Day-Trippin' on the Baltic! How to Combine 2 of Europe's Finest Cities: Tallinn and Helsinki

I wrap up my wee Baltic adventure with a day trip from Tallinn to Helsinki, taking Viking Line across the Gulf of Finland. This video will also feature some fun adventures in both great cities. I hope you enjoy!

Filmed on location in Estonia and Finland on 9th and 10th May 2022.

I sailed on the Viking XPRS for 32.80 Euro return. There was also a (approx) 90 Euro ticket available which included an overnight in on of the ship's cabins on the return, but this would mean exiting the ship around 6am, so I declined the opportunity, however good it would have been for the video! :)

'Nordic Vision' by Christophe Gorman
'Michael Row the Boat Ashore' Artist Unknown
'I'm Coming' Home' by Scott Panther
'Hot Dos in a Row' by Mac Taboel

Hi, I’m Steve. I am a travel reviewer and post my trip reports here on YouTube. I pay for my own travel and produce my own videos. If you have any questions about my journeys or travel advice in general, please drop me a comment - I do read every single one. I’d also love to hear any recommendations you may have for future content, or why not challenge me to try something a little out of the ordinary! If you are looking to collaborate on any type of project, I’d love to hear from you - email me your ideas and hopefully we can work together in the future.

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#Tallin #Helsinki #VikingLine

[Aquelll]

Fun fact: Suomenlinna also has an open prison and many of the groundkeepers you saw there are inmates serving their sentences.

[Markmeister]

As someone who works for Viking Line: This brought a smile to my face. 😍

[BarneyLeith]

Some years ago I stayed with a friend & his family in Espoo, Helsinki's neighbouring city. When he drove me to Helsinki airport it was snowing heavily. But the main roads were being ploughed as the snow fell. And the snow didn't stop the flights. The runways were all clear. My friend told me that the icebreakers were constantly working throughout the winter. When you have the kind of climate where you just know it is going to be very cold in the winter, you can prepare for it! On another trip one March I flew up to Oulu up north on the Gulf of Bothnia. Snow was on the ground and the sea was frozen! Now I fancy a trip to Tallinn!

[Tatia]

Yes Finland is a great country and yes you can drink anywhere at any time! Suomenlinna is in fact a fortification and yes some folks live there but it’s very popular in the summer with Helsinki residents. You should try the beer tram! There is also an Orthodox Church near the harbour which is worth a look. Also there is a large market near the presidents palace which has lots of interesting things to see. Next time you plan to go, let me know!

[fw]

Excellent video as always!

Interesting fact - the Silja Europa ferry you film at 02:00 in Tallinn Port played a major part in the rescue operation of the MS Estonia Sinking in 1994. It was the first ship to receive the Mayday call.

[vasilip]

10:48 That car is probably the ONLY restored Checker A2 in the world :D There is another working one in rough original condition too in Finland, those are about the only survivors of their kind because the taxi companies in USA scrapped the old ones when they were replaced with new models. Nice that you caught such rare vehicle on video.

They imported used Checkers for the time of Helsinki olympic games from Chigago and New York since Finland did not have enough cars after the war and they were needed to move the olympic guests around but those Checkers were in bad shape and whole deal was a huge mess.

[MagyarAndras]

It's very pleasant to listen to your trip, no exaggeration, no "oh my gosh" (like Americans), no fake laughing...just straight forward content! I live in Helsinki now and live 3 years in Tallinn!

[salamoniac]

Another interesting fact about Sveaborg, the small island of the coast of Helsinki: there’s an active prison on that very island. You made note of all the people sweeping -> I wouldn’t be surprised if those people were actually prisoners whose job it is to maintain the island.

[MHG]

When you mentioned "bald and bankrupt" I couldn´t help but think there may be a relatively high amount of viewers watching (enjoying !) videos of both channels.

[Deathannihilator]

Fun fact: That huge Tallink ferry was formerly called Silja Europa, and when she was laid to sea, she was the biggest passenger ferry in the world.

[PeterHalil]

What can I say?, what a wonderful trip. Lighthouses, Light ship & a Church Lighthouse, plus that brilliant seaplane museum. Great one again Steve, thank you

[TonySMotorcyclePassion]

Love your adventures your filming and mostly your love of the animals also your great sense of humour 😊

[richardharibo]

I just want to thank you for sharing everything that you do. I've watched you from the beginning and will continue as you are my favourite travel YouTuber ☺️. Thanks Steve, keep up the good work buddy

[hughrainbird]

Fascinating visits to two beautiful cities, and a ferry ⛴ trip! It doesn't get much better than this. Thanks Steve.
I read somewhere that "fear of heights" or whatever it is, is due the conflict between a vestigial avian memory from a much earlier time in our history still buried in our subconscious, which is telling us " Yes, you can fly if you let yourself go", while our rational side is firmly telling us the opposite.
My cycling training partner's father was a Geordie from Tyneside, and in the Depression when the choice was going down the coalmines or working in the shipyards, he went for a job in the shipyard, and was told by the foreman that if he could walk around the top of the unprotected scaffolding, he'd got the job. He did, but his mate couldn't, so had to go down the pit.

