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Estonian Experience

Estonian Experience

Best Private and Small Group Tours in Estonia

Interview with Pub tour guide Eva-Maria

05.02.09, Indrek Peenmaa, Comments: 2

Lets start from the beginning, what exactly is the „pub tour”?

 

Pub tour (sometimes also called as a pubcrawl) is a guided tour through different pubs of Old Town with your local English speaking guide. It is usually more funny compared to the regular Old Town sightseeing tours. There might be some variations – drinks can be pre-ordered or everybody will make their own choices. Tour might also end with a visit to a nightclub where the party continues.

What kind of pubs there are in Tallinn?

 

In Tallinn, there are quite many pubs to select from. Usually I recommend to start your evening from the Beer House which is a large and authentic local pub. In some evenings, it is possible to see performers and their lively show. When there are bachelor party groups during the show, performers are sometimes involving the star of the evening in their dances. Beer House has their own small beer factory and it is really recommended to taste their house beer. This pub is almost always crowded and also popular for locals.

 

Quite contrasting to that pub is Stereo – it is a modern trendy lounge. The place is all in white with nice leather sofas. DJs perform during the weekends, there are lots of TV screens showing music videos. Some time ago, they had large black and white posters with the pictures of their own employees, who were not wearing too much clothes. These pictures were very popular and received lots of looks from visitors.

 

What is the best time for a pub tour?

 

The best time is to start between 8 PM and 9 PM, because the visitors want to see also other people around. If you start too early, it might be disappointing because the evening has not really started for most of the other people yet. If we compare to the UK, the life in Estonian pubs starts a little bit later.

 

How many locals people are there in pubs?

 

It obviously depends a lot on which pub you are visiting. Some pubs which are located in more distant areas of the Old Town have much more local visitors because foreigners are usually not going too far in their walks. Nevertheless, even pubs in the center of the Old Town have plenty of Estonians around. It also depends on the weekday and time. Some pubs might be also filled with visiting tourists only.

 

Is it true that prices in Tallinn have become too expensive?

I must say that it is true. However, just recently one lounge made a decision to reduce their drink prices by 40% and now they have become very competitive. Also, many other places are coming down in prices due to the economic crises. But yes, prices are relatively high and locals are visiting the pubs less than few years ago.

 

Who are the most typical customers for pub tours?

 

Lots of customers are from UK because Baltics has become popular for their stag groups. But there are also many other countries where groups are arriving from.

 

What is the eating possibilities in local pubs? Should food be purchased separately from other places?

 

In general, pubs have very good eating possibilities but some of the places provide more value for the money. Some have very good pricing. Everybody assumes that McDonalds is the best deal but it is not always so. I do recommend to dinner in other places instead. Some pubs provide very good selection of meals – like Nimeta pub –for the same budget as typical fast food places.

 

What are the things to avoid?

 

Becoming too loud and noisy in pubs is not recommended, it is not appreciated by the other visitors and pub owners might ask you to leave.

 

How many pubs you suggest to visit?

 

People think that it is good to see lots of different pubs within short timeframe. But it is rarely so. If the initial plan is to visit 5 pubs, people will finally settle for 3. I would say that you have to really pay attention to the quality of every visit. If places are truly different, visitors want to spend more time in each of them. If you select really similar pubs, people will obviously want to leave earlier.

 

How secure is Tallinn and its Old Town?

 

It is like all tourist areas. You should be paying attention to your belongings. Do not ask for a trouble with your actions. Do not take too much cash or credit cards with you. If you finish your party late during the night, it is recommended to take a taxi back to your hotel. Especially, if you live outside of the Old town district.

 

If you want to take a taxi, look at their pricing which should be visible on their back window. Be aware that lots of private taxis in the Old town have too high prices. It is more recommended to order taxi from a taxi company. Most reputable taxi companies are Tallink and Tulika, but there are also many other reputable smaller companies. If it is advertised in many places and you recognize the name – it should be ok. Just stay away from these private taxis in tourism areas. It is really high in the action list for city government to clean up the taxi industry but some incident still leave bad impression to our visitors.

 

But tell me, why should customers consider having an official pub tour when they can visit all the pubs by themselves?

 

Yes, you can visit all the same pubs by yourself. However, all my groups have told me that in this case it will not be even half the fun it could possibly be. The visitor groups stay usually closely together and therefore they appreciate the option to talk with their guide. People are interested in discussing about life, town and city environment. Lots of visitors really appreciate these discussions with a guide and tell me later that they liked that they were able to talk to a native person living in this country.

