tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49645482633756988642024-03-22T05:12:10.134+02:00Estonia 101'Estonia 101' is a blog that tries to introduce Estonia and Estonians for foreigners.Dasanjoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00722057860530022970noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964548263375698864.post-48012429143028507802013-12-30T23:41:00.001+02:002013-12-31T00:07:02.585+02:00Buying a Home in Estonia - Price to Rent Ratio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you want to buy a home in Estonia, after reading the quick <a href="http://estonia101.blogspot.com/2013/07/estonian-economy-from-independence-to.html" target="_blank">Estonian economy review</a> and about <a href="http://estonia101.blogspot.com/2013/08/should-you-buy-home-in-estonia.html" target="_blank">Price to Income Ratio</a> you can evaluate if the real state market is over or under valuated using the Price to Rent ratio.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Price to Rent Ratio</h3>
When evaluating if a home is affordable, one measurement frequently used is the Price to Rent ratio, defined by average house price divided by the average yearly rent price. Historically in America, this ratio fluctuates between 15 and 25, where a value below 15 means it's cheaper to buy than rent, and higher values can indicate an overpriced house (or a bubble). The European Union <a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Housing_price_statistics_-_house_price_index" target="_blank">Housing Price Index</a> shows an all time low in Housing Price to Rent ratio, and the Global Property Guide European <a href="http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/price-rent-ratio" target="_blank">Price to Rent ratio</a> shows how each country compares.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Estonian Price to Rent ratio</h3>
<div>
Let's see how Estonian Real State market fare's using this simple index.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Tallinn Price to Rent ratio</h3>
</div>
<div>
Since Tallinn is a special case in Estonia, let's take a look at it separately.<br />
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Big Picture</h3>
<div>
Even though the values above don't seem so good, Estonia has almost the lowest of <a href="http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/price-rent-ratio" target="_blank">European Price to Rent ratio</a>. However, this lists compare upscale houses with "Average per square meter prices in US$/€ of 120-sq. m. apartments located in the center of the most important city of each country".<br />
<br />
Using <a href="http://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/gmaps_rankings.jsp?indexToShow=getPriceToRentRatioCityCentre&year=2013" target="_blank">Numbeo World Price to Rate map</a> we can see that Estonia has a high but not so high ratio, compared to other world capitals, but I'm not sure how this values are calculated, so take it with a grain of salt.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What do you think, would you still buy a home in Estonia? Share it in the comments.</div>
</div>
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Soon Estonian citizens (and foreigners with permanent resident permit) will be voting for Estonian Local government council elections to choose the new Tallinn Mayor and City Council (63 councilors) in October 20th, 2013.<br />
<br />
This starts a series of Estonian elections (local government in 2013, European parliament in 2014, National parliament in 2015 and president in 2016) urging political parties to get ready for the big race.<br />
<br />
And this year elections got more interesting with expats running for local city council, <a href="http://news.err.ee/politics/b036e116-4c14-430c-b019-586df95d3039" target="_blank">Abdul Turay</a> (from SDE), pledging to <a href="http://news.err.ee/features/4d45d87d-5e06-4b2f-984d-3000a20569e2" target="_blank">represent the foreigner community</a> in Estonia, followed by <a href="http://news.err.ee/politics/25d3999e-949a-4683-9818-343c2c8f01ae" target="_blank">John Slade</a> (from Keskerakond).<br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Estonian Political Parties</h2>
<br />
Estonia has a multi-party system, where the biggest parties (by parliamentary representation) are Reformierakond (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_Reform_Party" target="_blank">Reform party</a>), Keskerakond (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_Centre_Party" target="_blank">Centre party</a>), IRL (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Pro_Patria_and_Res_Publica" target="_blank">Pro Patria and Res Publica Union</a>) and Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democratic_Party_(Estonia)" target="_blank">Social Democratic party</a>).<br />
<br />
You can see the last Estonian elections results for <a href="http://vvk.ee/varasemad/?v=kov09" target="_blank">Local Government in 2009</a> and for <a href="http://vvk.ee/?lang=en" target="_blank">Parliament in 2011</a> to get a picture of the players in 2013 elections:<br />
