NARVA The Estonian town on the RUSSIAN BORDER CROSSING!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

6:01 Craig corrected himself to say Estonia instead of Europe. We know that part of Russia is still in Europe, we visited the Europe Asia border in Yekaterinburg, Russia! Thanks so much for watching you lovely people!😊 If you liked the video please give it a thumbs up 👍🏼

[@KristenandSam]

Such a pretty place! Thank you for sharing!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you 😊

[@mishaknopkin2199]

Narva is a Russian-speaking city in Estonia. And "Democratic" government in Estonia forbids all Russian there. Language, culture and history. Even prescriptions in Russian for elderly people are banned. They think that we Americans do not know that. Shame to them from us Americans!

[@12phys]

13:42 The phrase on the painting says: “The Sea Starts Here” to inform people of the dangers to the environment posed by cigarette filters entering the Baltic Sea along with rainwater.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yes, cigarette filters are the worst and so many smokers seem to think nothing of just throwing them on the ground or down a drain. As if it doesn’t count as littering😕

[@pyhadekypsiss]

By the end of WW2, 98% of Narva had been destroyed. After the war, most of the buildings could have been restored as the walls of the houses still existed, but in early 1950s, the Soviet authorities decided to demolish the ruins to make room for apartment buildings. The original native inhabitants were not allowed to return to Narva after the war, and immigrant Russian-speaking workers from other parts of the USSR were brought in to populate the city. The main reason behind this was a plan to build a secret uranium processing plant in the city, which would turn Narva into a closed town. So yeah, Narva was actually one of the nicest city in Estonia before WW2

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It’s so sad that such a beautiful place was destroyed and then rebuilt in a Soviet style rather than returned to it’s original state but guess as they were in charge they had that agenda for it. Hopefully one day Estonia can claim it back properly as it really didn’t look or feel Estonian there.

[@matskustikee]

Here is example of it, before destructios kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHqzfaCYg7Vraqs

[@TideKnotTravellers]

mats kustik wow! It really was quintessentially Estonian just how we imagined it to have been. It still felt like it had the potential to be nice again but then we turned and saw all the horrible buildings (we tried to be positive in the video but there’s no getting away from the fact the Soviet buildings are an ugly power stamp on Narva)

[@matskustikee]

@@TideKnotTravellers Absalutely agree, in one point had soviet on table variant of destructions of old town on Tallinn after 2 ww ''liberations of Estonia'' ,because The new reality soviet rality (discutsting absalutely loathe) was rising

[@TideKnotTravellers]

mats kustik thank goodness the Old Town in Tallinn survived atleast🙂

[@TheMapPinners]

@4:39 Such an amazing view of the river! So cool to see the two castles facing each other like that, almost like they are staring each other down!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

They pretty much are! 😅

[@josiesaunders8122]

Wow, what an interesting little place. Those two castles facing one another across the border is fascinating!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It was quite a fascinating place to visit. So strange that Russia is so close that you can see Ivangorod castle so clearly!

[@TheReformatas]

Actually and historically that is one castle :)

[@jarek6934]

Once upon a time, this castle and city in Russia belonged to Estonia, but Russia took it and several villages of the city's lake and half the land.

[@jarek6934]

and Narva was once a very beautiful and proud and big old town with more fortress, but the Russians blew it up

[@zanyarshow8861]

Merhaba videonuza bayıldım büyüleyici , peki russia dan estonyaya geçmek mümkün mü ?

[@kumarkk2776]

it's really very nice to watch them from nepal....thank you so much for posting such a beautiful video.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you 😊

[@musakallimulla8326]

Thanks for showing Narva and other places in Estonia. Really beautiful and the way you both make the videos fantastic.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you so much 😊

[@Lavieestbellezara]

Amazing travel and beautiful vlog👍🏻 154 , keep sharing , have a merry Christmas

[@igorstrebulaev9851]

Thank you for a nice video about our hometown. Greetings from Narva.

[@yespls6260]

It's a cute town

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Our pleasure! Thank you for watching ☺

[@RuthandThomas]

LOVING THIS! So fun. The architecture of the Narva Town Hall is beautiful. The color is so striking. Exquisite. Hahaha the Death Stairs... They ARE scary - perfectly justified in being annoyed by them. Thanks for the whole tour - really felt like we were there with you! Bummer that the Dark Garden was fenced off and you weren't able to go see it. :(

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yeh it was a shame but we were more gutted about not being able to get inside the Castle courtyard to see the view across to the Russian castle.

