Hello readers!

It is time for a short overview of my flights to Tallinn and my first visit to Estonia (and Finland).

This was a leisure trip. I had a few free days and needed an escape from Sarajevo. As the Baltics represented a blank spot on my European map, I decided to visit Estonia and combine it with a ferry trip to Finland's capital, Helsinki. In total, it was a five-day adventure.

Initially, the cheapest option was to fly to the Estonian capital via Vienna. I decided to wait a week before booking, but prices exploded because of all the Middle East drama, and at one point I was not even sure whether the trip was worth it.

Eventually, I managed to find a decent ticket with LOT: a late afternoon flight from Sarajevo to Warsaw, followed by a five-hour layover and an arrival in Tallinn in the early morning hours (around 2 am).

I have had good experiences with LOT, so I did not mind flying with them again.

It was a sunny Tuesday in Sarajevo, and I got stuck in the after-work rush hour, reaching the airport later than planned. Luckily, Sarajevo Airport is small-ish, so everything moves quickly. The airport was quite busy and bright. The new terminal setup is decent, and I really appreciate the amount of natural light. Birds also seem to live at the airport, and every now and then one will jump onto your table and try to grab some food if you leave any unattended.

With a small delay, a LOT Embraer with 76 seats arrived. Boarding was quick. We flew over Slavonia, central Hungary and Slovakia, and soon reached Polish airspace. LOT provides a small snack (either sweet or savoury), drinks of your choice, coffee, tea, and more. It is an enjoyable airline to fly with. The flight to Warsaw was completely full, the seats are comfy and there is enough space, probably even for human beings with long legs (mine are short). J

Once we landed, I became a bit frustrated because there seemed to be very little order at the airport. There were mostly e-gates, which broke down several times while waves of passengers kept arriving. As my frustration grew (my passport simply would not scan), a few people tried to cut in front of me. The guy in charge kept sending me to the end of the line each time my passport did not pass through. When I reacted (boiling Balkan way), they quickly switched to speaking Polish once they realised I had noticed what they were doing pretending they did not understand my English.

Eventually, I managed to get my passport scanned and proceeded to the Schengen area, as my next leg to Tallinn was an intra-EU flight. Again, there was a long line, very little and old Polish speaking only staff, only one security line open.

After nearly an hour, we finally got through. Since I still had plenty of time before departure, I decided to use the lounge. There are two lounges at the airport: one in the Schengen area and another in the non-Schengen section. Again, something strange happened. When I entered, I was given one price, and I was told that payment could only be made with a physical card or cash: no contactless payment. Then, when it came time to pay, I was charged a different, lower price. Maybe it was just that particular day, but I was not very impressed with the airport.

The lounge itself is decent. It has two separate sections: one overlooking the terminal and passengers below, and another, quieter room next door. One nice feature was a cocktail bar inside the lounge, something I had not seen at many other airports before.

After a few drinks and some food, it was finally time to fly to Tallinn. By then I was already quite tired. During the short 1-hour-40-minute flight, I managed to sleep a little and arrived in the land where the sun almost never disappears in June. It was around 2 a.m., yet it was still bright outside. It did affect my body, but I felt fine the next day.

Tallinn Airport is cute. It feels more like a cosy living room mixed with a small shopping centre than an airport. There is a piano, games, comfortable seating areas that offer privacy, and a generally warm atmosphere. Another advantage is its location, less than five kilometres from the city centre. With Bolt (an Estonian thing), you can reach old town in about ten minutes.

I spent the next few days exploring wonderful Tallinn. The city has a very large and well-preserved old town, friendly locals, and surprisingly wild nightlife, for those who are interested in spending time in clubs and bars. I am not sure whether this is because the sun barely sets during late spring and summer, or because so many Swedes and Finns come over to enjoy cheaper drinks, but the city simply did not sleep during my visit.

It rarely gets darker than this during summer

I continued my northern adventure with a ferry trip to Finland. The ferry itself felt like a giant floating shopping mall. It was a very enjoyable sea crossing, and just two hours later I was already in Helsinki.

After Finland, I returned to Tallinn and flew back to Sarajevo.

Online check-in did not work for me, so I had to check in at the airport. Unfortunately, I spent almost an hour waiting because a large group of Korean tourists completely ignored repeated announcements directing them to the self-service check-in machines. Maybe they simply preferred dealing with a person, I do not know.

Anyway, I eventually learned that I had been placed on standby and had to wait even longer. In the end, however, I received a seat in Business Class, so things worked out quite nicely.

Unfortunately, I was completely exhausted and slept through almost the entire flight, missing many of the benefits of Business Class, including the warm breakfast.

Back in Warsaw, I had less than an hour to connect to my Sarajevo flight, but this time everything was efficient and straightforward. Soon I was on my way home. I slept again and woke up only a few minutes before landing, just in time to see the familiar Bosnian hills, mountains and red rooftops.

We landed alongside four other aircraft and got stuck at border control, with passengers queuing outside the terminal building. I usually only see scenes like that in Sarajevo during the peak summer season. The airport is still relatively small, and perhaps it is time to start thinking about further expansion.

In the end, the border check was fairly quick, and I was soon in Sarajevo.

Overall, LOT remains a very good airline, and I would happily fly with them again. I just hope they hire a slightly younger airport staff. 🙂