:00 but buildings closed.
See here .
Town Hall and Tower Gothic building with history museum and climbable tower
on the Old Town's main square. Hours: Museum—July-Aug Mon-Sat 10:00-16:00,
closed Sun and rest of year; tower—May-mid-Sept daily 11:00-18:00, closed rest of
year. See here .
Hop-on, Hop-off Bus Tours — Tallinn City Tours offers three different one-hour bus
tours—you can take all three (on the same day) for one price. Aside from a stop near
Toompea Castle, the routes are entirely outside the Old Town, and the frequency is low
(just 5/day May-Sept, 2/day Oct-April, so you need to coordinate your sightseeing to the
infrequent departures). But if you want to rest your feet and listen to a fairly good recor-
ded commentary, the tours do get you to outlying sights such as Kadriorg and the towering
Russalka Monument. You can catch the bus at the port terminals and near the Viru Turg
clothing market (€16, free with Tallinn Card valid for 24 hours or more, 5 daily departures
May-Sept plus some summer evening trips, 2 daily departures Oct-April, tel. [phone],
www.citytour.ee ) . CitySightseeing Tallinn also runs three similar routes, with a similarly
sparse frequency (€16, or €13 for just one “basic” line, www.citysightseeing.ee ) .
City Bike Tours —City Bike offers a two-hour, nine-mile Welcome to Tallinn bike tour
that takes you outside the city walls to Tallinn's more distant sights: Kadriorg, Song Festiv-
al Grounds, the beach at Pirita, and more (€16, free with Tallinn Card valid 24 hours or
more; includes helmet and reflective vest, daily at 11:00 year-round, weather permitting,
departs from their office at Uus 33 in the Old Town). They also run a Soviet Bike Tour
with an emphasis on Tallinn's USSR connection, stopping at Kadriorg Park, the Song
Festival Grounds, the Lasnamäe suburb, and the Maarjamäe WWII Memorial (€13, free or
discounted with Tallinn Card, daily May-Sept at 16:00, same departure point). They also
do €49 day trips (car and bike) to Lahemaa National Park and will arrange multiday,
self-guided bike tours around Estonia (mobile [phone], www.citybike.ee ) .