[@yelenayeli9529]

I enjoyed your video very much! Especially while I go there next week when I am on vacation in The Baltic States ❤

[@lennutrajektoor]

Fun fact: Per the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920 Jaanilinn (Ivangorod) was transferred to Estonia. Jaanilinn with Narva are firmly Estonian cities. It proved to be an important barrier to fend off assaulting Red Army in 1944 which resulted them to stop any advance to the point they stalled up until Wehrmacht retreated on Sept 14 1944. It just happened after occupation that Jaanilinn remained in the hands of Russia. Also the Red Army leveled the whole Narva city in less than 24h with their bombers on March 7 1944. They returned the next day but all the buildings, residential houses and old town were already erased. That's why you have only the castle and the Town Hall reminding of the old past.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

So Ivangorod was just kept by Russia despite it actually being part of Estonia?

[@lennutrajektoor]

@@TideKnotTravellers It's trickier. Narva is Ingrian capital. Per se Ivangorod has been part of Russia or Russian populated but during 1918-1920 Independence War we got that part of land what we liberated from the Red Army. Thus Jaanilinn was that important part which servers as a natural bridgehead before St. Petersburg. Both in offensive and defensive context.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Ok so technically Estonia did win it but never really took it as it was always full of Russian people and historically belonged to Russia. Shame Russia didn’t do the same the other way around🙂

[@MrHrKaidoOjamaaVKJV]

@@TideKnotTravellers Yes. Per the Treaty of Tartu which Soviet Russia recognized Jaanilinn is Estonian the ild Estonian &Soviet border goes beyond Jaanilinn. The Estonian & Soviet border point was where the Estonian Army during the Independence War in 1920 stopped held back the invaiding the Soviet Red Army. Many non Estonians and Finns don't know that the city of St Petersburg is built on stolen Ingrian land. The Ingrians are a Finno Uralic Estonian tribe. Finno Uralic peoples inhabited large parts of what today is called "Russia" many years before the Slavic people known today as Russians arrived. There are maps you can find of the ancient Finno Uralic nations areas. This history has similarities to the American Indian historic situation.

[@georgevladimirovich7190]

@@MrHrKaidoOjamaaVKJV Tribes do not defy a political territory and the entire Europe is full of frustrated nations claiming something from its neighbors. At the end however, the strongest ones prevail, so get used to it. Lap dogs are not particularly respected when barking from behind the big ones.

[@Димас-в4я]

Respect from Narva! What a pleasant surprise. My hometown is back on KZbin )))

[@lindae5937]

Well what scenic views of the river border & castles! Beautiful! Not what I imagined & great to see! The Castles are impressive & churches such attractive designs, especially the domes. Narva looks a most interesting place to visit. Thanks for the insight!👍

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Such a beautiful place but has such a tragic past 🇪🇪

[@mishaknopkin2199]

Narva is a Russian-speaking city in Estonia. And "Democratic" government in Estonia forbids all Russian there. Language, culture and history. Even prescriptions in Russian for elderly people are banned. They think that we Americans do not know that. Shame to them from us Americans!

[@muuke]

@@mishaknopkin2199 How did it become (that) Russian-speaking? It was 65% Estonian-speaking (with Ivangorod) before WWII. After the Soviet Army destroyed the historic town centre and te outskirts in March 1944, they occupied it for 47 years. The locals who had evacuated were not allowed to return and immigrants were brought from all over the USSR to industrialise the place (to build and man the power plants, as workforce for military-industrial complex enterprises such as the Baltijets, for the textile industry based on the Kreenholm Manufacture etc). All schools bar one were Russian-speaking...These days, the Russian-language education is in the process of being phased out (I personally would keep it 25-30% in Russian, 55% in Estonian and 15% in English) but by no means is Russian language being banned in Narva...All services can be accessed in Russian, the mayor Katri Raik, an ethnic Estonian addresses the public in Russian, the city council meetings are held in Russian. As is most of the teaching at the vocational education centre...As to the prescriptions, it's true that the package inserts are usually not available in Russian. Must everything be translated into Russian though? After decades in Estonia, a number of people have not made much of an effort to master the local language.

