NPA 2025
travel, sightseeing &
accommodation
travel, sightseeing &
accommodation
Tartu Airport (TAY) has a flight connection to Helsinki airport (HEL) serviced by Finnair. The airport is located 10 km from the city center. You can get to and from the airport with the city bus line E1 (one-way ticket 5 €) or a taxi (typically 15–20 €).
If travelling via Tallinn or Riga, you can travel to Tartu with a bus or train:
Bus tickets: https://www.tpilet.ee/en/ (typically 2.5 h from Tallinn, 3.5–4 h from Riga).
Tartu coach station is located conveniently just 200 m away from Science Centre AHHAA.
Train tickets: https://elron.ee/en (typically 2 h from Tallinn, 3 h from Riga).
Tartu train station is 2 km from Science Centre AHHAA. The city bus line 3 connects the train station to city centre.
Getting around Tartu
You can buy tickets with a contactless bank card on board the city buses. 1 h = 1.5 €, 1 day = 3.75 €. Google Maps is good for timetables and routes.
Hotel "Tartu" is located just across the street from the conference location and right next to Tartu intercity coach station. They have kindly offered a promotional rate for our conference – use the promo code "npa2025ahhaa" to get up to 15% discount (depending on the choice of room) off regular rates.
Book here: https://www.tartuhotell.ee/en/welcome/
"Tartu" hotel is also the location for the Thursday sauna evening, so staying there is extra convenient.
NPA & Small Domes conference participants can visit the exhibits and regular planetarium shows in Science Center AHHAA for free during September 10–13 when wearing conference badges. Family members travelling with conference participants can visit for a reduced price (the conference participant with a badge must be present at the ticket desk to get the reduced price). AHHAA is open from 10-19 from Sunday-Thursday and 10-20 on Friday & Saturday.
Museums - there are a variety of museums in Tartu for every taste: Tartu Old Observatory museum (the site of the Wednesday evening meet & greet), Tartu University Museum, Tartu University Art Museum, Tartu University Natural History museum and botanical gardens, Estonian National Museum, Tartu Toy Museum, Tartu City museum, KGB cells museum, A. Le Coq beer museum, Estonian Sports & Olympic museum and a few more...
Sightseeing - Tartu is a conveniently compact city where most places are withing walking distance. You can visit the town hall square with a tilted house (which has a steeper angle than the more famous leaning tower of Pisa), grab a meal or a drink from the wide selection of pubs & bars on Rüütli street (Knight st), walk along the scenic riverside or board a boat tour, check out multiple medieval churches or go for a walk in the cozy and bohemian Supilinn ("Soup Town") or Karlova districts and enjoy the historic wooden architecture there.