48 Hours: Tallinn

Tallinn is busy getting ready for this year's Eurovision Song Contest on 25 May. After years as a puppet on a string dangled by the Kremlin, the Estonian capital has dressed itself up to offer all kinds of everything to visitors for the Song Contest, even though the event takes place in a suburban concert hall. The Old Town has had an early spring clean and many lingering restorations have suddenly been completed.

Tallinn is busy getting ready for this year's Eurovision Song Contest on 25 May. After years as a puppet on a string dangled by the Kremlin, the Estonian capital has dressed itself up to offer all kinds of everything to visitors for the Song Contest, even though the event takes place in a suburban concert hall. The Old Town has had an early spring clean and many lingering restorations have suddenly been completed.

Beam Down

Estonian Air (020-7333 0196, www.estonian-air.ee) flies daily except Saturday from Gatwick to Tallinn, leaving at 6pm and arriving at 11pm local time for £231 return. SAS (0845 607 2772 www.scandinavian.net) offers connections from Birmingham, Dublin, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow via Copenhagen or Stockholm. Finnair (0870 241 4411, www.finnair.co.uk) flies from Heathrow or Manchester via Helsinki for around £250. Or, for a cheap and leisurely approach, get a flight to Helsinki and take the two-hour boat from Helsinki. The Tallinn Old Town skyline appears just as Helsinki recedes. From 1 November Air Passenger Duty is reduced from £20 to £5 for travel to Estonia.

Get Your Bearings

Tallinn airport is only a couple of miles outside the city centre. Take the number 2 bus for 15 kroon (70p), a hotel shuttle bus for 20 kroon (80p) or blow 100 kroon (£4) on a taxi. The tourist office at Raekoja Plats 10 should be an early port of call; or check out www.tourism.tallinn.ee. Buy Tallinn In Your Pocket in any kiosk for an up-to-date, irreverent assessment of restaurants, museums and shops.

Check In

Do not turn up without a booking as Tallinn is popular, especially in summer. The Grand at Toompuistee 27 (00 372 667-7000, www.grandhotel.ee) lives up to its name, with large rooms, a marble foyer and views of Hermann Tower. Doubles from 2,500 kroon (£100). The Susi at Peterburi 48 (00 372 630-3300 www.susi.ee) has a staircase lined with presentations of the Old Town. Budget travellers should head for the Dzingel at Manniku 89 (00 372 610 5201, www.dzingel.ee) in the genteel suburb of Nomme, a 20-minute bus ride from the town centre; bland but cheap at 400 kroon (£16) for a single and 600 kroon (£25) for a double.

Take A Hike

Tallinn is medieval and 21st century, and hardly anything in between. There are plenty of cobblestones, spires and candle-lit churches. Start a walk beside Hermann Tower at the top of the Old Town where the Estonian flag now reigns supreme. Next leave Estonia for a few minutes by entering Alexander Nevsky Cathedral , a Russian environment where the Cyrillic alphabet and incense still dominate. Meander down any cobbled street or stair which in due course will lead to the Town Hall Square . For centuries this was the trading centre of the Baltic Germans, interspersed with the occasional public execution. The really tough will want to see the lie of the land from the top of the Town Hall Tower, others will set off at a more leisurely pace through Saiakang, Tallinn's narrowest street, emerging into the sunlight beside the Holy Ghost Church . Turn right into Pikk and look left down Pagari at the building with a bridge across the street. It looks totally out of place in Old Tallinn and fortunately it now is. Previously it was the KGB headquarters. Next on the left is St Olav's Church which the KGB also took over. Finish the tour at Fat Margaret , which despite the name is a Maritime Museum showing how the British Navy helped Estonia secure its independence after the First World War.

Take A Ride

By a ticket for 10 kroon (40p) at any kiosk or for 15 kroon (60p) on the tram itself and take a number 1 or a number 3 from the Viru Hotel to Kadriorg Palace, which was commissioned by Peter the Great in 1718. It is now an art museum. Head for the "agitation porcelain" on the second floor, produced in 1923 for the first Soviet Art Exhibition by the renamed State Porcelain Factory. (Previously it had been the Imperial Porcelain Factory).