[@GLAMISSH]

Vääu. Being from Estonia it was really cool to watch 🥰🤓

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you. It’s always lovely to hear that☺️

[@FinMeg]

Another awesome vid guys 😎👍🏼

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you ☺️

[@FinMeg]

@@TideKnotTravellers ❤️

[@Prunella304]

Narva has a very sad history. It used to be a beautiful baroque town but it was completely destroyed in WWII. The only building left from that time is the Town Hall . The old buildings were never restored and were replaced with Soviet or Russian style ones. Narva was a closed city during Soviet times and was populated by Russian immigrants.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It sounds very sad, when we were researching it sounded as if the Germans and the Soviets destroyed it between them during WWII🙁 must be so hard for the people who were originally from Narva to see that happen and what it looks like now. It’s a shame as you can still see it has the potential to be so nice but as you say it is now full of Soviet looking buildings (we tried not to sound too negative at the end about it but they were everywhere) the attitude of many of the people we met was somewhat different too. It was very interesting.

[@Aleksander578]

Welcome to Tallinn

[@andreimakejev5655]

I think you should visit Narva yourself and hire a guide, nothing you said is wright

[@klaabu99]

narva was not closed city in soviet times ... it was sillamäe ...

[@mishaknopkin2199]

Narva is a Russian-speaking city in Estonia. And "Democratic" government in Estonia forbids all Russian there. Language, culture and history. Even prescriptions in Russian for elderly people are banned. They think that we Americans do not know that. Shame to them from us Americans!

[@skoro-vernus]

Lovely footage. Kudos.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you 😊

[@TooMuchLuggage]

Thanks to you two the wife now wants to visit Estonia 🇪🇪😜

[@TideKnotTravellers]

You won’t regret it! 😉😊

[@kulnokaiklem]

Have You seen Lucas T. Jahn channel video Estonia Travel Documentary 2020? And Bald and Bankrupt channel new movie - Eastonia? On Bald Daily channel is video The Road to Paldiski - excellent road movie with 11 min! There are two movies about Tondi.Tondi Rocks!

[@aLatvianGirl]

Beautiful, I would like to visit Narva! 🇪🇪 🇱🇻

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It is a really interesting place to visit, hope you get to see it one day☺️

[@cato222]

You are welcome!sveiki!

[@wladislawortlieb8992]

There are too many Russians here. Not the best city in Estonia.

[@inzichte]

I have been there ❤. There was even a drone in the air. More quite in your time and relaxt.

[@TravelInteresante]

That's a quite border crossing indeed. Two castles over looking to each other from two different countries, that's super cool. Kirsty playing chess with a champion! Lol there are so many castles in Estonia!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yep! Europe is full of castles, fortresses and historical battles😄

[@user-ht6qn2ms5v]

Beautiful town of beautiful country

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It is very pretty overlooking the Narva River☺️

[@safeleather]

Great vlog 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Safe Leather thank you for watching, it’s a really unique place to visit.

[@KelbyAdamOurLifethroughalens]

Wow Narva river is sooooo beautiful 😍 you guys keep finding these gems 😀 the main crossing from Estonia to Russia is soooo crazy, especially those two Castles 🏰 Craig we agree it doesn't give off that Fairytale vibe. Loved the b-roll of and around the boarder. Kirsty loved the info about the Castel and think its cool you can have a view up there 😀 This was a stunning video as always guys. The next video looks so awesome! The outtakes 😅 Kirsty's river and dam 🤣🤣🤣 made me laugh

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Still managed to call it a lake! 🤦🏼‍♀️😅

[@TheAverageTourist]

This looks like a beautiful spot. Those stairs were definitely death stairs! I'm sure they've claimed an ankle or two with a sprain from an unsuspecting visitor. The river scenery is lovely. It looked like you had great weather to explore. That's a shame that the dark gardens were closed, I've experienced a lot of that this year in my travels too.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yeh think it’s the year for construction work😅

[@mishaknopkin2199]

Narva is a Russian-speaking city in Estonia. And "Democratic" government in Estonia forbids all Russian there. Language, culture and history. Even prescriptions in Russian for elderly people are banned. They think that we Americans do not know that. Shame to them from us Americans!

[@josephherr2482]

Thanks a bunch. Great job. Greetings from Mexico 🇲🇽

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you 😊

[@twilki3]

Cool video! I lived in Narva in the winter of 2004-2005 for about 5 months. I walked almost every inch of that town but it looks so different without the snow!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you 😊 We really want to travel Estonia again in the snow to see the contrast.

