Location

Summer school's main location in Tartu is Kreutzwaldi 5 building (also known as Forestry building) in Estonian University of Life Sciences campus area. Registration and first meeting will take place in room 2C1 (second floor)

 

Arriving

Tartu is situated in southern Estonia and connects to the world mainly through Lennart Meri Airport in Tallinn. It is also possible to reach Tartu by bus from Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Riga, and by train from Tallinn. The distance between Tallinn, Estonia's capital, and Tartu is approximately 200 kilometers, or about 2.5 hours by express coach or car. See the information below and relevant links for more information.
 

Getting to Tallinn

By plane

There are direct connections to many major European cities. List of airlines flying to Tallinn is available at the Tallinn Airport homepage www.tallinn-airport.ee.


By ferry

From Stockholm and Helsinki, there is also a ferry connection to Tallinn. It is especially frequent from Helsinki, hence planning your route through there will not add much to the total duration of your trip.
 

By bus

Apart from that, Estonia has bus links with major cities in Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic countries. Due to the relatively short distances, coach trips from Riga and St. Petersburg are a good alternative to air travel. Both cities have direct connections to Tartu.

 

Getting to Tartu

BY BUS

From Tallinn, St Petersburg and Riga you can get directly to Tartu by bus (Lux Express, Ecolines, Eurolines). Tartu bus station is situated in the city centre. If traveling by bus please pay attention to fact that only on the hour Lux Express busses (every hour from 7:00 to 20:00) travel to Tartu via Tallinn Airport and Estonian University of Life Sciences campus area. Other busses use a little bit different route to arrive to Tartu.

Tallinn-Tartu express bus

There are hourly Lux Express buses which take passengers from the Tallinn Airport (stop "Tallinna lennujaam" in Estonian) on their way to Tartu. You can find most Estonian bus lines on the web site www.tpilet.ee/en. If you wish to get on the bus at the airport, it is advisable to buy the ticket in advance (online, printing out the ticket yourself). It is possible to purchase tickets up to 15 days in advance at the Tallinn and Tartu bus station ticket offices as well as online, including the possibility to board at stops „Tartu Näitused“ (at the university campus) and „Lennujaam“ (Tallinn airport). The journey costs about 10 € and takes 2,5 hours. "Tartu Näitused" bus stop in Estonian University of Life Sciences campus area is located front of Institute of Technology buildings (look the map above). As this is "on demand" bus stop you should ask the stop from bus driver before arriving there otherwise bus is not stopping as no one is asking. "Tartu Näitused" bus stop is situated very close to university hostel which is located in dormitory "Torn" ("Tower").

From Tallinn airport to Tallinn bus terminal: Tallinn bus terminal is situated quite close to the only airport Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport and you can take a taxi or use public transport to get there. As Tallinn airport is a relatively small one, it is easy to find the area where public transportation (Floor 0) and taxis (Floor 1) are waiting in front of the building. It is a short distance by taxi and it should not cost you more than 10 EUR to get to the bus terminal. It is also possible to use public transportation, bus No. 2 from the airport stops not too far from the bus terminal (the "Autobussijaam" stop), but you still have to cross two intersections to reach the bus terminal. 1-hour ticket on Tallinn public transport (can be bought from the driver) costs 1.60 EUR.

See the directions here.

Express buses coming and leaving Tallinn Airport

 

Buses coming and leaving Tartu

 

From Tallinn sea port to bus terminal - It takes a little bit more time to get to the bus terminal from Tallinn sea port (http://www.ts.ee/) and it's easier to get there by taxi. Tram No. 2 (towards Ülemiste) or bus No. 2 takes you to Tallinn bus terminal (the "Autobussijaam" stop) from the port, but you still have to cross 2 intersections to reach the bus terminal. 1-hour ticket on Tallinn public transport (can be bought from the driver) costs 1.60 EUR.

 

BY TRAIN

Participants traveling from Russia can also take a train (www.gorail.ee) or bus to reach Estonia. NB! Visa is required! Contact your travel agency.

Getting to Tartu from Tallinn by train
Trains for Tartu from Tallinn train station leave 3-4 times a day, and it takes a little more than 2 hours to get to Tartu. The train station is situated just outside the Tallinn Old Town and sea port, a taxi or tram No. 2 (from the sea port) can take you there ("Balti jaam" stop). Trains are rather comfortable and you can use WiFi in the first class.

Tartu train station is a little bit farther away from the city center, for first time travelers it is best to take a taxi from there to your destination.

 

Travel by CAR
You can rent a car from Tallinn and drive to Tartu. There are no freeways between Tallinn and Tartu, but you can drive along the Tallinn-Tartu highway and reach Tartu in approximately 2,5 hours.

 

Transportation in Tartu

You can use public transportation to come to EMÜ campus.

Bus stop at the city centre is called „Vabaduse puiestee“ (start stop).

Bus stop at the university is called „Tartu Näitused“ (destination stop).

Only Bus No 6 can take you from center to campus.

Bus transportation timetable is available here.

Single tickets bought from the driver costs 2 EUR.

You can also use taxi services. From centre to the univeristy, the cost is around 5–7 euros.