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Estonia Travel Guide
A Baltic State of Northeast Europe, Estonia borders the Baltic Sea, Latvia, and Russia. Located in such high Latitudes, Estonia has short summers and severe winters. Since it's re-independence from the USSR in 1991 with its Singing Revolution, it is one of the more prosperous ex-communist states and becoming a more prominent travel destination spot in Eastern Europe with strong political ties to Western Europe. Tallinn, the capitol city is a beautiful medieval old city, comparable to Prague with it's multitude of spires and orange-tiled roftops.
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Highlights
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Getting Here
By plane
By train
By car
By bus
By boat
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History
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Government
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Money
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Geography
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Weather And Climate
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Culture
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Food
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Accommodations
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Education
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Work
Estonia may have had rocketlike growth in recent years, but only from a very low base as a former Soviet republic, and average local monthly salary (2007) is only around 650 EUR.
Since restoration of independence, Estonia has been following a "small open economy" model, achieving in 2000 4th place worldwide on the openness of its economy (Heritage Foundation). No obstacles exist to citizens of EU countries to come to invest and work in Estonia. Citizens of developed non-EU countries are exempted from short-term tourist visas. Swedes and Finns have by far the largest working community of post-Soviet foreigners in Estonia.
Considerable investments and some workers are constantly coming from CIS countries, though significant legal restrictions are imposed.
Citizenship and Migration Board is the authority responsible for dealing with the paperwork.
CV Online is one of the oldest Estonian recruitement and HR services operating in 9 countries (as of 2005).
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Communications
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Health And Safety
For an Estonian it is considered "mauvais ton" not to criticize Estonian healthcare system. Recent EU study showed however that Estonia occupies a healthy 4th place in the block by the basic public health service indicators, on the same level as Sweden. In fact, around 1998-2000 Estonian healthcare system was remodeled from obsolete USSR model, directed to coping with disastrous consequences of large-scale war to more up-to-date by the experts from Sweden.
Estonia has harmonized its rules on travelers' health insurance with EU requirements.
For fast aid or rescue dial 112.
Estonia has harmonized its rules on travelers' health insurance with EU requirements.
For fast aid or rescue dial 112.
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Getting Around
The road system is quite dense though the quality of roadcover is varying. The speed limit in countryside is 90 km/h and 50 km/h in the cities unless specified otherwise. The passengers are expected to wear seat belts. Lights must always be switched on.
In the central areas of bigger cities a fee is levied on parking cars, but finding a provider of tickets is sometimes difficult as mobile parking is wide-spread.
Estonia's train network does not cover the whole territory. The quality of services has suffered considerably from privatization and the main means of local transport is now bus.
Tallinn has three frequently-going local train lines (Tallinn-Keila-Paldiski/Riisipere and Tallinn-Aegviidu) see http://www.elektriraudtee.ee/?233.
Hitchhiking in Estonia is generally good. The Baltic countries have a lively hitchhiking culture.
Estonia has a comprehensive line network all over the country. All bigger cities like Tartu, Pärnu, Viljandi and Narva are accessible by bus network. There is a journey planner at http://www.bussireisid.ee, in English, Finnish and Russian. But check also http://www.eurolines.ee (only between bigger cities and to outside Estonia).
Estonia has lots of car rental companies and the level of English spoken by their representatives is generally very high. If you go to Level 0 of Tallinn international airport, there are several counters all touting cars.
Car rental in Estonia is very cheap compared to Western Europe. You can get a decent car shared between two people for approximately 150EEK/person/day e.g. a 2004 Fiat Punto.
An excellent day trip is to drive from Tallinn to Tartu. It takes about 2.5 hours each direction.
As of September 3, 2006 the drive from Tallinn to Tartu has been much improved. Except for a small road closure in Tallinn the road is US style macadam the whole lenth. It takes 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There are few sights of interest along the way. The terrain is flat and most of the road is bracketed by birch tree and a few pines. I can recommend Sam's grill about 1/2 way between Tallinn and Tartu as a place to stop. There is a gas station next door.
Be wary of the stones from the gravel roads, they are very sharp and can crack your windscreen.
Driving in Estonia can be more dangerous than in much of the Europe and United States.
Some drivers can be aggressive, recklessly overtaking vehicles and traveling at high speed, even in crowed urban areas.
Estonian laws against driving under the influence of alcohol are strict and follow a policy of zero tolerance. Unfortunately, accidents involving intoxicated drivers are distressingly frequent.
You should always remain alert to the possibility of drunk drivers and drunken pedestrians. Standards of driving can range from bad to down-right lethal. The best advice is to drive defensively: don’t assume your fellow drivers will do what you expect them to do, like stop for red lights or signal before they merge into your lane. If you can avoid it, it’s probably best not to drive on inter-city highways.
In the central areas of bigger cities a fee is levied on parking cars, but finding a provider of tickets is sometimes difficult as mobile parking is wide-spread.
By train
Estonia's train network does not cover the whole territory. The quality of services has suffered considerably from privatization and the main means of local transport is now bus.
Tallinn has three frequently-going local train lines (Tallinn-Keila-Paldiski/Riisipere and Tallinn-Aegviidu) see http://www.elektriraudtee.ee/?233.
By thumb
Hitchhiking in Estonia is generally good. The Baltic countries have a lively hitchhiking culture.
By bus
Estonia has a comprehensive line network all over the country. All bigger cities like Tartu, Pärnu, Viljandi and Narva are accessible by bus network. There is a journey planner at http://www.bussireisid.ee, in English, Finnish and Russian. But check also http://www.eurolines.ee (only between bigger cities and to outside Estonia).
By car
Estonia has lots of car rental companies and the level of English spoken by their representatives is generally very high. If you go to Level 0 of Tallinn international airport, there are several counters all touting cars.
Car rental in Estonia is very cheap compared to Western Europe. You can get a decent car shared between two people for approximately 150EEK/person/day e.g. a 2004 Fiat Punto.
An excellent day trip is to drive from Tallinn to Tartu. It takes about 2.5 hours each direction.
As of September 3, 2006 the drive from Tallinn to Tartu has been much improved. Except for a small road closure in Tallinn the road is US style macadam the whole lenth. It takes 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There are few sights of interest along the way. The terrain is flat and most of the road is bracketed by birch tree and a few pines. I can recommend Sam's grill about 1/2 way between Tallinn and Tartu as a place to stop. There is a gas station next door.
Be wary of the stones from the gravel roads, they are very sharp and can crack your windscreen.
Driving in Estonia can be more dangerous than in much of the Europe and United States.
Some drivers can be aggressive, recklessly overtaking vehicles and traveling at high speed, even in crowed urban areas.
Estonian laws against driving under the influence of alcohol are strict and follow a policy of zero tolerance. Unfortunately, accidents involving intoxicated drivers are distressingly frequent.
You should always remain alert to the possibility of drunk drivers and drunken pedestrians. Standards of driving can range from bad to down-right lethal. The best advice is to drive defensively: don’t assume your fellow drivers will do what you expect them to do, like stop for red lights or signal before they merge into your lane. If you can avoid it, it’s probably best not to drive on inter-city highways.