[@eesti919]

The graffiti on ground was not so much about smoking but to remind not to thrown trash into drainholes. Cigarette butts (microplast) eventually end up in sea/ocean and endangers sealife. Writing literally says: "Sea begins from here" 😉

[@TideKnotTravellers]

We saw so many people smoking and throwing their ends down, we just happen to strongly dislike smoking and the littering from them is a big reason. One of our biggest dislikes is seeing someone put their cigarette out in the sand at the beach and then leave it there for the sea to collect😢

[@holoholopainen1627]

This IS SMART ! If They would like to Have beach goers - at Narva Joensuu - They DONT want to see City Smokers Butt !

[@jenalynsimpleliving7346]

Loso amazing sending support here too dear👍💝🤗

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thanks so much

[@Ecoclimax]

Thank you for the interesting video. I wish you had crossed the border. It would have been exciting to see your reaction. :)

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you for watching😊 We would have loved to cross over and see Russia again. The visa is not easy to get though😅

[@BackpackingTheWorld_]

What an interesting place! :-D

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It is absolutely fascinating, thank you for watching☺️

[@someonewhosupportukraine]

your video suddenly appeared in the offers. before the video opened, there were very critical opinions (well, here again, other tourists filming food and so on.) but your video format was really well watched, I liked it and I think you will get more followers. Greetings from neighboring Lithuania (I offer to come to Lithuania on the Rambynas hill, there you can see the Russian (Kaliningrad) / Lithuanian border.And the former Prussian territory, as in Narva, is separated by the river Nemunas, and the border crossing point is the former Queen Louise Bridge of Prussia.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you, it’s great to hear you like our work☺️ we hope to come to Lithuania again and explore a little more. We really enjoyed seeing some parts last year, would be great to come back in warmer weather next time too!

[@kulnokaiklem]

Bald and Bankrupt channel was in Narva and Sillamäe. Eastonia video on that channel.2021. His second Bald Daily channel made a good video The Road to Paldiski.2021. Tondi , Tallinn videos there also funny.

[@shukrialsous7131]

Good luck 🍀

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you 😊

[@myotherchannel2729]

We came across this place, or rather some of the semi-rural streets closer to the coast, on Geoguessr in the last week or two; in fact I wondered whether Google had been spying on me when the video was suggested by KZbin a couple of days ago. Took a while to work out where in the world there might be a mixture of (1) Cyrillic, (2) a Slavic language in Roman type, and (3) something that looked like Finnish or Estonian. I think maybe there were triangular formations of electric/telephone poles, which occur predominantly in the Baltic states, that directed us toward Estonia and to the right area once we found road signs.

[@marinawithers8779]

The river's name is Narova....but thank you for showing the place I grew up, til I started travelling at 18

[@dunkirchen1940]

Been there, done that! Loved the castle and its museum on the Estonian side, sadly didn't made it over to Russia.

[@MdabulHasan-un2zp]

How are you sir I am from Bangladesh I have watched your video many times sir

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you, we hope you enjoy them ☺️

[@BucketListTravellers]

The borders around there are so interesting! So cool that you can look over a small stretch of water and see Russia! The spitting and the smoking there sounds very off-putting - especially during Covid 😬

[@TideKnotTravellers]

They are fascinating, so crazy how we just strolled across the border to Latvia, yet drive a few miles and this border is very different! It felt like we were already in Russia though as almost everyone we saw was Russian in Narva. We couldn’t believe the amount of spitting and as Craig said it irritated us more because they did it so close to us during a pandemic, seems crazy!

[@BucketListTravellers]

@@TideKnotTravellers so interesting! Coming from Australia, it's a minimum of 8 hours to get almost anywhere and then in Europe it's like this! When we were in China the spitting and smoking were the hardest things to get used to. I'm pretty sure I saw one person spit indoors in our hotel. 😱 We've noticed it happens a little bit where we are in Nicaragua, but nowhere near the same extent and not right next to us thankfully!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

@@BucketListTravellers Yeh it's crazy how quickly you can drive past country borders here! The spitting and lots of smoking is definitely something we've noticed more in Russia and China than anywhere else (shows how Russian feeling the town here is). Pleased it doesn't happen so much in Nicaragua at least :)

[@etunimisukunimi1981]

Kirsty, did you order your coffee in estonian at the Gullivers?😊. (Tere. Kas ma saaksin palun kohvi?) In the future ,Greece videos would be cool to hear how this same phrase sounds in greek language...and other languages depends where you are at the time. These smoking and spitting yokels are probably gopniks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopnik

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It’s her favourite phrase!☕️ maybe we’ll make that a thing to try and ask for coffee everywhere in the local language☺️ great idea! The Wikipedia description of what we saw fits perfectly. Shame the area seems overrun by them.

