Tartu

Tartu (formerly known as Dorpat or Yuryev) is the second largest city in Estonia with a population of 94,000 (2019).

Understand
Tartu is a Hanseatic city and a university town. It is the oldest city in Estonia, dating back to 1030. Its ancient name of 'Tarbatu' was shortened to 'Tartu' in Estonian and to 'Dorpat' in German. Although large parts of the town were destroyed in World War II, Tartu still has a charming old town surrounded by large parks (some of which used to be fully built-up neighbourhoods before the war).

Tartu is 185 km southeast of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Emajõgi River, which connects the two largest lakes of Estonia, flows for 10 km within the city limits.



Talk
Since Tartu is a student town, English is widely understood. As usual, the older people are more likely to only speak Estonian and Russian; however most can understand English if you speak clearly.

By plane

 * If arriving on a commercial flight, your main option is Tallinn, which is only 180 km away with buses and trains to Tartu running directly from the airport.
 * Alternatively, Riga (250 km from Tartu) may be an option as well - buses from the Riga Bus Station to Tartu are operated by Lux Express.





By bus
Buses arrive at the small at Turu 2, which is across the street from the Kaubamaja department store, 5-10 min walk from the central square of Tartu. The tiny building hosts a ticket office, luggage room, decent cafeteria, and R-kiosk. If you need more, head to the nearby shopping mall. When arriving from Tallinn, you can also get off the bus at one of the stops in the city centre.

Buses from Tallinn depart several times an hour between 05:00 and midnight, and stop at the Tallinn airport. The journey takes 2.5 to 3 hours and costs €2-10, before a discount available with an ISIC card. Some buses have free wireless internet and free drinks available. Note that Friday afternoon departures from Tartu to Tallinn (and Sunday night Tallinn-to-Tartu) are usually crowded during the school year as lots of students go home for the weekend.

Regular buses also run between Tartu and Narva (3 hr), Viljandi (1 hr), Pärnu (2½ hr), and Kuressaare (6 hr).

Tartu is a stop of international buses running between Saint Petersburg (8 hr) and Riga (4 hr). These buses typically run overnight, which makes their schedule from Tartu somewhat inconvenient. Another international route is from Tartu to Pskov in Russia (4 hr, websites and timetables use the Estonian name Pihkva).

Bus and train schedules within Estonia are easily available online – read more under Estonia.

By train


Elron operates several daily trains between Tartu and Tallinn via Tapa. The journey takes 2 hr (express train) to 2½ hr (regular train) and costs €11 for 2nd class and €14 for 1st class on an express train, or €10 for 2nd class and €12 for 1st class on a regular train. Tickets are 10% cheaper online. There is free Wi-Fi and tables with electric outlets on trains. 1st class passengers get more comfortable seats and may book a specific seat online.

Trains also run between Tartu and Valga on the Latvian border, with one daily connection further to Riga (5 hr). Railway tracks likewise go in the direction of Russia, but you can only reach the small station of Koidula on the Russian border. This station is less than 1 km from the 24/7 checkpoint, which is open for pedestrians. Once you are on the Russian side, catch a taxi or walk to the bus station of Pechory (2 km from the border), and continue to Pskov by bus.

By car
An excellent day trip is to drive from Tallinn to Tartu. Outside of Tallinn, it is a two-lane paved road with some construction ongoing to upgrade it. It takes two to two and a half hours. There are few sights of interest along the way. The terrain is flat and most of the road is bracketed by a birch trees and a few pines. Sam's Grill (about halfway between Tallinn and Tartu) or a bit fancier Põhjaka Mõis are recommended as a place to stop. There is a gas station (Statoil) some km away.

By boat
There are also ferry services between Tartu and Lake Peipus and Lake Lämmijärv. Check with the Tourist Information Centre, or inquire at the river directly.

On foot
Tartu can be easily explored by walking. It's only a 20-minute walk from the train station to the old town, and a beautiful 30-min walk from old town to the Estonian National Museum.

By bus
Tartu has a network of 14 intracity bus lines and 2 night bus lines. See online information about local buses.

