So, in my earlier blog, I talked about our visit to the charming old town of Tallinn. If you are in Estonia, you would definitely anyways roam around the old town as that is that topmost tourist destination in the city.
However when I think of my trip to Estonia back in 2016, I can't stop thinking about the fun we had visiting these couple of offbeat destinations in and around Tallinn which were away from the old town, but according to me should be in included in every travelers list
Honestly, our plan was just to relax in a cafe in the old town for good number of hours, once we finished exploring the old town. While in the cafe, we talked to the owner of the cafe and he recommended us these 2 places, which we are glad that we visited while we were in Tallinn.
I literally had to stretch myself out of the cafe, I know, but I was happy I did so when I saw these places ☺️
So instead of talking more on the history, let me get straight to these places!!!
Jagala Falls
Jagala Falls is the highest waterfall in Estonia and the northern part of the country. Though it is no where close to many other waterfalls around the world in terms of its being largest or highest and its beauty; however, I did enjoy exploring it when I visited Estonia. The reason I loved it because of the fact that we visited it during late winters, when the fall was half frozen and there was still lots of snow in the park around the falls. Infact it was still snowing a bit!
Seeing this hanging icicles midst the falling water was really surreal. We had some fun jumping around along with some warm hugs when there was no one to see us around. The whole place was to ourselves, probably because anyways mostly locals comes to this place and it was too cold the day we visited for locals to be there 😀
After spending 45 minutes or so, we headed to our next suggestion, which was Kalamaja district of Tallinn
Kalamaja district
This is just a 10 minutes drive from the Tallinn old town! Once you are there, you can park your park anywhere around (we didn't see any restrictions on parking there) and walk and explore the area.
Kalamaja was an industrial area earlier, which is now converted into a residential and commercial place with various old style restaurants and smalls houses around. There is an old abondened train station as well where in you will see some standing train carriages which are converted restaurants.
The whole place was closed when we visited the area due to Easter, however I know there are many festivals which keep running in this area and the place is very buzzing around those times and a must visit!
What I really enjoyed during our visit was the graffiti painting of all sizes, shapes and colours everywhere around. Be it the peripheral walls of the industrial estate, walls and shutters of the old industrial building, you will see these street ars everywhere. Quiet impressive!
There is only one word of caution: If you are in this area on a quieter day, please try to stay safe while exploring around the inner part of industrial area. We felt a bit dodgy when we visited as there was no one around and a guy who looked drunk and looking for food in the dump area! We did gave him couple of euros and quickly stepped out of the inner areas to be on the safer side!
Do not forget to sample some nice food here, which we couldn't due to closure, however having read about it later I know they serve some real nice food and freshly brewed beer here!
So, that's all about a day exploring offbeat places in Estonia, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
Please feel to read about the details on my visit to Tallinn old town here and feel free to drop any questions or comments you have ☺️
Keep exploring!!!