[@saeedahmed1728]

Travel is better than honeymoon. Love to you saeed from lahore pakistan

[@felipegomes9732]

I´m from Brazil. Amazing video!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you! We’re planning to head to Brazil this year ☺️

[@AprilChu]

Omg those crazy death stairs! Haha. Ok, so their building codes aren't as stringent I guess. The views from the Narva riverfront are so pretty and how cool to see the castles on the Estonian side and the Russian side. All the smoking, spitting and coughing seem kind of strange and definitely a bit worrisome during a time like this.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yeh it was weird walking along and thinking the edge was just open then realising there were steps but that they were even more dangerous😅

[@lennutrajektoor]

Joaoru is cascade valley.

[@Martin-wx8gd]

The other side of the river actually used to be Estonia too, but when Soviet union occupied Estonia after WW2 they changed the territories on the other side of Narva river to be Russia.

[@andreimakejev5655]

How did them Russians smuggle an entire castle to the Estonian land than? Your history knowledge is to short and politically backgrounded !

[@muuke]

@@andreimakejev5655 According to the Tartu Treaty of 1920, Ivangorod became part of the Republic of Estonia. The border between the "Estonian Socailist Soviet Republic" (ie how Soviet-occupied Estonia was officially called from 1944-1990) was moved back to the Narva River after the Soviet occupation had begun anew in 1944

[@andreimakejev5655]

@@muuke real historians give AF about historical facts, liberal historians give AF about what they are comfortable to give AF of. Narva is a strategic place at medevial times and was ruled by some guys

[@tnickknight]

Note, if you bring your mobile phone, make sure you have roaming off, or you could get connected to Russia and get hit with a huge bill, even if you do not cross!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

oh wow, good tip! 😮

[@BeingBedingfield]

Wow guys, how beautiful is Narva. It’s just one stunning castle/cathedral after another 🤩 especially like the two castles either side of the river. Everything is so green and clean 😀 Like the clip of Kirsty ‘playing chess’ with the statue (took me a sec to realize it was a statue 🙈😅)

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It was one of the most fascinating places seeing two castles so close together but in 2 different countries that hate each other!

[@sergiusspb]

@@TideKnotTravellers Hatred isn't spreeded much between common people, but rather between the politicians who are bloody bustards doesn't matter which side of the river Narva they are from.

[@holoholopainen1627]

Nice & Well Done ! You didnt mention anything about Narva Joesuu ( in english River Opening ) - that is right by The Sea ! I never been there - but that is where The Beaches are by The Sea ! It is just 5 - 10km North of City of Narva ! There They have HUGE HOTELS - and The Famous BEACH ! Too Late Now & Cheers / No Worries

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Next time! 😊

[@holoholopainen1627]

I tried to Look - LIVE - stream from NARVA BRIDGE ! Have They closed IT - or is TRAFFIC roaming - More FREE ?

[@anarusic5422]

Thank you! I will volunteer there and it really looks green and lovely!! You made it much closer to me : D

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Hope you enjoy your time volunteering. Thank you for watching 😊

[@ИринаБелоусова-й4ы]

Мы тоскуем по поездкам в Эстонию! Прекрасный народ!

[@DjusLife]

Definitely a quiet border between two countries, probably does have a lot to do with covid though. Seems like the cathedral has had a pretty rough history, looks beautiful though. I love the orthodox church, has a resemblance to the churches in Ukraine. I'm envisioning epic castle battles across the river... Don't think that was the case but a cool thought haha.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yeh the cathedrals history reflects that of Narvas unfortunately🙁 Guessing the Orthodox churches were built by the Russians in Ukraine too?

[@TideKnotTravellers]

You’re not wrong about the battles between the castles, it really is a face off😬

[@Nadezda71]

I was born in Ivangorod, grew up in Narva. The two town used to be as one, I still have relatives in Ivangorod. I love my town, love people there. Yes, people are smoking but less than in England, London's roads are covered with chewing gums.

[@mishaknopkin2199]

Narva is a Russian-speaking city in Estonia. And "Democratic" government in Estonia forbids all Russian there. Language, culture and history. Even prescriptions in Russian for elderly people are banned. They think that we Americans do not know that. Shame to them from us Americans! or, Narva does not care about Estonian language teachers. They will speak Russian anyway. Most likely within the Russian Federation.