Load a Pilet.ee mobile app to buy tickets. For longer stays, buy a bus card for €2 at one of these places (cards from elsewhere in Estonia can also be used), then load money to card at the same place or online. You can also buy tickets with contactless card on bus. You will get automatically 1-hour ticket or 1-day ticket, if you're using it for 3rd time that day. QR-tickets can only be bought for 1-hour. All tickets have to be scanned on bus. Bus network details (times and lines) see here: http://tartu.peatus.ee/#city/eng

Important lines are:
 * 9 and 9A circle around town, 9 goes clockwise and 9A anticlockwise
 * 7 to ERM
 * 25 to Tartu Railway Station according to train schedule
 * Bus line 69 is free, and runs between the bus station and the Lõunakeskus shopping center on the edge of town. As this is a sponsored line, its buses do not have the red-and-white color scheme of regular municipal buses.
 * E1 to/from airport

By taxi
Read more under Estonia.

By bicycle
Tartu can be easily seen by bike, because of its small size. Tartu has 750 city bikes, and 500 of them are electric. Electric bikes can be recognized by a lightning bolt and missing gears. There are 69 bike docks in Tartu. If the bike dock is full, you can lock the bike near the dock using lock in basket.

Prices are €5 for 1 day, €10 for a week and €30 for a year. 10 day bus tickets can also be used. Bikes can be used for 60 minutes after which you have to bring them back to dock, where you can get another 60 minutes. If you don't bring the bike to dock in 60 minutes you have to pay €1 for every hour you're late. If you don't bring the bike back in 5 hours, you have to pay €80.

For unlocking bikes you need to download Tartu Smart Bike app or use bus card. Available bikes can be seen online.

Museums

 * Tartu University Museum, Toome Hill. Summer: Tu-Su 10–18. €6 or €12 with Observatory and Art Museum
 * Tartu University Museum, Toome Hill. Summer: Tu-Su 10–18. €6 or €12 with Observatory and Art Museum

Modern architecture
During the last decade, Tartu has seen several interesting pieces of modern architecture being built. They are well worth a visit and give an insight of how people in modern Tartu think and live, in addition to traditionally history-driven image of the city. Some of them are right in the city-centre. See the yellow markers on the official Tartu Modern Architecture map. The map is in Estonian only, but selected images speak louder than words.

Do



 * Football: JK Tammeka play soccer in Meistriliiga, Estonia's top tier. Their home ground Tamme Stadium (capacity 1600) is 500 m south of the railway station. The playing season is March-Nov.
 * Football: JK Tammeka play soccer in Meistriliiga, Estonia's top tier. Their home ground Tamme Stadium (capacity 1600) is 500 m south of the railway station. The playing season is March-Nov.

Bars
In a typical pub, a 0.5 l beer usually costs €3.50-5. Almost all popular beers are near or more than 5% alcohol content.



Stay safe


In emergencies,. This includes social services, although for non-urgent matters you could contact the social services directly.

Go next

 * Tallinn – The financial and cosmopolitan centre of Estonia. Beautiful and expensive.
 * Soomaa National Park – About 60 km south of Tallinn and second largest national park in Estonia, known for its swamps and bogs (Soomaa means "land of bogs" in Estonian), and its "fifth season". Surprisingly, swimming is popular there and is said to rejuvenate the skin.
 * Põltsamaa – The centre of Estonian winery and wine production just a dozens of km northwest.
 * Viljandi – A beautiful, ancient and hilly city, known for its annual Viljandi Folk Music Festival, beautiful old town and overwhelming and picturesque park around the old castle.
 * Otepää – A small town set in the hills of south Estonia and best known winter sports centre in the Baltics, and the Winter Capital of Estonia. Surrounded by lakes, hills and ski jump towers.
 * Zwiebelberg – A region at Lake Peipsi, popular for its numerous onion sellers along the stretch between Kolkja and Varnja.
 * Mustvee – Almost halfway to Narva, the border city with Russia famous for the Hermann castle, is this small and relaxing fishing village.