 

They have also the best pubs selected for them. In the tour, I prefer to show contrasting and opposing pubs and clubs. The problem is that lots of pubs are too similar. Take Molly Malone’s – it is very good Irish pub – but there is nothing special in it compared to any other Irish pub. Some tour participants might get little disappointed because of that.

 

Will the pub tour include all the same pubs or are the routes different?

 

The routes sometimes differ, but usually the same pubs are visited. It depends little bit on how large distance the group agrees to walk. Some original pubs are located more outside from the main tourist areas. Group members should also indicate their preferences and sometimes the list of pubs in the route is being changed because of request from the participants. It is never possible to have an ideal list which always fits with everybody.

 

What are the most common questions asked by tourists?

 

To generalize a bit, in every group there is at least one person who is interested in history and who wants to know a lot about the country. They also promise to return later for longer and more culture oriented visit to Estonia. These visitors ask most of the questions.

Some others are interested in the differencies between Estonian and Russian women, their looks and behaviour. Lots of questions concern the life of locals – like what they do for a living, how and where do they party, what are the local customs and drinking habits. There are also people who are mainly interested in having a good party and who are not much interested in anything else.

 

What is the best group size for pub tours?

 

I would say that the best size if from 8 to 15 people. If it is more, guide will have difficulties in being able to give enough attention to all tour participants.

 

It is very important that group members are sufficiently informed about the tour schedule and format. What kind of places are going to be visited? What drinks are paid and what are not? What kind of things can be changed and what has been fixed and pre-ordered. Lots of issues arise when people have wrong assumptions or have no sufficient information.

 

Is it good to have drinks within tour package or is it better to buy them separately?

 

It depends. In the end, there should be no significant difference from price perspective. It should be noted that pubs in the tours are selected based on the authentic experience they are providing. It includes also the local house beer testing and drinking local shots, like strong Old Tallinn liqueur. It is more entertaining if these drinks are pre-ordered and delivered to the table for all team members. However, if the amount of drinks in the package is too large, it is not good because not all people want to have a beer in all the pubs. It gives bad experience to everybody when partly unused beers are left on table because people and not interested in drinking so much. I recommend to have some drinks pre-ordered in the beginning of the tour but leave it up to the tour participants later.

 

How much communication there is with locals and other tourists during the pub tour?

 

Usually there is lots of communication because tour members are relatively open people. Sometimes several pub tour groups meet in a pub, share their experiences and may even decide to continue together. Estonians by their nature are not very active in initiating discussions with strangers. It is a good idea to be more proactive by yourself because in the end it is also valued by the locals.

 

How Estonian women like to be approached?

 

I do not suggest to try too traditional and old fashioned approaches when starting discussions with them. Estonian women like originality. Braveness, open and active attitude give you plus points. Actually this question has been asked from me hundreds of times [laughing], but it is always very complicated. Women are different and there is no right way to approach everybody. Some prefer more active attitude but others like it more when you act like a real gentleman.

 

Who will get the best experience from pub tours?

 

It is suitable for lots of different people. It is very good option when you are in a short visit to Estonia and like to have some fun, meet and talk with local people and somebody to guide you and answer your questions. It is also very popular for bachelor party groups.

I suggest to take this tour in your first evening because guide can also give you lots of information about things to do in following days and evenings.

 

Are there any options which can be added to the pub tour?

 

There are some options. Quite common is to finish the pub tour with nightclub visit. It is something almost everybody wants. Some pubs and beers can be substituted by trendy lounges and cocktails.

 

This tour can be also enhanced by special game – instead of walking from one pub to another, people have to search for things or places and do different kind of activities in the town. It would be especially good if you need to organise the bachelor party in Tallinn and you want to have some good action. Activities might be targeted to the bachelor only or they can be for the whole team. It must be said that it is not easy to organise such a party in foreign country if you try it by yourself. To enhance the experience, we can also provide special costumes and accessories to bachelor or to all the people.

 

You may also stay longer in one pub and have a dinner there. Inform your tour guide about it.

It must be also noted that guide can take photos with your cameras while on tour and you do not have anybody missing from the group pictures in this case. These kind of events you will remember for years.

 

Can you give some last suggestions to visitors?

 

Ask a lot of questions and tell about your preferences and wishes while on the tour – it helps the tour guide to organise the best experience to you and have your ideas taken into account.

Estonian Experience has also lots of other tours, please take a look on them. We try to create the most unique and innovative tours and there should be something for everybody.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Thank you!