[@ajax8834]

Thank you for a beautiful tour of Narva. I have several positive observations to make your presentation even better. Contrary to your comments, Narva was not destroyed by Germans in 1944. It was razed to the ground by Russian terror bombing well after most German forces had already left, and when the town no longer had any particular military significance. You can check this out on many history sites on-line. The aim, together with Russia's concurrent Tallinn bombing, was to terrorize the population ahead of the returning Soviet occupation. At the time Narva's populaton was predominantly Estonian. They were forced to evacuate the city, and weren't allowed by Russia to return. The city was reserved for Russian immigrants, and they and their descendants live there today in an overwhelming majority of around 87%. Narva is a prime example of ethnic cleansing, and explains the preponderance of smoking, spitting and other less than friendly interactions you may have had there. As you know from your travels, Estonians are not generally like that.

[@darrentheexplorer9679]

Nice👍

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you 😊

[@skylarwayne5184]

It is definitely strange to see such a quiet border crossing. The view across the border really was great though. Kind of strange about all the people smoking\spitting... glad that isn't the norm in the rest of Estonia. We are so glad you survived the death stairs!!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It was cool to see across to Russia from the edge of Estonia like that. Yes luckily people around Estonia were generally not like this, Narva was very different in it’s buildings and most of the people.

[@kutsugemindoliveriks]

No one wants to go to russia

[@karce77]

@@kutsugemindoliveriks borders are closed because of corona 🤦‍♀️

[@Nadezda71]

I could read some very racist comments against Russian in Narva. Historically Narva always was multicultural town and beloved to Germany, Sweden and Russia and they all left their roots here. You haven't seen Kreenholm Cotton factories, they were closed when Estonia became part of Europe Union and thousands people lost their jobs. Did you go to Narva-Jõesuu, our holiday place?

[@TideKnotTravellers]

We didn’t get to visit Narva-Jõesuu really want to visit there next time though. It sounds lovely but we ran out of time with the hire car 🙂

[@tanyat2505]

Thank you so much!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

You're welcome! 😊

[@johngogarty945]

When I was travelling I left tartu and got a bus to Narva ( around 2003) ..when I got to Narva bus station I tried to ask people the way to the seven kings guest house I was booked in. I was given a frosty reception from the staff there. It was if they didn't want anyone there who wasn't Russian. It was the first place in my life I really didn't feel safe. I was getting some suspicious stares. I got a strong gut feeling in my stomach something might happen to.me, and something else might happen to my money, credit cards, passport etc. Touchwood, 20 minutes later the last bus of the day for Tallinn was due. I was delighted to get on it and book into a hotel in Tallinn. Some unsavory characters in Narva.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Can imagine it would’ve been even more so that way back in 2003. From our experience it seems like it’s improving slowly but that being said we knew from looking into it that we didn’t want to stay overnight, a day trip with a car to leave when we wanted was enough for us. Can imagine you were relieved to be on the bus to Tallinn🙂

[@Nadezda71]

I love my town, the best town in a world. I went to different countries and always wanted to come back. Young people in England are terribly dangerous and nearly all of them smoke weeds

[@_realggf9]

Been a month already the border between the West and Russia is again in a disastrous situation, I'm thinking of the people and I'm so sad. I visited Estonia and Latvia in 2017 and I think most who visited there agree these places are very peaceful. The people are very friendly and I met a few Russians there and all of them were great human beings. I'm missing them so badly and I wish the situation will be settled soon. thanks for the video xx

[@TideKnotTravellers]

The people we have met across all the Baltic countries have been lovely warm hearted people and the same for the families we met whilst travelling around Russia. Just pray this craziness ends before much more is lost. 💔

[@jenalynsimpleliving7346]

Nice vedeo friend see you around too💝🎄🔔❤️

[@Aleksander578]

Welcome to Estonia

[@Chris-pf8by]

I am a Finn and have visited Estonia numerous times in 30 years. Last weekend I was for the first time in Narva and I was very positively surprised. Beautiful fortress and promenade, friendly people and contrary to what many think especially young people speak very good Estonian and English. With the war on Ukraine Russia is now seen very differently and it is a remarkable experience to look over to Ivangorod just some 100 m away. Also recommend checking out Sillamäe if traveling to Narva by car. Super interesting place with stalinistic buildings and history.

