Narva

Most of the about 70,000 inhabitants are ethnic Russians. Narva-Jõesuu is a nearby seaside resort at the Gulf of Finland.

The city of Narva was founded by Denmark in the Middle Ages. Narva became part of the Swedish Empire, and during the Great Northern War, Swedish king Charles XII led 10,000 men to victory against more than 30,000 Russian soldiers here.

Due to the heavy damage of the Second World War, Narva had to be almost completely rebuilt. This is why the city is dominated by Soviet architecture today, mostly Krushchevka-type buildings, the quintessential "commie blocks" from the 1960s. Narva's "modern" Town Hall, for example, is a prime example of typical Soviet architecture.

Over 90% of the current population are Russian-speakers, mostly either Soviet-era immigrants from parts of the former Soviet Union and their descendants.

1 Tourist Information Centre, Puškini 13, ☏ +372 3560184, narva@visitestonia.com. Mon-Fri 09:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-15:00. The staff at the tourist information office on Pushkin street (next to Alexandr Kohvik) can offer plenty of help in fluent English.

Talk:

Russian is spoken and understood by virtually everyone. If you are able to speak the Russian language, you will be fine. Estonian is spoken as a second language mainly by the younger generation (as learning Estonian at schools became compulsory after Estonia declared independence in 1991). Older people are likely to have zero knowledge of Estonian. English is spoken (or at least understood) by younger people, but the degree of proficiency may vary greatly, so make sure that you can take advantage of locals who understand and speak English as much as possible. Street signs are Estonian-only or in Estonian and English.

Bus and train schedules are easily available online – read more under Estonia#Get around.

By train:

Elron runs several trains per day from Tallinn taking between 2 and 3 hours costing around €11-14.

The former over-night train between Moscow and Tallinn operated by GoRail made a stop-over here. As of 2023, this international service does not operate. At this point, the only way to get to Narva from Russia by train is to take a once-a-day commuter train from St Petersburg to Ivangorod, and cross the river to Narva on foot. Be aware that there are no shopping options at the train station.

1 Narva railway station, Vaksali 23B (Southeast of the city centre). (updated Mar 2021)

By bus:

A trip from Tallinn or Tartu to Narva takes three hours and costs around €10. The bus station is just in front of the train station. Bus companies are Lux Express, Ecolines and Baltic Shuttle. There are also bus connections from Saint Petersburg to Narva with the aforementioned bus companies.

By car:

While Narva is right at the Tallinn-St. Petersburg highway, the bridge between Ivangorod and Narva is closed to vehicle traffic since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

On foot:

The bridge between Narva and Ivangorod remains open to pedestrian traffic.