Train Travel

London to Estonia

The main internal train operator in Estonia is Edelarautee - visit www.edel.ee or www.elektriraudtee.ee for more details. Details of the sleeper train from Tallinn to Moscow can be found at www.evrekspress.ee. The Estonian ferry operator is found at www.Tallink.ee for sailings Stockholm to Tallinn and Helsinki to Tallinn.

Its easy to get to Estonia by train and ferry via Copenhagen & Stockholm, or overland by train and bus via Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnius & Riga. The journey from London to Tallinn takes 3 nights, and is a super adventure.

London to Tallinn

The first decision you have to make is whether to go overland by train and bus or by train and ferry. The overland option, via Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnus and Riga will take longer and hotel accommodation will be required. You also need to know that part of the journey in the Baltic States need now to be made by bus. Probably the most comfortable option is by train and cruise ferry via Stockholm.

If you choose to do the train and ferry option, via Stockholm, the next choice with whether to travel by DFDS Seaways ferry from Harwich, Essex to Esbjerg in Denmark, then intercity train to Copenhagen and overnight sleeper to Stockholm, or by train all the way. This involves taking Eurostar to Brussels and onwards trains to Stockholm through Cologne & Copenhagen. Both these Stockholm options take 3 nights from London to Tallinn. The recommended journey is shown below. For details of the overland Eurostar option between London and Stockholm, see the London to Sweden page. For London to Tallinn overland via Warsaw, see below.

London to Tallinn via Stockholm.

Day 1, travel from London to Harwich by train, leaving London Liverpool Street at 14:18 and arriving Harwich 1 hour 25 minutes later. The ferry terminal is next to Harwich International station. The train runs hourly, but this departure gives plenty of time to catch the ferry. Please double-check times at www.nationalrail.co.uk. Sail from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark aboard DFDS 'Dana Sirena'. DFDS sails from Harwich every Wednesday, Friday & Sunday at 18:00 (sailings are increased slightly in the summer months), arriving in Esbjerg at 13:00 next day. See www.DFDS.co.uk to confirm sailing dates. Comfortable private cabins are available, complete with private shower and toilet. Take a taxi or bus to the railway station, bus number 5 runs from the port to the station every 20 minutes.

Day 2, travel from Esbjerg to Copenhagen by modern air-conditioned InterCity train, leaving Esbjerg town station at 14:55 and arriving in Copenhagen at 18:18. Travelling across most of Denmark the journey is around 175 miles. Check times for your date of travel at http://bahn.hafas.de. Day 2 evening, travel from Copenhagen to Stockholm overnight, leaving Copenhagen by Oresund link local train at 21:23 arriving Malmö at 21:58 (Copenhagen to Malmö local trains run every 20 minutes). A sleeper train leaves Malmö at 23:08 arriving Stockholm at 05:55 next morning (day 3). You can spend the day in Stockholm. The sleeper train has seats, couchettes (6 bunk) and sleepers (1 & 2 bed rooms with washbasin). Alternatively, spend the night in Copenhagen and head for Stockholm the next day. Regular high speed tilting 'X2000' trains link Copenhagen with Stockholm. Log on to http://bahn.hafas.de to check timetables.

Day 3, travel from Stockholm to Tallinn overnight by luxurious cruise ferry with Tallink. Tallink's ships sail from Stockholm Frihamnen terminal every day at 17:30, arriving in Tallinn at 11:00 next morning (day 4 from London). Various comfortable cabins are available. Log on to www.tallink.ee to check sailing dates, times and fares. To reach the Frihamnen terminal in Stockholm, take a transfer bus from the Cityterminal (the bus station next to Stockholm Central Station). Buses leave at 14:45 and 15:50 to connect with the ship (check these times with Tallink). Alternatively, the Frihamnen terminal is an easy 1km walk from Gärdet metro station. A taxi from Central Station to the terminal will cost about £15.

The Dana Sirena's facilities include 7 Seas buffet restaurant, Blue Riband a la carte restaurant, Café Lighthouse, Columbus Lounge, shops, children's play area, and a full range of cabins and suites in Seaways class and DFDS' luxurious Commodore Class with private lounge.

Tallinn to London via Stockholm: Day 1, sail from Tallinn to Stockholm on the daily Tallink cruise ferry, leaving Tallinn daily at 17:30 and arriving in Stockholm at 10:30 next morning. Spend the second day exploring Stockholm.

