Geoff's been keen to visit Estonia for awhile, and I'm not sure where he picked it up but one can travel very easily between Tallinn (Estonia) and Helsinki (Finland) by ship (note: we frequently use Wikitravel, Tripadvisor forums and Wallpaper City Guides as key sources for insider information). So yes, one can take a ferry (between 90 mins to 2 hours) between Helsinki and Tallinn across the Baltic Sea.
In June this year, we stopped in Helsinki for one night, only because for some reason all hotels in the city were booked out on Saturday. We didn't get to see that much of Helsinki, but did manage to get out to Suomenlinna the fort island which protected Finland from Russian invasion.
And squeeze in some shopping at Finland's most famous design exports, Marimekko and Iittala. You might recognise this famous print by Marimekko.
In Helsinki we stayed at Helka Hotel, one of the most highly rated hotels on Tripadvisor. It was great, but not quite comparable to the Telegraaf Hotel where we stayed in Tallinn.
We took the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn on the same day we visited Suomenlinna. We were due to catch the fast ferry, the Lindaline, but it was so windy the operators canceled the ferry and put us on a massive cruise ship. We were impressed with the bar and lounge areas.
And enjoyed the trip as the sun streamed through the front windows while the cruise liner drifted across the Baltic.
We spent three nights in Tallinn at the Telegraaf Hotel which was located within the city walls.
The area surrounded by the city walls, is called the Old Town and is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
Our hotel was a stone's throw from the main squares.
And all of Tallinn's chic restaurants, cafes and bars. One of our favourites was the Italian restaurant, La Bottega and our hotel's own Tchaikovsky Restaurant. We were really surprised at how cosmopolitan Tallinn was having only gained independence in 1991, after spending most of its time under Soviet rule.
It certainly is an exemplar of rapid progress. Tallinn is polite, clean and safe city, which is also well known for its development of an e-government using the power of the Internet and IT for voting (in 2005 citizens voted via the internet) and government operations, such as the conduct of meetings.
The Old Town is not very big and we were able to visit its many sights during out stay. Here are some below.
Tallinn's Old Town city walls
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral with noticeable Russian architectural influence
A view from the Kiek in de Kök ja Bastionikäigud Museum of the cathedral and city walls
St Olav's Church tower. The best (and cheapest) sight in Tallinn 
At the top of St Olav's Church tower with views across Tallinn and its Old Town 
Tallinn has a diverse cuisine, including medieval food and drink, such as honey beer And as the town isn't very big we were given ample time to relax at the Telegraaf Hotel enjoying its pool, spa, saunas (which is very Finnish) and gorgeous Tchaikovsky Restaurant.
The service at the hotel was also superb. Anything we asked for was done swiftly without any problem. The hotel is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection, and we definitely didn't feel anonymous which can sometimes happen in bigger hotels.
We really enjoyed our time in Tallinn. I think we didn't know what to expect from this former Soviet Union (USSR) occupied country and city, but its progress in under 20 years is simply amazing. Tallinn is still a relatively cheap destination, and we noticed that while the Old Town was populated with very fashionable restaurants, cafes and bars, many of the tourists were much older than us. From just our observations, most seemed to be from the more Germanic and Scandinavian countries (of course being so close).
Helsinki was interesting. But we probably needed to stay another night to really get to know the city. But if you're really into your home wares, Finland is one of the best countries for shopping. We can't recommend enough what a neat trip one can do between Finland and Estonia. Both cities are so close, yet offer quite different experiences. We were enamoured by Tallinn. I think most for the excellent hotel and being pleasantly surprised by all it had to offer.
