Travel

Getting to Tartu

By plane

Tartu Airport currently has connections to Helsinki. You can fly via Tallinn Airport or Riga Airport (see instructions  below).

You can buy tickets here

The distance between Tartu Airport and the city center is about 10 kilometers.
Airport Shuttle bus leaves from Tartu Airport to the city in about 15 minutes after the plane has arrived, but also waits for anyone who needs the ride to the city. And if booked earlier picks you up from anywhere in Tartu and takes you to the airport.
For a fee of 5 EUR the shuttle will drop you off at any place in Tartu city and the ticket can be bought either in cash or with a debit/credit card from the driver. More information: Airport Shuttle  The taxi stop is also located in front of the terminal. The taxi might cost around 10 EUR to the city center.

By bus

From Tallinn and Riga Airport you can get directly to Tartu by bus (Lux Express, Ecolines). Tartu bus station is situated in the city centre.

Tallinn Airport -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. 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. 

 

From Tallinn airport to Tallinn bus terminal: Tallinn bus terminal is situated quite close to the 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.

Express buses coming and leaving Tallinn Airport

Buses coming and leaving Tartu

From Tallinn bus terminal to Tartu. Buses leave almost every 30 minutes from 5.45 in the morning (5.45 a.m.) until 23.00 at night (11 p.m.). You can find the www.tpilet.ee. Tickets cost approximately 10 EUR and can be purchased from the ticket office inside the bus station or from the bus driver. It will take you 2.5 hours to reach Tartu. Buses are comfortable and most of them have WiFi.

From Riga Airport to Tartu

Tickets from Ecolines

Every day

From Riga Airport   18:20, arrival to Tartu       22:55, duration 4h 35                 

From Riga Airport   21:20, arrival to Tartu      01:35, duration 4h 16

From Tartu             03:10, arrival  to Riga Airport 08:00, duration 4h 50

From Tartu             06:30, arrival to Riga Airport 11:30, duration 5 h (the bus stops for half an hour in the centre of Riga).

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 2 km 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.

 

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.