Estonia is located in Northern Europe by the Baltic Sea and is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia and to the east by both Lake Peipus and Russia. The population of Estonia is about 1.3 million people, and the capital city Tallinn is located in North Estonia. Tartu is the second largest city and is located in South Estonia, the distance between Tartu and Tallinn is however only 180 kilometres.
Luhasoo study trail in Võrumaa, South Estonia. Photo: Priidu Saart
The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and more than 2300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Estonian nature offers lots of opportunities for hiking and camping, there are also many spa-hotels, museums and sightseeings, in summer there are also lots of different events like concerts, summer theatre performances, and festivals taking place, so feel free to extend your trip before or after the congress. In summer the temperature in Estonia is usually between +20 to +30 degrees by Celsius on the daytime.
UNESCO listed treasures to explore in Estonia.
Useful links:
https://visittartu.com – Official tourism site of Tartu, information about public transportation, restaurants, hotels, events, etc.
Below you can find information on how to get to Tartu:
Town Hall Square in Tartu. Photo: Hans Markus Antson
By train
Tartu Railway Station is located 1.5 km from the city centre, there is a daily train service to Tartu from Tallinn, Valga, and Koidula. By catching a connecting train, it is possible to travel to Tartu also from Narva and Jõhvi as well as from Riga through Valga (see https://www.vivi.lv/en/ for Riga-Valga tickets). The tickets within Estonia can be purchased from the website https://elron.ee/en or on the train from the ticket machine or from a ticket controller, it is however cheaper to purchase the ticket online in advance. You can also take a bicycle to the train, but additional bicycle ticket must be purchased for it.
In the trains, there are two different price classes. In the first class, there are wider seats with adjustable backrests, there are also power sockets and tables available for working with laptop. With the ticket to the first class a certain seat number is booked for you. In the second class, you can choose a free seat (no certain seat is reserved with the ticket) and there are power sockets and tables available at some seats. Note that the number of passengers in the second class is higher than usual on Friday and Sunday nights, thus it would be good to book your ticket in advance and get on the train earlier to secure a seat.
From the railway station, the city center can be reached by walking (about 1.4 km) or catching regular city buses No 3 or No 25, all timetables of the city buses can be found here. Find more information on transportation in Tartu here. You may also take a taxi or rent a Smart Bike (there are both electric-assist bikes and classic bikes available). You may also use the Bolt mobile app for ordering a taxi. If you plan to come by your own car, see information about parking in Tartu.
Elron train. Photo: Stigo
Tartu city bikes. Photo: Renee Altrov
By bus
Tartu Bus Station is located in the city centre, and there are direct bus connections from and to Tallinn and Riga. There are around 30 buses traveling between Tallinn and Tartu per day, most of which also stop at Tallinn Airport. Information about discounts, timetables, and bus routes within Estonia can be found at www.tpilet.ee. and www.luxexpress.eu. If you plan to use a bus operated by LuxExpress, it is cheaper to buy a ticket from their homepage or via their smartphone app (on Tpilet website a service fee of 0.65 euro cents is added to the ticket price). Information about the international bus routes can be also found at www.luxexpress.eu.
The price of the bus ticket depends on the time of the purchase as well as on the demand: when the trip is booked in advance, the possibility of getting a price discount is higher. The highest price applies to a ticket bought on board the bus from the driver or from the customer service representative on-site. Please note that when entering the bus, passengers with pre-purchased tickets are served first, and only then a ticket can be bought from the driver (if there are available seats).
If you need to use a local transportation city bus in Tartu, the routes and timetables of city buses can be found here.
Tartu local transportation city bus. Photo: Renee Altrov
By plane
Finnair operates trips between Tartu and Helsinki Airports. The approximate duration of a one-way flight is 45 minutes. The flights to Helsinki ensure connecting flights to nearly a hundred destinations worldwide. The exact flight schedule can be seen on Finnair website. Tartu Airport is located 10 kilometers from the center of Tartu. Tartu city centre and the airport are connected by bus and taxi connections. More information about arriving and leaving Tartu airport can be found on the Tartu Airport website.
You can also travel to Tallinn Airport (about 178 km from Tartu) or to Riga Airport (about 253 km from Tartu) which offer a wider selection of international flights. After that you can continue the trip to Tartu by bus or by train (see the information above).