<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr><th colspan="3">Tallinn Municipal Elections results 2009 (total votes: 212828)</th></tr>
<tr><th>Party</th><th>Votes</th><th>Percentage of total</th></tr>
<tr><td>Eesti Keskerakond</td><td>114013</td><td>53,5%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eesti Reformierakond</td><td>35490</td><td>16,6%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Erakond Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit</td><td>32939</td><td>15,4%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond</td><td>20928</td><td>9,8%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Erakond Eestimaa Rohelised</td><td>4655</td><td>2,1%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Erakond Eesti Kristlikud Demokraadid</td><td>637</td><td>0,2%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2>
Tallinn Mayor Candidates 2013</h2>
<br />
The current candidates for Tallinn Mayor are:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Edgar Savisaar (the actual mayor, from Keskerakond)</li>
<li>Valdo Randpere (Reformierakond)</li>
<li>Eerik-Niiles Kross (IRL)</li>
<li>Andres Anvelt (SDE)</li>
<li>Mart Helme (from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_People's_Party_of_Estonia" target="_blank">Conservative People's Party of Estonia</a>, newly created in 2012)</li>
</ul>
<br />
And did you know that Tallinn already had foreigner politicians? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abram_Petrovich_Gannibal" target="_blank">Abram Petrovich Gannibal</a>, the grandfather of Russian author Pushkin, was the superintendent of Reval from 1742 to 1752. Talk about small world!</div>
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After reading the previous post about <a href="http://estonia101.blogspot.com/2013/08/should-you-buy-home-in-estonia.html" target="_blank">Housing prices in Estonia</a>, you might be thinking that maybe Estonian prices are not that bad compared to other European countries. Let's try to do a rough comparison of Housing prices in Europe and see how does Estonia ranks.<br />
<br />
It's good to note that we may be comparing oranges and apples (and there are lies, Lies and Statistics), so take this results with a grain of skepticism.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Global Property Guide has several very good articles on Estonian Housing market, and compared to Europe, Estonian <a href="http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/Estonia/square-meter-prices" target="_blank">Square Meter Prices</a> are quite low (last 6th position). Also comparing <a href="http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/Estonia/price-gdp-per-cap" target="_blank">House Price to Income Ratio</a> to Europe, Estonia is on the middle (below top 15). However, this lists compare upscale houses with "Average per square metre prices in US$/€ of 120-sq. m. apartments located in the centre of the most important city of each country".<br />
<br />
Numbeo has some nice interactive maps of <a href="http://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/gmaps_rankings_country.jsp?year=2013" target="_blank">World Price to Income Ratio</a> but I don't yet know how this numbers are calculated.<br />
<br />
We can get more detailed analysis on a country per country basis, to get more insight. For instance, here's a recent article on <a href="http://snbchf.com/2013/07/swiss-home-prices-to-income/" target="_blank">Swiss home prices to income ratio</a>.<br />
<br />
What do you think: Does the world market affects Estonian housing prices? Postimees reports that <a href="http://news.postimees.ee/1120668/foreigners-accounted-for-23-pct-of-tallinn-real-estate-transactions-in-2012" target="_blank">foreigners almost one quarter of Estonian real estate transactions in 2012</a>, although we have to remember that a big percentage of local residents holds a foreign or grey passport. Share it in the comments!</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjHHT7M7TAu8qOue4qL635PVWhFuQRe0F3ubsvKTBQ6Sv6YXAy0QlI2aHzLGEfIadC20yMpmW-zm1Q7BhniSes-dOT-ns_NcFtiXHcXre1gD0AtXt7nrhqs9cJ9tRkKqDHumuWcreIyBk/s1600/204625476_4fa25085ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjHHT7M7TAu8qOue4qL635PVWhFuQRe0F3ubsvKTBQ6Sv6YXAy0QlI2aHzLGEfIadC20yMpmW-zm1Q7BhniSes-dOT-ns_NcFtiXHcXre1gD0AtXt7nrhqs9cJ9tRkKqDHumuWcreIyBk/s1600/204625476_4fa25085ed.jpg" /></a></div>
After living in Estonia for a while, you start considering if it's worth to stop renting and finally buy your own home (specially now that interest rates are so low). After reading our quick <a href="http://estonia101.blogspot.com/2013/07/estonian-economy-from-independence-to.html" target="_blank">Estonian economy review</a>, here's some data to consider before buying a flat, apartment or house in Estonia:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Price to Income ratio</h3>
