Hello!
2 friends arrive to Helsinki at 3pm on Friday May 1 and depart from Tallinn at 6pm on Monday, May 4. Can anyone provide any valuable recommendations? Where to stay, what to see, what to eat, what to try?

We have 3 nights and I am thinking:
Fri May 1: arrive 3pm, explore Helsinki, spend the night here
Sat May 2: explore more of Helsinki or day a day trip to lakeland?, spend a night here
Sun May 3: Am ferry to Tallinn, explore Tallinn, spend night here
Mon May 4: Visit the palace, more Tallinn, 6pm flight out.

Never been to that part of the world before.

Thanks!

Also, not sure if I should spend 2 nights in helsinki or tallinn. I could either take a saturday evening ferry or a sunday morning.

We absolutely loved Tallinn! Click on my name for the trip report on our four days there. It's a wonderful place to visit.

We also enjoyed Tallinn a whole lot more than Helsinki. Helsinki was just another big, expensive city . . . and very limited sights.

Tallinn was smaller, cheaper, more to see/do, charming people.

That's my 2¢.

Sandy (in Denton)

Another vote for Tallinn! Totally agree with sandy_b's post ... Tallinn has much more charm that Helsinki, IMHO!

Seems like we should leave Helsinki on Saturday evening rather than Sunday morning.

i thought 1.5 days insufficient for Helsinki. I haven't been to Tallinn yet. It really depends on YOUR interests.

If the OP is still following this I only just realised that they are arriving on May Day, which is a public holiday in Finland. This will affect public transport and most shops will be closed.

On Saturday I would recommend taking a day-trip to Porvoo which has a lovely old town. Or take a ferry to Suomenlinna Fortess

so yes, realized that we arrive on May Day but can't really do anything about the dates. Will the market in front of the cathedral be open? Anything that can be enjoyed? The plan right now is to split the 3 1/2 days evenly between the 2 cities. I may be able to squeeze in another day in the itinerary; in that case, I'd like to add Riga, Latvia as well.

The main market will be open, but the Old Market Hall next to it will be closed. Vappu is very popular day in Finland so there will be a lot of people out celebrating and picnicking on Esplanadi. Restaurants will be open as usual.

Almost all of the museums are closed on Friday. Some ideas: Korkeasaari Zoo is open until 8pm - shuttle boat goes from the Kauppatori market square, nice views on the way. Another option is the Suomenlinna Fortress, also by ferry from market square - the museum will be closed, but you could still tour the island on your own. Linnanmäki is also open.

I ran into a similar issue many years ago, and thought Suomenlinna Fortress a good way to spend a half day.