The Old Town without the tour groups

Tallinn's Old Town is a genuinely intact medieval city and, for about six hours a day in summer, an extremely crowded one. Both things are true and the second is entirely predictable.

The cruise ships dock in the morning and their groups reach the Old Town between about ten and four. Before and after that window you have one of the best-preserved city centres in Europe largely to yourself. An early breakfast inside the walls or a nine o'clock evening walk are completely different experiences from a midday one.

The geography helps. Almost all group traffic follows the same route — up to Toompea, the viewing platforms, the cathedral, back down to the Town Hall Square. Step two streets off that line and the crowd disappears. The lanes on the eastern side, and the walk along the walls, stay quiet all day.

On the viewpoints: Kohtuotsa and Patkuli are the famous ones and worth the ten minutes. Go at either end of the day for the light and for the space to stand.

Eating inside the walls needs care. The restaurants on the square trade on location; the good ones are on the side streets and are noticeably cheaper for better cooking. If a place has a costumed doorman, that is a pricing signal.

And in winter the whole calculation changes — the crowds vanish, the Christmas market fills the square, and the Old Town in snow is the version everyone should see once.