Practical Information
COVID-19
How to Get to Tartu from Tallinn?
Tartu is in South Estonia and is well connected with the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. Most likely you will reach Tartu through Tallinn and for that you have several options. If you come to Estonia by plane, the most convenient option is to take a bus from Tallinn Airport (Tallinna lennujaam) to Tartu Coach Station (Tartu bussijaam). Usually buses leave every hour (in the afternoon every 30 minutes) and the travel time is 2 hours 20 minutes. You can check the time schedules and purchase tickets for your trip from here or directly from the main bus provider’s LuxExpress webpage here. LuxExpress is the most comfortable of the bus lines so we recommend using their services.
It is advisable to prepurchase your ticket but the Airport Bus Station also has a self-service ticket dispenser where you can buy tickets for the busses on te´heir way to Tartu. The machine accpets card payments (debit and credit cards). It is also possible to take the bus from the Tallinn Bus Station (Tallinna Bussijaam). You do not have to print out the ticket. Just show it to the driver on your phone. Tallinn can be reached by ferries from Stockholm and Helsinki and by buses from other Baltic countries.
If you are not arriving to Tallinn by plane, you might want to consider taking a train from Tallinn to Tartu. Trains leave on average once an hour and timetables can be checked, and tickets purchased here. Just enter Tallinn as the departure stop and Tartu as the destination. The travel time varies form 2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes. To get to the train station (Balti jaam), you might need to use public transport. For Tallinn and Tartu, Google Maps offers reliable routes and timetables. Please be aware that it is a 20-25 minute walk from the train station in Tartu to the conference venue.
1 hour tickets for inner city public transport can be purchased on the bus via contactless card payment. For this, you need to go to the orange validators and check if they have a list of accepted credit cards on them (Visa, Visa Electron Maestro, Mastercard). Usually this type of validators are located on the front of the bus ticket. This only works if you have activated contactless payments for your card. Your last payment will be your ticket and if an inspector asks for your ticket, present your card. Please be aware that you need to validate your “ticket” (meaning your card) every time you enter a new public transport vechicle – the machine will recognise itself if your ticket is still valid or not. For more information on this, click here.
It is quite unlikely that you will need inner city public transportation in Tartu but if the need arises, the system is the same as in Tallinn and if you have any questions, you can check here.
Both Uber and Bolt work in Estonia.
Direct Connections to Tartu
Tartu has some direct connections with neighboring countries. Quite recently Finnair started offering direct flights from Helsinki to Tartu again. For that, check here. There are also some busses from Riga to Tartu. You can check available connections here.
Accommodation
We can offer a deal for accommodation for the participants of the conference. Hotel SOHO (Rüütli 9, located approximately 130m from the conference venue) has made us a great offer:
Single room with breakfast 50€ per night per room;
Double room with breakfast 60€ per night per room;
Triple room with breakfast 90€ per night per room;
Deluxe room with breakfast 145€ per night per room.
You can book a room from the hotel’s website (www.hotellsoho.ee) or send an e-mail to the following address: sales@hotellsoho.ee. You should mention that you are a participant of the conference organized by the University of Tartu. The offer is valid until the beginning of the conference or until the rooms are available.
There are many other nice hotels (for instance Lydia or Antonius are near the conference venue) or hostels and you can find more information about recommendations from here. You can also find good deals on booking.com or use Airbnb.
The Conference Venue
At the conference venue, you can use either the eduroam or the ut-public network. People, who have an University of Tartu user account or an account from another institution that has joined the eduroam project, should use the eduroam network as it is more secure than the public network (authenticated users, encrypted traffic). The network called ut-public is primarily meant for people, who do not have an user account from University of Tartu.
We ask you to bring your presentation on a USB stick.
Estonia
The currency of Estonia is the Euro.
Major credit and debit cards are accepted at hotels, restaurants, shops, taxi, etc.
Tipping is not required in Estonia, and a tip will not be included in the bill at most restaurants, but if you’re happy with your waiter’s service, a 10% tip is polite. When paying by card, do keep in mind that it’s not usually possible to add a tip electronically, so a bit of cash comes in handy.
Free, public Wi-Fi is available in nearly every café, restaurant, hotel and hostel, as well in open spaces such as city squares and parks.
We do have coffee breaks between sessions but if you wish to have a more filling meal, there are several restaurants near the conference venue that have daily lunch offers. One option is to just walk around, step in and ask to see the menu or to hear about the lunch offers. Another option is to check this page for lunch offers. The page is mostly in Estonian, but with the help of Google Translate you should get a general idea of the offers.
Tartu
Tartu is located in South Estonia and home to the oldest university in Estonia – University of Tartu. With a population of almost 100 000 inhabitants, Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia. With a longtime presence of students and the university, Tartu has played a keypart in the cultural history of Estonia. It is also the city where Estonian theater was born. When in Tartu, it is impossible to miss the main university building and Toomemägi that is situated behind the university. A bit outside of the city center is ERM, Estonian National Museum.
More information and recommendations for your visit can be found on the official Visit Tartu webpage here.
Some theatres
Visitation of both of these theatres is included in the festival programme. Please check the social programme for more information.
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and has something to see for everyone. Tallinn’s Old Town is one of the best preserved in Europe and is part of the UNESCO Heritage list. In there, you can find many museums, churches and little streets with passages to discover. Right on the edge of the Old Town is Vabamu, one of the most recommended history museums in Tallinn. Working your way towards the sea, you can discover the previously industrial area Telliskivi, which has now been made into a culture hub with different restaurants, independent shops and galleries. There you can also find the contemporary photography museum Fotografiska. One of the most visited museums in Tallinn, Lennusadam (Seaplane Harbor) is situated near the coastline as well. On the other side of the center you can visit the Presidential residence and art museum KUMU in Kadriorg.
For more recommendations you can check the official Visit Estonia site here.