Movers for Estonia: what could and could not be read, what Tallinn publishes about parking, the ferry route to Saaremaa, and every place named with its population.
You send the enquiry to us and a partner removal company carries out the move. Estonia has this one page, and as Estonian official sites refused our requests, each point says whether it is sourced or not yet confirmed.
What we could read
Very little of the official rulebook. Every Estonian government and city site we tried on 4 November 2026 refused our request, so customs relief, moving permits, ferry rules and tolls are not yet confirmed. What follows is only what a readable source supports.
On 4 November 2026 we asked ten pages for their text: the tax and customs board (EMTA), the City of Tallinn, the transport administration, the Port of Tallinn, the ferry operator praamid.ee, the legal gazette Riigi Teataja, the police, and the councils of Tartu, Pärnu and Saaremaa. Each answered “HTTP Error 403: Forbidden”. We did not change our client’s identity or use an archived copy to get round that.
The customs board page on bringing belongings from outside the EU was one of the ten that refused us. The conditions for duty-free household goods, and how a move from the UK is treated, are therefore not yet confirmed. Ask your removal company to confirm them with Estonian customs before you book.
The transport administration, the Port of Tallinn and the ferry operator are among the ten refusals, and no other source for a road toll, a ferry vehicle rule, a car import rule or a pet rule was read. None is stated here. For the British end of the paperwork, use the UK customs documentation checklist.
Four things were readable: the City of Tallinn tourism department’s parking page, an encyclopaedia entry on the Port of Tallinn, an encyclopaedia entry on Saaremaa, and Statistics Estonia’s population table for 1 January 2026. They are used below, and the two encyclopaedia entries are labelled as secondary sources.
The international moving checklist puts the steps that do not depend on Estonian rules on a calendar.
Tallinn
Only parking times, from the city’s tourism department. Parking is restricted at all hours in the Old Town and Downtown zones, and the Old Town is mostly car-free. A moving permit, its fee and its lead time are not yet confirmed.
Statistics Estonia counted 452,563 people in Tallinn on 1 January 2026, far more than in any other Estonian local government. The one city page we could read is the parking page of the Visit Tallinn site, run by the Tourism Department of Tallinn Strategic Management Office (opens in a new window), dated 13 October 2026. It is a visitor page, not a moving-day rule, and the city’s own parking page at tallinn.ee was among the ten that refused us.
The page says: “Tallinn has four controlled parking zones:” Of the Old Town it says “The Old Town is mostly a car-free area where driving is not recommended.” and “Parking restrictions apply 24/7 with no exceptions.” The Downtown zone carries the same sentence, so parking is restricted at all hours in both zones.
For the city-centre zone the page says: “Parking restrictions apply on weekdays from 07:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 08:00 to 15:00.” It adds: “On Sundays, parking is free (not applicable to public holidays unless they fall on a Sunday).”
These are parking times for ordinary street parking, and the page does not mention removals. Whether a van that waits outside a home needs a permit, a no-parking order or a fee, how early to apply, and what it costs are not yet confirmed. Ask the City of Tallinn, and put the question in your enquiry so your removal company can check it.
It points to “Tallinn.ee/en/parking : information on parking zones and rates in Tallinn” and adds: “Public paid parking services in the city of Tallinn are provided by EuroPark Estonia”
An encyclopaedia entry on the Port of Tallinn says: “Muuga Harbour – the largest cargo harbour in Estonia, located in Maardu, 13 km northeast of Tallinn city centre” This is Wikipedia, not the port authority, whose site refused us, so treat it as background only. The port’s access rules for lorries and containers are not yet confirmed.
Saaremaa
By ferry from the mainland and over a causeway, or by ferry from Hiiumaa. Both facts come from an encyclopaedia, not from the ferry operator, whose site refused us, so vehicle sizes, prices and booking rules are not yet confirmed.
Saaremaa is one local government with 29,869 people on 1 January 2026, and Kuressaare town (12,729) is its main town. The sentences below are from the encyclopaedia entry on Saaremaa (opens in a new window), a secondary source.
The entry names the operator: “Saaremaa is reached by TS Laevad” It describes the route: “ferries from Virtsu on the Estonian mainland to Kuivastu on Muhu island, which is itself connected to Saaremaa by a causeway” That is a ferry from Virtsu, then Muhu island, then a causeway to Saaremaa.
