Weather lowdown
March is the last month of winter in Tallinn, the breathtaking capital of Estonia. Located just across a small sea arm from Helsinki, Finland, the city features a humid continental climate with warm summer and cold and snowy winters. The winter weather that the city has had to endure for a few months now slowly begins to ease out and the mercury starts to rise.
This is the warmest month since last November, its average afternoon temperature now averaging 3°C. The average nighttime temperature, however, is still well below zero, at -4°C. Those averages do increase rapidly throughout the month, indicating the approach of spring. March 1 is the coldest day of the month with an average high of 0°C and average low of -6°C. March 31 is the warmest day with afternoons that are 6°C "warm" and nights that are -1°C cold. The overall average temperature is -1°C. The temperature of the Baltic Sea is at its annual low, averaging no more than 0°C.
Another thing that continues to rise is the day length. There is a day-to-day increase of no fewer than 5.1 minutes in March. While March 1 has 10.32 hours of daylight, March 31 already has an incredible 13.11 daylight hours. With these numbers, you might expect a whole lot of sunshine this month. However, the amount of sun rays is limited greatly by the thick layer of clouds that covers Tallinn this time of year. Cloud cover ranges between 92% in the beginning of the month to 87% at the end.
After the very snowy months of January and February, March receives much less snowfall. The total amount of precipitation is 30mm, which is spread out over 10 days. March, together with April, is one of the driest months of the year. The chance that snowfall occurs decreases from 54% to 28% in the course of the month. The overall chance of precipitation also drops, although less significantly, from 66% to 52%. The weather clearly moves toward the drier and warmer spring season.
Where to stay
The Merchant's House Hotel is a well-rated and recommended hotel in the historic centre of Tallinn. Its fantastic location allows guests to easily explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the Old Town. The surrounding medieval alleyways, historic buildings, churches and museums create a magical setting and will provide you with a plethora of things to do in March. At the hotel itself, you can enjoy and take use of the free sauna, free Wi-Fi, spa and restaurant.
Another superbly located hotel is St. Barbara Hotell. Housed in a beautiful historic building in the Old Town, this suggested hotel is within easy reach from most landmarks and sights in the city. It's an award-winning accommodation with well-equipped rooms and facilities, and many services to make your stay as pleasant as possible.
Located close to pretty much anywhere in Tallinn fairly compact city, after alla href="https://www.sokoshotels.fi/en/tallinn/sokos-hotel-viru">Original Sokos Hotel Viru is a great place to stay for both tourists and business travellers. It's a huge hotel, also boasting a conference and banquet centre, restaurants, a shopping mall and so on. It even has its own fascinating museum: the KGB Museum.
Things to do
Put on a warm jacket and a hat against the cold weather when you visit Tallinn in March and head out to explore the Old Town. It's quiet in the city this time of year, most tourists preferring to visit during the warmer summer months. Tallinn is peaceful now, allowing you to really soak up the medieval charm of this centuries-old gem of a city.
While the Old Town is chock-full with historic attractions, make sure not to skip the spectacular city walls. These are, in fact, one of the best preserved medieval fortified walls in Europelmost two kilometres of the wall and 20 towers are still there. Particularly the section between the towers known as Nunna, Sauna and Kuldjala is worth exploringicture yourself as a medieval knight or lady when you climb the towers from the inside and look out over the roofs of Tallinn's Old Town.
The city walls used to include no fewer than 46 towers, and were three metres thick and up to 16 metres high. Nowadays, many of the remaining towers serve as museums.
Eating and drinking out
Leib Resto ja Aed is a delightful restaurant at the edge of Tallinn's Old Town. It has a beautiful garden and is surrounded by old walls, offering guest the feeling that they could be a couple of centuries back in time. Run by two young chefs, this restaurant focuses on fresh and locally grown food and buys its ingredients from small local farms, fishermen and butchers. Its menu changes according to the seasons, which shows that they are committed to using only fresh ingredients.
If you're adventurous and want to try Russian cuisine, head over to Wana Wiipuri, a charming restaurant in the heart of the Old Town. Its extensive menu features everything from grilled dishes, to soups and starters, to recommendations by the chef.
People who rather have some Italian food might consider visiting Trattoria del Gallo Nero, an Old Town establishment that serves Tuscan dishesrom antipasti and carpaccio to pastas and risottond great wines.