One important way to measure affordable housing is Price to Income ratio - the number of years of average income necessary to buy a median value home. This value differs in each country: while in US <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/zillow/2013/04/16/high-home-price-to-income-ratios-hiding-behind-low-mortgage-rates/" target="_blank">the typical median home cost 2.6 times as much as the median annual income</a>, in Australia a value below 4 is considered affordable.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Estonian Price to Income ratio</h3>
</div>
To calculate an estimated Estonian Price to Income ratio, lets assume a 50m² flat and use the <a href="http://www.stat.ee/65290" target="_blank">average gross wages</a> and average price per square meter for <a href="http://www.stat.ee/49286" target="_blank">2010</a>, <a href="http://www.stat.ee/57436" target="_blank">2011</a> and <a href="http://www.stat.ee/65256" target="_blank">2012</a> from Statistics Estonia:<br />
<br />
<table border="1">
<thead>
<tr><th colspan="4">Estonian Price to Income ratio</th></tr>
<tr><th>Year</th><th>Price/m2</th><th>Salary</th><th>P2I</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>2010</td><td>640€</td><td>792€</td><td>3.37</td></tr>
<tr><td>2011</td><td>706€</td><td>839€</td><td>3.51</td></tr>
<tr><td>2012</td><td>760€</td><td>887€</td><td>3.57</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Although this seems reasonable, Estonia has one particularity: half of GDP and population is located in the capital region. This can be seen in the <a href="http://www.stat.ee/65386" target="_blank">average gross wages per region</a> where the income of Valga (lowest income) county employees accounts for 74% of the Harju (highest income) county.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Tallinn Price to Income ratio</h3>
To calculate an estimated Tallinn Price to Income ratio, assuming the same 50m² flat and using average gross wages and average price per square meter for <a href="http://www.e24.ee/298021/tallinna-korterite-hind-langes-kuuga-ligi-8-protsenti" target="_blank">2010</a>, <a href="http://news.postimees.ee/1127744/estonia-avg-price-of-tallinn-apartments-moves-up-9-5-pct-on-year" target="_blank">2011 and 2012</a> in Tallinn:<br />
<br />
<table border="1">
<thead>
<tr><th colspan="4">Tallinn Price to Income ratio</th></tr>
<tr><th>Year</th><th>Price/m2</th><th>Salary</th><th>P2I</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>2010</td><td>€840</td><td>€847</td><td>4.13</td></tr>
<tr><td>2011</td><td>€1037</td><td>€893</td><td>4.84</td></tr>
<tr><td>2012</td><td>€1135</td><td>€946</td><td>5.00</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The Price to Income ratio implies that housing is expensive in Estonia, particularly in Tallinn, and is getting more expensive every year, as <a href="http://www.stat.ee/65390" target="_blank">Estonian dwelling prices</a> increased 20% since 2010.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Big Picture</h3>
Before we rush to conclusions we should consider the <a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Housing_statistics" target="_blank">European Housing statistics</a>, that overcrowding and affordability is a pressing issue in Europe, and that Estonia had the largest decrease in overcrowding rate over the past years. It may be that Estonia is just paying the price of a much needed housing growth?<br />
<br />
For a deeper analysis, see "<a href="http://digi.lib.ttu.ee/i/?838" target="_blank">Before and after the boom: changes in the Estonian housing market</a>" Doctoral thesis by Angelika Kallakmaa-Kapsta defended on April 4, 2013 at the Tallinn University of Technology:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This study investigates housing market developments from three main aspects – market </i><br />
<i>analysis, housing affordability, and quality of housing. (...) If a person with an average monthly income cannot afford to pay for an average home (which in the Estonian case is a flat) there is an affordability problem.</i></blockquote>
So, what do you think: Would you still buy a house in Estonia? Did you find any mistake in the calculations? Share it in the comments!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSy214WzvvbjGGJys15rzNZOhLGihsxUdq4RYjUzX1z1GgzGtJwPlc3AdSsnnS3km9gEB1ARbjsym8_8AgP9MByy5PPA2hWqxNeUtJYW549ZO3pdAj0xnPJRVtRUlHwcoBSE0wInHf5lE/s1600/eesti-euro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSy214WzvvbjGGJys15rzNZOhLGihsxUdq4RYjUzX1z1GgzGtJwPlc3AdSsnnS3km9gEB1ARbjsym8_8AgP9MByy5PPA2hWqxNeUtJYW549ZO3pdAj0xnPJRVtRUlHwcoBSE0wInHf5lE/s1600/eesti-euro.jpg" /></a></div>
If you are interested in Estonia for work, investment, or just as a tourist, it may help to read a quick summary of recent events in Estonian economy, so you don't get surprised by local prices when arriving in Tallinn.<br />
<br />
