other places

The medieval walled town is the must-see but what if you've already seen it? Here are some mini-excursions for those with time to spare.

Beyond the city there is much to explore and all within a very compact country, only only 230 km (140 miles) from north to south. The spa town of Pärnu, with its fine sandy beaches, is just 130 km (80 miles) away, an easy drive in a couple of hours

But even two hours each way that is more than most cruise visitors have. These are three trips that you can take without leaving town. Using public transport, they all start by tram from Fat Margaret's Tower, the nearest tram stop to the cruise harbour.

OPEN AIR MUSEUM
The word museum doesn't do it justice. Rural buildings from the 18th-20th centuries have been transported from all over Estonia to this park by the sea. It's similar in concept to Seurasaari Island in Helsinki but closer to the centre and more professionally run.

The farmhouses, barns and smithies are not particularly old but they show the building traditions of a people who have been tilling the land for 4000 years. Not everything is made of wood; northern and western Estonia have plenty of limestone, too.

The on-site guides and costumed extras tend to be older people who are not competent in foreign languages, but words aren't really needed to show how things were done and made. The location of the museum park is 8 km (5 miles) by road to the west of the harbour.

To go by public transport, catch a tram no. 1 or 2 from Fat Margaret's Tower. The destination of the tram will be marked Kopli but you should travel only two stops to the Baltic Railway Station (Balti Jaam). Change there onto bus 21, which will drop you at the museum's gates.

If there are three or four people traveling together, it may be worth going by taxi, which will cover the whole distance in about 20 minutes, but read our warning about Tallinn taxis first.

KADRIORG
On the map of Tallinn, this is the large green area to the east of the Old Town. The park was created by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great soon after he had captured Estonia from Sweden in 1710. In 1718 he began work on a Summer Palace here, named after his wife Catherine, in Russian Yekaterina. Kadriorg is Estonian for Catherine's Vale.

She was not in fact a Russian. Originally named Martha Skavronska, she was the daughter of Latvian peasants and was born in what is now Estonia. She worked her way up through several Russian noble families, as a mistress or servant or both, before being passed on to Tsar Peter by his best friend, Prince Menshikov.

Russian royalty later lost interest in the park at Tallinn. Even in Peter's day it was used so little that it was generally open to the public. Partly as a result, the area became popular among wealthy local families and there are fine houses and villas in its leafy streets.

It also contains more museums than any normal person would want to visit in a month. However at least two of them - the National Art Museum in its new building and its foreign art collection in Kadriorg Palace - are well worth seeing.

The easiest way to get there is to take Tram number 1 from Fat Margaret's Tower. The destination will be marked Kadriorg but get off at the fourth stop and walk up L Koidula street. Lydia Koidula (Lydia of the Dawn) was the pen name of a beloved 19th century poet and author. Her rather mannish face looks out from the 100 crown banknote.

Many of the houses on Koidula street date from the 19th century. The villa at number 10 is a fine example of Art Nouveau. At number 12, where the 20th century writer Anton Tammsaar lived, you can look inside for the price of 20 crowns because it's been turned into a museum of his life and work.

Halfway up Koidula, where the park begins, is an area known as the Russian village, which contained small wooden houses where the servants of the palace lived. Unfortunately the houses that have survived are in pretty poor shape while the new ones, often garishly painted, don't fit in. Throughout the residential part of Kadriorg, modern wealth is destroying what time could not.

Nearby is the symmetrical swan pond, a favourite place among the people of Tallinn for summer outings. A promenade - A. Weizenbergi street - leads past it to Kadriorg Palace. The main hall of the Palace is a gem of Russian baroque architecture. Behind the Palace is the residence of the President of Estonia, an unexceptional building dating from 1938.

The dull rectangular building just beyond the palace is where Tsar Peter lived while his palace was being built. It doesn't look like much on the outside but inside are many original pieces of furniture used by the Tsar, and the admission fee is only 13 crowns - less than a euro.

The massive modern green building against the cliff in this corner of the park is the new Kumu Art Museum of Estonia. Even if you've had your fill of museums by now, it's worth visiting for the fine cafeteria on its ground floor. It also has good WiFi coverage.

At the end of a long avenue leading from the palace to the sea, you may be able to make out a statue. This is Rusalka, which commemorates a Russian warship of that name that sank in 1893 en route to Helsinki. The kitsch figure of an angel pointing at the waves is regarded by Estonians as a classic but is hardly worth crossing the park for, unless you are in dire need of exercise.

CENTRAL MARKET
Modern Tallinn has fine shops with prices to match but a taste of older Tallinn still remains, at the central market, or Keskturg. See it soon: it is so close to the centre that it will surely be redeveloped in a year or two.

From the tram stop at Fat Margaret's Tower, take tram number 2 towards Ülemiste and get off at the 4th stop. Cross over the main road and walk down the side street named Torupilli ots. You'll know you're going in the right direction if you see elderly people carrying great sacks of produce towards you.

There is nothing refined about the Central Market but in among all the tasteless clothes and mind-boggling junk, there'll will be plenty of things you've never seen before. Look out for socks made in Belarus from flax, cheap and far more comfortable than cotton.

There is a separate hall for meat, dairy products and other items that need to be kept cool. Smoked cheese or venison salami will make delicious souvenirs. So will bottles of bright yellow juice pressed from sea-buckthorn berries (astelpaju in Estonian). It contains twelve times as much vitamin C as orange juice.