Day 2, travel from Stockholm to Copenhagen overnight, leaving Stockholm at 23:05 by sleeper train and arriving Malmö at 06:42 next morning. A connecting local train leaves Malmö every 20 minutes, with one at 07:02 arriving Copenhagen at 07:37. Alternatively, on most days there is a high speed X2000 train leaving Stockholm at 06:20 and arriving Copenhagen at 11:33, allowing you to spend the night in Stockholm and travel next day (day 3) to make a same-day connection to Esbjerg for the ferry to England. Log on to http://bahn.hafas.de for details of timetables etc.

Day 3, leave Copenhagen for Esbjerg by modern air-conditioned InterCity train, departing at 12:30 and arriving Esbjerg at 15:24. Log on to http://bahn.hafas.de for timetable details. Take a bus or taxi to the ferry terminal, bus number 5 runs from the station to the port every 20 minutes. Day 3 evening, sail from Esbjerg to Harwich aboard DFDS 'Dana Sirena', leaving Esbjerg ferry terminal at 19:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays, arriving Harwich at 11:30 next day (sailings are increased in the summer months). Log on to www.DFDS.co.uk for more details.

Day 4, travel from Harwich to London by train, leaving Harwich at 13:06 and arriving London Liverpool Street at 14:33. It's an hourly train service - log on to www.nationalrail.co.uk for exact timetables.

***Fares:***

A return from London to Harwich by train costs £24 or £21.50 one-way. You don't need to buy in advance, just purchase your ticket on the day of travel. If you prefer, when booking with DFDS Seaways by phone, they can sell you a London-Harwich train ticket with your ferry ticket for a special price of £10 one-way or £20 return.

Harwich to Esbjerg by ferry starts at around £158 return for two people sharing a 2-bed cabin with private toilet and shower or £147 return for one person with sole use of a cabin. Visit www.DFDS.co.uk to check sailing dates, times and fares for different types of cabins. They now have an airline-style pricing system so fares do vary. Book early and avoid peak times to get the cheapest fares. Children under 16 travel at reduced fare. Unfortunately, DFDS won't now let single passengers share cabins, the whole cabin must be booked.

Esbjerg to Copenhagen by train costs 297 Kr (£27) one way, 594 Kr (£54) return for adults, or 149 Kr (£14) each way for children and seniors over 65. You can book in advance but it's not really necessary and tickets can be bought at the station on the day at the same prices. Alternatively, DFDS can sell you a train and ferry ticket for the same price.

Copenhagen to Stockholm by sleeper train costs SEK 760 (£56) one-way or SEK 1520 (£112) return per person travelling in 6-bunk couchettes, or SEK 1170 (£87) one-way, SEK 2340 (£174) return per person travelling in a 2-bed sleeper, when booked through SwedenBooking.com.

Stockholm to Tallinn by ferry: The fare depends on cabin type and season. Fares start at around £25 one way, £50 return. Check fares and book online at www.tallink.ee.

How to buy tickets:

You will need to follow 3 steps to complete your journey.

Step 1: Buy your ferry tickets for Harwich to Esbjerg online at www.DFDS.co.uk or by calling DFDS Seaways on 0870 5 333 000. A booking fee may be payable.

On the day that you travel, you can buy your London-Harwich & Esbjerg-Copenhagen train tickets at your station of departure. There's no price advantage for booking in advance and seat reservations are not necessary. If you don't want to queue at the ticket office, you can buy the London-Harwich ticket online at www.nationalrail.co.uk and the Esbjerg-Copenhagen ticket (with seat reservation) at www.dsb.dk, the Danish Railways website. This is in Danish, but it's not difficult to work out how to use it if you're familiar with the way such booking systems work. You pay by credit card then print out your own ticket. Be aware that Copenhagen in Danish is 'Kobenhavn'. Again if you prefer you can book by phone and DFDS can add both UK and Esbjerg-Copenhagen tickets to your ferry fare, including making a seat reservation on the Esbjerg-Copenhagen train. Ask DFDS about special cheap train fares from other UK stations to Harwich, too.

Step 2: Buy the Malmö-Stockholm sleeper tickets from www.swedenbooking.com. Bookings open 90 days before departure. You can email or call + 46 498 203380 to make the reservation by credit card. Tickets can be posted to UK addresses, or tickets can be picked up by entering your booking reference into the automatic machines at stations in Sweden, including at Malmö and Stockholm stations. The fares shown above include SwedenBooking's 10% surcharge over Swedish Railways' prices, and they also charge an SEK 100 (£7) booking fee. A ticket for the Copenhagen-Malmö local train can easily be bought at the ticket office for a few krone, when you get to Copenhagen, or www.swedenbooking.com may be able to book you through from Copenhagen-Malmö-Stockholm.

