Road Rules and Traffic Regulations in Estonia - Driving Nuances
Find Your Car in Estonia
1. The total length of roads in Estonia is 57 500 km. Foreign drivers will be glad to know that all roads in the country are free. Large settlements are connected by high quality roads that will certainly please even most discerning motorists. In remote areas, there are many dirt roads, which may vary according to the level of difficulty.
2. Parking lots, located in central parts of large cities, are paid ones. The majority of them are equipped with special machines, through which the payments are made. Some parking lots can be used only if the vehicle has parking clocks.
3. Parking services usually cost 1 - 2 euro per hour. Some parking lots are paid only during the period from 7:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, and from 8:00 to 15:00 on Saturdays. On Sundays, many parking lots offer their services for free. The choice of a place to park should be made with great care as the fine for wrong parking is 70 euro.
Nuances of Car Rental in Estonia
To save on your rental, we advise to book your car in advance. You will save the most if you do this several weeks or even several months prior to your trip. Rental offices in Estonia usually raise rental prices over time, based on the number of cars left available for the accounting period.
When looking for an exotic car (cabriolet, minivan or limousine), we advise to check in the rental offices located at airports, as they usually provide much wider choice comparing to offices in urban areas.
Upon receipt of invoices, bills and documents for your car at the rental location, please compare the obtained data with your voucher. Quite often, employees of rental offices in Estonia try to add optional charges or services without informing customers.
It is very important to pick up your car at the rental office in Estonia in a correct way. Prior to leaving the office, carefully inspect the car for various defects, and ensure that all the discovered defects are mentioned in your rental documents. In case of a non-compliance found, place a demand for correction to the rental officer.
4. Tallinn has special parking regulations. The fee here is charged for every 15 minutes of using the parking lot. You should not forget that you can use parking lots only if your car has the parking clocks. The clocks are used to display the time of arrival to the parking lot. Some parking lots do not charge money for first 15 minutes of service.
5. VANALINN parking lots charge around 1.15 euro for first 15 minutes. These parking lots charge fees at any time of the day, including weekends. At SÜDALINN parking lots you will have to pay 0.58 euro for first 15 minutes. The payment is charged from 7:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, and from 8:00 to 15:00 on Saturday. On Sunday these parking lots are free to use.
6. At KESKLINN parking lots first 15 minutes cost 0.26 euro. These parking lots are paid during the period from 7:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and from 8:00 to 15:00 on Saturdays. On Sundays and public holidays visitors can enjoy free parking. PIRITA are considered the cheapest parking lots. For a 15-minute stay customers will pay only 0.19 euro. Parking is paid during the period from mid-May to mid-September. It is possible to leave the car for free only between 22:00 to 10:00.
7. Note that in some parking lots (this is particularly true about PIRITA parking lots) customers can purchase daily tickets, which usually cost 3 to 4 euro. The ticket entitles its owner to use the parking lot for the whole day. Some paid parking lots allow leaving bikes free of charge.
8. Drivers, who plan to use services of paid parking lots, are recommended to stock up on coins and banknotes of small denomination as parking machines do not give change. In the capital and in other major cities it is possible to pay by credit card at large parking lots. Some local people prefer old way of paying for parking – by using SMS-messages.
9. In Estonia, there are the following standard speed limits: in settlements the maximum allowed speed is 50 km/h, in the country it is 90 km/h, and on highways the speed limit is 110 km/h. Drivers should also keep in mind that in some residential areas the maximum allowed speed is just 30 km/h.
10. The maximum allowed blood alcohol content for drivers is 0.2 ppm. If the breath test result ranges from 0.2 to 0.49 ppm, the offender will be fined 400 euro, and his/her driving license will be suspended for a period of 3 to 9 months.