I absolutely hate to ask a question where you compare one town with another. But in this case, I really need to.

I will be travelling to Moscow to either Riga or Tallin, cos only there can I get really cheap deal with some good budget flights (ryan air and easy jet do not cover moscow).

But the thing is, on my way back, I would love to spend 2 nights in either riga or tallin. From Moscow, travel time and cost of travel-wise, there isn't much a difference. But if I absolutely have to choose one of them, which one should I choose and why?

The old towns of both are both very nice.

I was put off in Riga by dozens of guys wearing boards and passing out flyers for sex clubs. It seems that Riga is the destination of choice for Irish and British boys going out for a cheap drunken weekend, at least in part due to the low fares of Ryan Air.

Try Villnius if you can.

I have received many reccomendations to go to Tannin. They say Estonians are the best Europeans. I have only heard bad things about Latvia. Thats really the best advice I can give.

We thoroughly enjoyed our recent visit to Tallin. Beautiful old city section with lots to see and do.

I do not know Riga, but Tallinn is a great city.

It really depends on your interests. Tallinn old town is lovely and compact, beautiful from every angle. But if you are into architecture, the Art Deco buildings in Riga is very interesting (took me more than one day to see most of them), plus the old town, throuth a bit rougher than Tallinn.

Just FYI, I found meals were more expenxive in Tallinn than in Riga.

Read about Latvia's capital, and I'm sure you'll decide Riga. A completely mad but wonderful city!

http://www.travelsavvy-riga.com/

Riga would be my choice.
Tallinn has a nice Old Town section and a beautiful seafront location, but feels a bit Disney-esque. Old Town is compact and easily seeable in a day.
Around Old Town there isn't much of interest within the city.
It is a busy port and attracts many Fins and Swedes on booze-cruises, but that doesn't become bothering as there are hordes of other tourists, too.

Riga's Old Town can also become quite busy with tourists, but Riga is with around 900,000 inhabitants is actually one of the biggest cities around the Baltic Sea. It feels less touristy throughout and offers a gorgeous belt of Art Nouveau architecture around Old Town. There are some great restaurants, too, and overall, I think one would need about 2 - 3 days to fully appreciate Riga.

I went to Riga and Tallinn this summer. I liked them equally, but these were my impressions:
Riga is a lot calmer- not very many people there, even when cruise ships arrived. Not too touristy. Not a ton of things to do, but easily a full day.
Tallinn had better things to do but was VERY touristy- at restaurants, people who worked there were dressed up in medieval attire. It was very nice when cruise ships weren't around, but horrible when they were. (We had to try to avoid going places mid day because there were huge groups of people).
If you only have 2 nights, I'd recommend Riga.