Estonia adopted the Estonian kroon in June 1992, replacing the Soviet ruble as national currency after it's re-independence on August 1991. During the transition to a free-market economy, inflation was high as the country economy had fast growing GDP rates (<a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/inflation_dashboard/#" target="_blank">Eurostat dashboard</a>).<br />
<br />
Confidence in Estonian economy increased when Estonia <a href="http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/estonia/" target="_blank">joined the European Union</a> and <a href="http://estonia.eu/about-estonia/country/estonia-at-a-glance.html" target="_blank">NATO in 2004</a>, and entered the Schengen area in 2007, leading to a <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication15590_en.pdf" target="_blank">housing bubble that burst in 2007</a>, aggravated by the 2008 global financial crisis.<br />
<br />
High unemployment rates and a huge drop in GDP followed in 2007 and 2008, but with strict government austerity measures and a pledge to join the Eurozone (finally achieved in 2011), the country economy started rebounding in 2009 and is growing ever since (<a href="http://www.stat.ee/29958" target="_blank">Real GDP per capita - Eurostat</a>), although still with <a href="http://news.err.ee/Economy/c7b9df57-0318-4427-aa8d-c58d319c97f4" target="_blank">inflation among the highest</a> in European Union.<br />
<br />
To fight economical recession, the European Central Bank decided in July 2012 to cut the main interest rates from 1% to 0.75% and in May 2013 to 0.5% per year (<a href="http://www.ecb.int/stats/monetary/rates/html/index.en.html" target="_blank">ECB interest rates</a>), creating a huge incentive for private lending (specially for mortgages) in Estonia.<br />
<br />
How these recent economical factors will affect Estonia is not yet known, but some visible trends are the growth of Estonian <a href="http://estonia.eu/about-estonia/economy-a-it/economy-in-numbers.html" target="_blank">average wage and GDP per capita</a> in contrast with population decline aggravated by <a href="http://news.err.ee/society/c925de57-ada2-4aa2-ab70-dc63ad0104be" target="_blank">Estonian emigration</a> to other European countries (based on <a href="http://www.stat.ee/70002" target="_blank">2011 Census</a>) and the concentration of almost <a href="http://news.err.ee/Society/e162884c-dc9a-41f5-8dd5-43621494c941" target="_blank">one third of the population</a> and <a href="http://www.stat.ee/49494" target="_blank">more than half of GDP</a> in the capital area (Harju county).<br />
<br />
What do you think the future holds for Estonian economy? Did this post miss any important point? Let me know in the comments.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjc3KOUuW7k6YddB-BLDUShB0VBaMOs41FM9w4XixOG-7QrKocnpeb723-6cHhp6Fdxf9Yz_ogORr3dHSNbcJKuYUDEt8qgv4xgzkdA6dcqHBWzNH2bpOTbbe_KhJtm97ZqkiIJPEpmIg/s1600/jobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjc3KOUuW7k6YddB-BLDUShB0VBaMOs41FM9w4XixOG-7QrKocnpeb723-6cHhp6Fdxf9Yz_ogORr3dHSNbcJKuYUDEt8qgv4xgzkdA6dcqHBWzNH2bpOTbbe_KhJtm97ZqkiIJPEpmIg/s200/jobs.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
If you are a foreigner looking to start working in Estonia, there are several entry level jobs in Tallinn that don't require Estonian language. One good place to start is <a href="http://www.cv.ee/jobs/inglise" target="_blank">CV.ee English Job Offers</a> but here are some ideas to help you get started in Estonia:<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Big Companies</h4>
Some Estonian multinational IT companies have a record of hiring foreigners, looking for diversity and creativity in the workplace, but they may require more experience and/or university degree in the area. Here are some different job offers (March 2013):<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/swedbank-as/it-summer-trainee-f312755.html" target="_blank">Swedbank - IT Summer Trainee</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/swedbank-as/reporting-analyst-f313909.html" target="_blank">Swedbank - Reporting Analyst</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/swedbank-as/it-project-managers-f311119.html" target="_blank">Swedbank - Project Manager</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/bigbank-as/en-telefonkonsult-f313017.html" target="_blank">Big Bank - Telephone Consultant</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/skype-technologies-ou/production-designer-f312217.html" target="_blank">Skype - Production Designer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/skype-technologies-ou/operations-analyst-billing-payments-f311415.html" target="_blank">Skype - Operations Analyst</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/coca-cola-hbc-eesti-as/commercial-traineeship-program-with-entry-position-of-key-account-sales-support-specialist-f313325.html" target="_blank">Coca Cola - Commercial Trainee</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/symantec-estonia-ou/technical-support-engineer-d312671.html" target="_blank">Symantec - Technical Support Engineer</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>
