Hi Guys,

My friend and her 14 year old son from Melitopol in southern Ukraine will hopefully arrive in Tallinn by bus late at night on the 20/5 from St. Petersburg.

I’ve seen this about help at the bus station in Tallinn:

[https://news.err.ee/1608574243/information-point-for-refugees-opens-at-tallinn-bus-station](https://news.err.ee/1608574243/information-point-for-refugees-opens-at-tallinn-bus-station)

I’ve purchased them tickets to fly from Tallinn to Lisbon (where they will ask for protection status) on Monday the 23/5 so they will have to spend 3 nights in Tallinn before flying out.

Will she be able to stay at the bus station or somewhere else that’s cheap? Will someone help her with this at the bus station? She is having mental health problems because of stress so I am trying to organise her trip as much as I can.

To fly to Portugal you must have a vaccination certificate or do a rapid test or a pcr test. She has a vaccination certificate but her son does not, so he will have to do a rapid test 24h before they depart. Where is the cheapest place to do a rapid test in Tallinn (she doesn’t have much money) and what days and hours do they work? And how quick do you get the results?

Thanks for any help or advice.

5 comments

  2. 1) That info point SHOULD still be open. You can also contact the organization that runs it:
    https://www.facebook.com/MariupoliSobrad/

    2) It’s better to find them accommodation in advance (than relying on volunteers to figure something out late at night). Booking.com suggests you can find a twin room for those nights in Tallinn for about a hundred euros, that’s going to be a cheap hostel, but it’s something. The bus station itself is not really a place where you can spend the night, I think it closes until 5am anyway, but it’s not a very comfy or big place.

    Here: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaEiIAQGYAQm4ARfIAQzYAQHoAQH4AQuIAgGoAgO4AqqIjZQGwAIB0gIkNjFhYWZiZGItNGVjOC00MDU1LTlhZWQtY2I1NjQ3YWM2ZDM12AIG4AIB&sid=a4289fec713c386a331a926d5ef00089&aid=304142&lang=en-gb&sb=1&sb_lp=1&src_elem=sb&error_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Findex.en-gb.html%3Flabel%3Dgen173nr-1FCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaEiIAQGYAQm4ARfIAQzYAQHoAQH4AQuIAgGoAgO4AqqIjZQGwAIB0gIkNjFhYWZiZGItNGVjOC00MDU1LTlhZWQtY2I1NjQ3YWM2ZDM12AIG4AIB%26sid%3Da4289fec713c386a331a926d5ef00089%26sb_price_type%3Dtotal%26%26&ss=Tallinn+International+Bus+Station%2C+Tallinn%2C+Harjumaa%2C+Estonia&is_ski_area=&ssne=Kutaisi&ssne_untouched=Kutaisi&checkin_year=2022&checkin_month=5&checkin_monthday=20&checkout_year=2022&checkout_month=5&checkout_monthday=23&group_adults=1&group_children=1&age=14&no_rooms=1&map=1&b_h4u_keep_filters=&from_sf=1&search_pageview_id=28ab2f55d52e0283&search_pageview_id=28ab2f55d52e0283&ac_suggestion_list_length=5&ac_suggestion_theme_list_length=0&ac_position=0&ac_langcode=en&ac_click_type=b&dest_id=259850&dest_type=landmark&place_id_lat=59.427128&place_id_lon=24.773813&search_selected=true&ss_raw=Tallinn+Bus+Station&order=price

    In Tallinn you can generally take public transport for free – if a ticket checker comes, they can just show their Ukrainian passports.

    I recommend that they get Estonian SIM cards – prepaid starter kits should be available from the R-Kiosk in the bus station if the volunteers don’t have any. They’re only a few euros, you don’t need to do any ID registration or activation bullshit.

    3) Antigen tests with certificates are available at the airport: https://www.confido.ee/ru/antigennyj-test-na-koronavirus-v-tallinnskom-aeroportu/ The tests themselves are about 6 euros each in any pharmacy, but if you need the certificate, then you’re gonna have to pay up unfortunately.

  3. You can’t stay overnight in Tallinn bus station. It’s small, just one room and closes at nights. Take cheapest thing from [booking.com](https://booking.com) or airbnb.

    Maybe she can stay those nights in St Petersburg instead. If she want’s to leave Russia as soon as possible, then she can stay also in other cities in route to Tallinn, like in Narva or Rakvere and arrive to Tallinn on the day of flight. From Tallinn bus station to Airport there is just 15 … 20 minute tram ride.

    Are you sure that flight to Portugal requires vaccination certificate from 14 year olds? Also if her certificate is issued in Ukraine I’m not so sure is it valid for Portugal.

  4. I recommend you write this in a Facebook group ‘Ukraina sõbrad Eestis’. Might be someone would be able to house them for three days and help with the test etc.

    I would let them stay with me if I were in Tallinn so I bet there’ll be other people willing to that too

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