Step 3: Buy the Stockholm-Tallinn ferry tickets online at www.tallink.ee.

London to Tallinn via Brussels - Berlin - Warsaw - Vilnius - Riga

The overland option from London to Tallinn via Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnius and Riga takes longer - about 4½ days. It can only be booked from the UK as far as Warsaw, where you will need to buy a ticket for Vilnius, then you will need to re-book again in Vilnius for the bus or train to Riga and in Riga for the bus to Tallinn. See the London to Latvia page for information on the journey from London as far as Riga. Riga and Tallinn are linked by regular buses, taking 5 hours and costing about £10. Log on to www.eurolines.ee and www.eurolines.lv for times and fares.

London to Tallinn by ship Rostok - Tallinn

Silja Line sails regularly from Rostok in Germany to Tallinn. First, travel from London to Berlin as shown on the London to Germany page. Trains link Berlin and Rostok every 2 hours and you will arrive in just 3 hours. For sailing dates and fares for the ship from Rostok to Tallinn, see www.silja.com.

Local trains link Tallinn with many Estonian towns, including Pärnu, Viljandi, Valga, Tapa and Tartu. Log on to www.edel.ee for times and fares - if the English version doesn't work, select the query function ('Soiduplaanid ja hinnad') first, then switch to English. The website www.elektriraudtee.ee only has info for the suburban electric trains to the Tallinn suburbs.

Tallinn to Riga by bus. Regular Eurolines busses link Tallinn to Riga with a range of departures daily. It will take around 5 hours and costs around 230 Krooni (£10 or $18). Log on to www.eurolines.ee and www.eurolines.lv.

Tallinn to Riga by train. There is no direct train service from Tallinn to Riga, but it's possible to travel from Tallinn to Riga by train if you don't mind spending a long day on a couple of local trains, and walking a few miles across the frontier between Valga and Lugazi. Leave Tallinn bright and early at 06:12 in the morning to Valka, right next to the Latvian frontier, arriving 11:32. The fare is 125 Krooni (£5). Walk across the border and on to the railway station at Lugazi, 4km from Valka. The 17:35 train from Lugazi will get you to Riga at 20:38, fare 1.79 Lats (£1.90).

Tallinn - Moscow by train

There is a great daily overnight train from Tallinn to Moscow run by EVR Ekspress. The 'Tallinna Ekspress' leaves Tallinn daily at 17:00 and arrives in Moscow the next morning at 09:20. It has comfortable 1st class 'Spalny Wagon' 2-berth compartments, 2nd class 'kupé' 4-berth compartments and a restaurant car. In the return direction, it leaves Moscow at 18:15 and arrives next morning in Tallinn at 08:28.

Tallinn to St Petersburg by bus

The two cities are linked by several daily daytime buses - visit www.eurolines.ee. For trains between the UK and Moscow / St Petersburg, see the London to Russia page.

Tallinn to Helsinki by ferry. There are various operators which link Tallinn with Tallink, silja Lane, Silja Line, Tallinn is linked to Helsinki by a variety of shipping lines, operating both conventional ships (2½ hours) and fast ferry (1½ hours). Sailing depart daily. Operators include Tallink, Silja Line, Nordic Jet Line, Eckero Line, Linda Line.

The Thomas Cook European Timetable

The Thomas Cook European timetable has train, bus and ferry times for every country in Europe, plus currency and climate information. It's essential for any independent traveller.See 'Books on Rail Travel' section of this website.

Recommended guidebooks

Never travel, independently or in a group, without a good guidebook. The best guides are the the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. Both guidebooks have the same excellent level of practical information and cultural and historical background. Again these are available in the 'Books on Rail Travel' section of this website.

Backpacker hostels

If you're on a very tight budget you may find a room or a bed in a dorm at a backpacker hostel. Take a look at www.hostelbookers.com.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance isn't a luxury - it's a necessity. Ensure its included in your holiday budget. There are many providers these days so shop around to get the best deal but always make sure you have adequate cover and that it is underwritten by a reliable insurer. Sometimes an annual multi trip is cheaper than separate policies for each trip.

EU health card

UK citizens travelling in Europe should carry a European Health Insurance Card. This replaces the old E111 forms as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available free from www.ehic.org.uk and entitles you to free or reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with the UK's NHS.