[perolden]

Funny, I went in to see this 2 year old take from Talinn-Helsingfors (Talinn is estonian for Tanska linna, Danish fort, but shortened to Taliina. Helsingfors means Sound (as in narrow sound) waterfall, so the Waterfall Narrows would be an acceptable translation. Helsinki is the Finnsish form, it means nothing, it is just based on the Swedish name, but no one says that, they say Hesari, another short form. With all the long words, finns use short forms of at least 70% of their words (my estimate) I was taking the Talinn ferry dozens of time in the 80s, russian shipowners, ferry called Georg Ots, thenit was part of the Soviet Union, and the sailing marina was operative, we went there for icecream and to look at the sea. After it became independent again, I have only been there a half dozen I liked the Soviet style, it gets less and less exotic.

I used to buy books in Norwegian, Swedish and Polish( I Still can't read Polish...) and Russian at laughably low prices. I went to the post office and mailed 50 kgs of books in several parcels home, cost about one Euro in todays money. Me and my Finnish girlfriend laughed at the watery icecream that actually became more watery every year untii the Soviet Union broke. In 1986 it was OK icecream, in 87 it was thinner, if you let it melt a bit, you could se they had added ice from water into the ice cream, and it became more every year....I miss the 'fake civilisation' they set up.

Well, that is Putins dream, I do not want him to succeed, people in the Baltics deserve their countries, but there is a little bit of missing. I don't have to go far to find it, the Russian countryside is very Sovietic still, and some areas in the Baltic as well.

Sveaborg is the name of the fortress, it is swedish and means the Swede Fortress, when they wanted place names to be finnsish, they translated it to Suomenlinna, which means the Finns Fortress, both names are official.

I am not sure, but I think the fortress never came into battle since the commander capitulated without fighting in 1809....however British warships bombed Helsingfors during the Crimean war in the mid 1800s. It was after all a part of Russia. Other Finnish towns east of Helsingfors were also bombed (that is being shot grenades at) from British ships, and several British writers have wondered what the Finns thought of the Brits when they came in let it rain grenades on a country that never had a disagreement with the Brits....In the 1980s I went to a lecture with an 89 yr old man who had heard his grandfather tell him about the day the Britsih frigates and destroyers anchored up offshore and started bombing the mostly wooden town, and how her had thought of this story when the Soviets came bombing the same town on the 30th of November 1939, when Soviet attacked Finland, and how England again declared war on Finland 5th of december 1941....

At the railway station in -Hesa (a shorter still shortening of Helsinki) thre used to be a Russian ticket sale, a Russian part of the station that sold tickets to Peterburg and Moscow, and a kiosk that sold Russian magazines and sweets and tea and such, don't know if that is still there.

[mernavella]

I enjoyed this, but mostly your sweet sincere nature. Our 2022 world needs more people like you. Cheers fr Canada❤️

[erichstocker]

I have been to Helsinki a couple of times. I was working with colleagues at the University and weather bureau. I always enjoyed my time in Helsinki. Loved the area and really enjoyed the people.

[MCP]

When you got off that Viking ferry in Helsinki it was the same journey on foot that I took when I landed there in 1990. I didn't know then that I'd stay for 25 years, mostly in Vaasa on the west coast.
I too get vertigo in unsafe high places, but I'm fine in aircraft and in enclosed towers. I'm also quite claustrophobic which means that canal tunnels bother me because there's usually no towpath inside - so no escape route! I also have your passion for travel.
Vaasa is worth a video too, with a ferry crossing from Umea in Sweden. It has become the Nordic energy hub of progressive green production and is also rising out of the sea at a rate of nearly 1cm a year due to glacial rebound - the fastest in the world!

[johncarr]

Fantastic video Steve of 2 great cities. I'm tempted by Estonia now and I have always wanted to go to Finland as my uncle lives there. Helsinki looks great. I'm certainly enjoying all that you're producing. Keep it up sir!

[cmtransportvids]

Just north of Edinburgh there is an island called crammond island which is quite good. You walk over when the tide is low, it’s very cool