Last December, I was lucky to be able to explore Estonia beyond its capital and one of the places I visited was in the inland university city of Tartu.
It wasn’t worthwhile flying backwards and forwards to England between the two Christmas market tours I had in Tallinn, so I seized the opportunity to see something else of the country on my spare days.
Estonia is a small country in the Baltic, formerly part of the Soviet Union with a tiny population of 1.3 million. Around 35% live in Tallinn, which is by far the most popular tourist destination. The city sits on the Baltic Sea which makes it one of the traditional stops for passengers on Baltic cruises. It is also just 2 hours across the water from Helsinki, making it an easy day trip from the Finnish capital. A lot of visitors to Estonia never get any further than Tallinn.
I had done tours between capitals of three Baltic countries earlier this year and we used to stop in Pärnu, an Estonian seaside resort on the Baltic, for a lunch break on our way to Riga. But I’d never had the chance to venture inland.
Estonia’s second city is Tartu and it’s approximately 180km south east of Tallinn. The beauty of Estonia’s small land area is that you can travel anywhere in the country in just a few hours. A 2 hour train journey made Tartu a viable day trip from the Estonian capital.
Tartu may not be the capital of Estonia, but it’s the home to the National University of Estonia, the oldest, biggest and most prestigious university in the country founded by the king of Sweden in 1632. It’s a classical university ranked in the top 2% of universities in the world. So Tartu is definitely an important city in Estonia.
It was a pleasant train journey to Tartu. The railway station was a little out of the historical city, but I was quite happy to walk for 20 minutes to reach the centre. There was supposed to be a Christmas market in Tartu. It promised so much, but sadly it was very small, just a few isolated stalls in the main square.
However, there were some fantastic displays in glass boxes around the square, albeit some extremely bizarre, such as the one with the historical dresses, but with animal heads instead of human ones. It was certainly interesting. However, after a quick mooch around the square and a warming cup of mulled wine, I went to the Tourist Information Office and picked up the booklet “Strolls in Tartu”, which detailed the walking tours you could do in the city taking in the most interesting and important sites and embarked on one of the recommended walks.
I followed the Historical Tartu walking tour which incorporated the park where the ruined cathedral, observatory and several university buildings were located.
I walked down a shopping street first where there was a large shopping mall in the distance, but I turned off before I reached it at Barclay Square featuring a statue of a Russian military commander. That wasn’t of any real interest to me, but it led to the quaint historic street behind, which in turn, took me up the hill into the park where you can find the old observatory and the ruins of the cathedral.
I decided to go into the Old Observatory which was just a couple of Euros admission and looked at some big telescopes. One weighed 1200kg and had been delivered in 22 boxes, but Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve assembled it in a week without any instructions. The Struve Geodetic Arc which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List is named after him and refers to a survey of points along a meridian line, a concept that is way over my unscientific head. But I enjoyed reading about and seeing big telescopes. It was a pleasant way to pass half an hour.
I continued through Toome Hill Park to take a closer look at Tartu Cathedral. Although it was built as a cathedral between the 13th and 16th century, after it was left in ruins following the Livonian War in the 17th century, it was taken over by the university and is still part of the university today. It is possible to go inside the university building to climb the cathedral towers, but the towers weren’t open when I was there. However, you can walk freely around the outdoor, ruined part of the building, which is fully accessible to anyone strolling through the park.
I then hunted through the park to track down the sacrificial stone near Kissing Hill. I found it around the back of the cathedral ruins. Apparently students now burn their lecture notes as a sacrifice after they’ve sat their exams to celebrate the end of their studies. Hopefully they have made sure they’ve passed their exams before the ceremonial burning takes place! There are steps leading to the top of Kissing Hill where grooms traditionally carry their brides after the wedding. I went up the steps on my own, to take in the atmosphere and then walked towards the Devil’s Bridge which would lead me out of the park and back into the city centre.
I had already walked under the Angel’s Bridge which marked the entrance to the historical city centre on my walk from the railway station and exited the park under the Devil’s Bridge where my next stop was the Gunpowder Cellar.
It was getting a little late in the afternoon by now and I decided that the Gunpowder Cellar, which had been converted into a beer restaurant, would be a good place to take a break. The restaurant is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the beer cellar with the highest ceiling in the world, 11 metres high. I went upstairs to the balcony in order to fully appreciate the ceiling height and as I don’t like beer, I ordered a glass of Glögg (Estonian mulled wine), to warm me up. I spent a bit of time enjoying the atmosphere (and my Glögg), but this meant that by the time I left the beer restaurant it was almost dark.
I still had plenty of time before my train back to Tallinn, but now I wasn’t going to be able to see the city attractions as well because of the fading light. However, the city was now lit up and when I got to the Von Bock House with the mural of the university on the side of it, there was a light projected on it to make it look like it was snowing. And I wouldn’t have seen that in the daylight.
I went round the corner and walked down the street to see the main university building for real which was all lit up with lights around all its columns. So seeing parts of Tartu in the dark evening had its advantages.
I ended up back in the main square where the famous Kissing Students statue was now also lit up. I presume the statue is a symbol of the importance of the university to the city of Tartu.
I had another look at booklet with the walking tours in it and decided that I had time to do the portion of the Heart of the City stroll which follows the banks of the Emajõgi River, since I hadn’t seen the river yet.
It was now completely dark, so I wasn’t going to see the river properly anyway, but a couple of things, besides the exercise, made the stroll by the riverside worthwhile.
Firstly as I walked along the river bank, I could see the arch bridge ahead, which is a pedestrian bridge across the Emajõgi River. It has lights over the arch that change colour and I got some rather nice photos of the coloured lights and their reflection in the river. Legend has it that if you want to be accepted into the University of Tartu you should walk over the arch. This is both very dangerous and completely illegal, so I’m not sure how often it’s attempted these days.
By now it was bitingly cold and all the evidence I needed of this fact were the chunks of ice that were visible in the river. There was one spot where I could get quite close to the water for a photo.
I looked at my watch and realised that further exploration of Tartu would not be possible, it was time to head to the station to catch my train back to Tallinn. I crossed the arch bridge to the historical centre of Tartu and under the Angel’s Bridge away from Estonia’s second city. I’d really enjoyed my day exploring here. If you are in Estonia and have a day to spare, it’s well worth checking out.
I travelled to Tartu in December 2019.
I travelled to Tartu by train from Tallinn. There are approximately 10 trains a day between the two cities and the journey takes around 2 hours. My first class return ticket cost 27 Euros. It takes approximately 20 minutes to walk from the station to the city centre. You can book tickets online with Elron the government owned Estonian train company. Tickets can be booked online up to a week in advance.
The excellent Strolls in Tartu booklet details the recommended self-guided walking tours. You can download a copy for free or get a paper copy from the Tartu Tourist Information Centre in the main square.
I flew to Tallinn from Manchester with Finnair via Helsinki. There are currently no direct flights between Tallinn and any airports in the north of England. Flights are available direct from Stansted and Gatwick.