Lunch On The Run

Making money does not allow young Estonians much time for lunch, so join them at Kuldse Notsu (The Golden Pig) at Dunkri 8, just below the luxurious St Petersbourg Hotel restaurant. Despite this name, it has a large vegetarian menu; start with thick pea soup and croutons, and continue with onion and mushroom casserole. Have a pint, and the total cost will be £6.50, and the total time taken, half an hour.

WIndow Shopping

To see what is expensive in Finland, visit the shopping centre attached to the Viru Hotel, which is popular with day-trippers from Helsinki . Or take trolleybus 1 from behind the hotel to Sasse, the stop for Kadaka Market. Here you can watch the Finns join the scrummage for second-hand car parts, pirated CDs and Nazi and Soviet memorabilia.

An Aperitif

Few foreigners find the narrow entrance to Tristan ja Isolde , so it is rarely crowded. Try a Vana Tallinn, Estonia's most famous aperitif, or one of the wide range of coffees. At La Casa del Habano at Dunkri 2, the staff make cocktails from a much bigger variety of spirits than any Cuban bar could manage.

Dinner With The Locals

Estonians over 30 who can't quite take the pace of 21st-century life retreat to Maiasmokk at Pikk 12 (00 372 646-3070 www.maiasmokk.ee), where lunch still takes an hour and dinner appropriately longer. Beef and dumpling soup is followed by worthy portions of pork and then chocolate cake. It is hard to spend more than 200 kroon (£8) a head. The Estonian diaspora meet their local relatives at Eesti Maja Lauteri 1 (00 372 645 5252) to be reminded of how tasty mashed potatoes can become if enough herbs and alcohol are added. Allow about 100 kroon (£4) for dinner.

Sunday Morning: Go To Church

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral seems to have services all day, every day. As is the custom in a Russian Orthodox Church, the congregation stand throughout. The Holy Ghost Church has services in English every Sunday at 3pm.

Bracing Brunch

Take a 21 bus from the railway station Baltijaam to Rocca Al Mare, which despite the name has nothing to do with Italy. It is the location for the Open Air Museum, which opens 10am-6pm daily except Monday. Wooden houses, chapels and stables have been brought from all over Estonia to recreate 19th-country life. One building is the Kolu Inn, where a brunch of pea soup followed by mashed potato is served on wooden plates. Home cooking is now rare in Tallinn, so catch up with it here.

Cultural Afternoon

The Adamson-Eric Museum at Luhike jalg 3 shows the versatility of Estonia's most famous 20th-century artist, whose life (1902-1968) spanned two Russian occupations and the whole of the first independence era. During the 1920s Adamson-Eric studied in Paris and Berlin, so managed to incorporate both Cubism and the Bauhaus legacy into his paintings. By the 1930s he had moved to applied arts, concentrating on tapestries and ceramics. During the war he turned to stage sets. Post-war austerity returned him to painting when materials for other work were unavailable. Most museums in Tallinn shut on Mondays – this one also closes on Tuesdays; for the rest of the week it opens 11am-6pm.

Write A Postcard

Drop into the Photographic Museum at Raekoja 4 for reprints of pre-war cards. Don't worry about the sign that says, "The Town Hall Prison was opened for the 1980 Olympic Games." The crucial words "as a museum" have been omitted.

Icing On The Cake

Well, chocolate to be exact. The Kalev Chocolate Factory, Parnu mnt 139, makes 250 different products, including toffees, marzipan and high-quality chocs. Trams 3 and 4 from behind the Viru Hotel terminate outside. The factory museum shows how production survived through every shade of occupation and how the box cover designs had to reflect current political trends. Flag-waving peasants have now given way to sunsets over the Old Town and Eurovision commemorations. The attached shop offers prices much lower than those in town or at the airport.

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