Travel to Tartu

Plane to Tartu airport: Tartu has a small international airport which has exactly one flight to Helsinki every day. The exact flight schedule is available at http://www.tartu-airport.ee/eng.

If you are lucky enough to find a suitable flight connection through Helsinki then getting to the city
from the airport (and vice versa) is straightforward: there is a minibus named “Airport Shuttle”
waiting for each flight. The shuttle brings everybody to their desired location in the city. The price for
the shuttle is a fixed 5 € which can be paid in cash or credit card.

You can also use the same Airport Shuttle for getting to Tartu airport when departing. Alternatively a
taxi from the city centre to Tartu airport should cost around 10 €. A list of Tartu taxis is available at
https://www.tartu.ee/et/takso. If you want to be green, choose the Elektritakso (literally Electric
Taxi) which operates only with electric cars.

Plane to Tallinn airport: Most of you will not find suitable flights to Tartu and as such need to travel
through some other airports. Tallinn airport is the most common and best choice. The airport serves
about 30 destinations, including some for the partners (Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna etc.). More on
Tallinn airport destinations is availabe at https://www.tallinn-airport.ee/en/.

Bus from Tallinn airport to Tartu: There is a bus at least every full hour from Tallinn city centre to
Tartu which stops also at the airport. The bus ride is 2 hours and 15 minutes (190 km). Most buses
are equipped with WiFi, offer hot beverages and sufficient legroom.

Bus tickets can be bought in advance online at https://www.tpilet.ee/en (select Tallinn Airport to
Tartu Coach Station; choose the preferred date and time and pay). You can print the ticket back
home and use it to board the bus. Ticket prices fluctuate slightly but are in general around 10 €.

Tickets can also be bought at the self-service kiosk next to the airport bus station (one floor down
from arrivals/departures) but note that especially at peak hours (between 16–18) buses might be full
and you might not be able to get a ticket!

Note! Be aware that bus tickets are valid only on specific times, i.e. you can’t use a ticket on other
buses than the time indicated on the ticket.

Note!! If you end up in the airport with no bus ticket and all buses being full then it is worth taking a
taxi to the Tallinn central bus station (about 5–10 €, distance 2–3 km). From there you will have a few
more buses (i.e. also some which don’t stop at the airport).

Late night transfer from Tallinn airport: The last bus from Tallinn airport to Tartu departs at 23:00. If you have chosen a later arrival then  your only possibility for getting to Tartu is the Tartu Airport Shuttle (website http://tartaline.ee/_eng).

The shuttle must be reserved in advance by writing an e-mail to airportshuttle@tartaline.ee (indicate
the number of people, the flight you are arriving with, your location in Tartu). The driver will wait for
you at the arrivals. The cost of the ride is a fixed 20 €.

Buses from Tallinn central bus station to Tartu: In case you fail to get a bus from the airport or
decide to stay in Tallinn for some nights then the most reasonable way for travelling to/from Tallinn
is with bus. As above, information on time schedules and the possibility to buy tickets online is
available at https://www.tpilet.ee/en.

Trains from Tallinn to Tartu: We recommend using buses for transfer between Tallinn – Tartu but
there are also some trains. The train stop closest to the airport is called “Ülemiste” and is about 1 km
from the airport (https://goo.gl/maps/ptmcs8Tpbmp). The central train station (Tallinn) is about 6
km from the airport. Information on train schedules can be found at http://elron.ee/en/. Tickets can
be bought either online or in the trains (just wait for the conductor).

Local transportation in Tartu

The Estonian National Museum is located about 2,6 km from the city centre which means about 30
minutes walking only. If you prefer local transportation, here are some tips.

Taxis are relatively cheap, meaning that a ride to/from the city centre would cost less than 10 €. A list of Tartu taxis is available at https://www.tartu.ee/et/takso. If you want to be green, choose the Elektritakso (literally Electric Taxi) which operates only with electric cars. People at the hotels are certainly more than glad to order you one.

Local bus No. 27 goes directly between the city centre (stop Kesklinn) and the museum (stop ERM). The city centre bus stop (Kesklinn) is located next to Kvartal shopping center (Riia 2).

Bus tickets can be bought in the buses (1,5 €) or from any “R Kiosk”. In the last case you will have to
buy a transport card for 2€ (or a sticker which you can attach to your wallet or phone) and load some
money onto the card. A single ride costs 0.83 €. More information on local buses in Tartu can be
found at http://tartu.peatus.ee/#city.