Costumer Support Agent </h4>
Estonia is big on the Costumer Service industry, partly because of the good geographical location (and timezone) to the Scandinavian countries, also because of the high education level and language knowledge. This area is always looking for people based on their language skills, so as a foreigner you may have an advantage. Here's some active job offers in Costumer Support field (March 2013):<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/fortumo-ou/customer-relations-manager-d312901.html" target="_blank">Fortumo - Customer relations manager</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/arvato-services-estonia-ou/it-support-specialist-d310569.html" target="_blank">Arvato - IT Support Specialist</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/cv-online-customer-is-kuhne-nagel/it-administrator-supporter-d313193.html" target="_blank">Kühne-Nagel - IT Administrator Supporter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/evry/customer-service-consultant-f311597.html" target="_blank">Evry - Customer Service Consultant</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/runway-international-ou/it-helpdesk-specialist-norwegian-or-swedish-speaking-d312757.html" target="_blank">Runway - Helpdesk Specialist</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/cv-online-client/english-customer-service-representative-d305649.html" target="_blank">Linn - Customer Service Representative</a> </li>
</ul>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Local Startups</h4>
Estonia is striving to become the European Silicon Valley, and local startups are usually looking for bright minds from all over the world to bring their products to life, but they usually don't announce job openings in traditional ways, preferring twitter or their own site. If you don't mind a smaller team and unconventional work, here are some offers (March 2013):<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://garage48.org/blogger/job-offer-garage48-hub-looking-for-new-manager" target="_blank">Garage 48 - Hub Manager</a></li>
<li><a href="http://transferwise.com/jobs" target="_blank">TransferWise - Custommer Support</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.grabcad.com/jobs/" target="_blank">GrabCad - Community Product Manager</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.pipedrive.com/2013/02/hiring-a-caring-person/" target="_blank">PipeDrive - Customer Support Specialist</a></li>
<li><a href="http://erply.com/careers/" target="_blank">Erply - Software Support</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/sportradar-ou/information-broker-for-international-media-d311013.html" target="_blank">SportRadar - Information Broker</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cv.ee/ja/steam-scandinavian-group-as/designer-fashion-d309433.html" target="_blank">Steam Scandinavian Group - Fashion Designer</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
Here you go, several ways to get started in Estonia, and if you want to read more, here's a detailed guide about <a href="http://www.pilveraal.ee/2012/05/how-to-move-to-estonia-guide-for-it.html" target="_blank">how to move to Estonia</a>, including more info on jobs. Have any questions, shoot in the comments!</div>
</div>
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</script></div>Dasanjoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00722057860530022970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964548263375698864.post-78303603669514257602008-06-25T17:49:00.004+03:002008-12-09T02:26:18.149+02:00Traveling to Estonia - By Land IIEstonia has a good rail system, and is connected to Russia and (not directly) to Latvia. If you are coming from Russia, why not take a comfortable overnight train to Tallinn, specially when the Rail station (<a href="http://www.baltijaam.ee/">Balti jaam</a>) is located in front of the Old Town, providing you a beautiful view on arrival.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.gorail.ee/"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAfhz40kYc59omkzySQpCc3X2D9pDYSDha_v3RVxTGrF3IW7j7kZhs1MVX3xG7IbqazPC-k_8cpQdoCYuH8uwUJp_jMnm0a-QkS9kZ8NLX_8VocKho-mLdQuoSITYIXwhAXGSUGSrh2g/s400/GoRail.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215834218080550594" />Go Rail</a><br />Estonian rail company, daily trains from Tallinn to St. Petersburg and Moscow. The website (in Estonian and Russian) has timetables and prices, but you can buy tickets only at the rail station. To find good seats, you need to book the tickets in advance (specially if its near weekends or holidays). The train has different seat categories, and prices varies during the seasons, starting at 300 eek (Tallinn - St. Petersburg) or 600 eek (Tallinn - Moscow).<br /><br /><br />So, with all this options (by Air, Land, or Sea), what is the best way to get to Estonia? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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