It adds: “Saaremaa can also be reached by ferry from Sõru on the island of Hiiumaa to Triigi.” It also says: “During many winters it is possible to drive to Saaremaa by an ice road between the mainland and Muhu or between Saaremaa and the island of Hiiumaa.”
No vehicle size limit, price, booking rule or sailing time was read, because the ferry operator’s site and the Saaremaa council’s site refused our request. A lorry that carries a household needs these answers, so ask your removal company to confirm the crossing before you book.
All the places named
Every place that had an address on the earlier version of this site is named below with its population on 1 January 2026, grouped by county. Nine local governments have 20,000 or more. Only Tallinn has a section of its own.
The figures are Statistics Estonia’s population on 1 January, by local government and settlement unit (opens in a new window), table RV0291U. For a town that is only part of a local government, the table gives the town and the municipality separately, and both are shown. Estonia has 15 counties and one national total of 1,360,745.
Statistics Estonia’s table for 1 January 2026 gives nine: Tallinn (452,563), Tartu (99,900), Pärnu (52,198), Narva (51,411), Kohtla-Järve (32,368), Saaremaa (29,869), Saue (26,170), Rae (25,835) and Viimsi (23,418). Together with the country total of 1,360,745 residents, these are the places we treat as the main ones.
Tallinn is split into city districts: Lasnamäe (115,008), Mustamäe (67,968), Kesklinn (67,766), Põhja-Tallinn (63,240), Haabersti (51,423), Nõmme (34,542), Kristiine (34,306) and Pirita (18,310). Suburban Rae, Saue and Viimsi, listed above, lie just outside the city and are separate local governments.
Besides Tallinn, Rae, Saue and Viimsi, the county holds Maardu (16,812) and Keila (10,986).
Narva, on the border with Russia, and Kohtla-Järve are in the list above. The county also holds Sillamäe (11,942), Jõhvi town (10,448) and Jõhvi municipality (16,052) and Kiviõli town (4,645) and Lüganuse municipality (8,008).
Tartu and Pärnu are in the list above, each the largest town of its county.
The island of Saaremaa is one local government in the list above. Its main town is Kuressaare, whose figure is in the section above with the ferry notes.
In Lääne-Viru: Rakvere (15,345) and Tapa town (5,388) and Tapa municipality (10,787). In Lääne: Haapsalu (13,033). In Järva: Paide (10,420) and Türi town (5,022) and Türi municipality (10,402).
In Viljandi: Viljandi (17,000). In Valga: Valga town (11,732) and Valga municipality (15,173). In Võru: Võru (11,813). In Põlva: Põlva town (5,292) and Põlva municipality (13,049).
Hiiu County (8,330), Jõgeva County (26,526) and Rapla County (33,733) have no town of their own on the old address list, so they are named here with their county totals only.
Town not listed? Put its name in your enquiry.
Facts checked: 4 November 2026. Estonian rules can change and the official sites were closed to us, so reread the sources before you commit to a deposit.
Related guides
There is only this page for Estonia. Two shared guides handle the steps that are identical in every country.
Questions
Not yet confirmed: the city’s own pages refused our request.
The one readable page, from the city’s tourism department, gives parking times only. Ask the City of Tallinn about a permit, its fee and how early to apply.
At all hours in the Old Town and Downtown zones.
In the city-centre zone the restriction runs on weekdays from 07:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 08:00 to 15:00, according to the city’s tourism department.
No. The customs board page refused our request.
The conditions, and how a move from the UK is treated, are not yet confirmed. Ask your removal company to check with Estonian customs.
An encyclopaedia entry names ferries from Virtsu to Muhu island, then a causeway.
Vehicle sizes, prices and booking rules are not yet confirmed, because the ferry operator’s site refused our request.
Yes. Every place from the earlier site is named with its population, grouped by county.
If yours is missing, put its name in the enquiry.
Name the town in Estonia, the UK postcode the load leaves from, your target month and a short list of what is going. One of our partner companies reads the note and replies with its own questions first.
International Removals Companies is an enquiry and introduction service run by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, in partnership with AGM Group. We don't move goods ourselves: the removal company quotes for your move and carries it out, so check its credentials and terms before you book. Our service is free. Discuss the quotation and booking terms directly with the removal company.