[@AnthonyJosh]

Are you able to cross without a visa? I read Americans need a visa to enter Russia 🇷🇺

[@TideKnotTravellers]

I’m not really sure anyone can cross into Russia without a visa. We couldn’t walk across that bridge. We went to Russia before this and had to get visas to do so.

[@AnthonyJosh]

@@TideKnotTravellers damn I kind of figured

[@faithfulforever6331]

What a gorgeous country!

[@juhanpae]

Is this video filmed like 6 months ago because it is summer :D?

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yes, it was filmed in August 2020 and posted in December 2020! 😊

[@gitesinsunnyfrance]

We have just spent a few hours at the border yesterday. Totally different in the snow and cold whilst watching ice fishermen on the Russian side. Then a few hours later Russia invades the Ukraine..

[@comrade916]

I visited Narva today. For me, it was strange being so close to Russia.. I could easily see numerous Russians fishing in the river on the other side.. Other than the promenade, not too much happening in Narva.. I had a bite to eat and everyone that I spoke to was very friendly and helpful... I am glad to be back in the city of Tallinn.. My next train trip will take me to Tartu.. I have already seen so much by bike here in Tallinn. The city is so small, I have only been here five day's and seen most of the sites and I have also biked to Pirita beach...I'm old (mid 50's) but I can still hang with the youngsters!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

We felt one day in Narva was plenty, as you say there’s not much to do there other than along the promenade. Sounds like you’re having a lovely time in Tallinn, it’s such a great sized city to travel around by bike or scooters🛴 have a great time in Tartu, there’s quite a bit more going on there, have you seen our video of Tartu? We spent a few days there and still want to go back for more 😊

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Also mid 50’s isn’t old, we plan to still be cycling and adventuring way past those years! 😊

[@comrade916]

@@TideKnotTravellers I told the same thing to my sore bum this morning, but he's not having it... I guess the 40k yesterday was too much for him! :)

[@TideKnotTravellers]

🤣🤣

[@emranhossainraju3869]

What is coming from Russia, can it be taken to the border in a hot legal way?

[@sebastianzeitblom4668]

19:52 The baroque town center was destroyed in Soviet air raids in March 1944, and what remained was torn down and replaced by socialist buildings after the war. The town was also ethnically cleansed, turning the pre-war Estonian majority into a minute minority after the war. 4:13 The statue of Lenin in the courtyard of the castle was removed in December 2022 - good riddance to all the reminders of the Soviet occupation.

[@thrashthrasherson3803]

Hi mates, we're heading to Tallinn and Narva next week. 2 quick questions. Is the river promenade close to the actual city centre? And how safe would you say Narva is for tourists? Thanks mates, greetings from Helsinki 🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Hi, yes the river promenade is walking distance from the old town area. As tourists we felt perfectly safe there but we did arrive in daylight and left the same day so can’t say what it’s like at night. Enjoy both! Although Narva is not far from Tallinn, it’s a million miles apart in terms of how different it felt being there, cool and interesting though 😎

[@LucasWorldTravel]

That's crazy!!! It's hard to believe they are literally that close to each other. So symbolic that they would have a castle on either side or opposite each other. Just amazing. 2/3 around the world from there. Just astounding. It is so close Estonians can say, "Hey keep the noise down Russia!" and Russians could say, "You keep the noise down Estonia!" I find as my knowledge of the wars grow that so many beautiful places were destroyed. Fortunately, some were rebuilt. Yes , I agree. I think the spitting and smoking is a disgusting habit. Cigarettes are the worst. Kirsti, you can beat him. Just kidding you have no chance against that guy. Safe travels!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Yeh it’s really quite something to see the Estonian and Russian castles positioned like that, looking close the fortresses were covered in cctv cameras (unsurprisingly😅) yes so many beautiful places destroyed by war. Such a shame that this one was destroyed and taken over and despite being legally part of Estonia it’s never really been properly returned as it’s still full of Russian buildings and people rather than it’s original state. The spitting and throwing cigarettes on the ground was unlike anything we’ve seen before. You know when a place needs a sign to tell people to stop doing it that it probably means it happens a lot and from what we saw, it does! Yep no chance at winning chess! 😂

[@xwiirastusx]

There actually was this weird case back in the 1990s: two groups of revelers, one on the Russian side, the other on the Estonian side - both ethnic Russians, mind you - started to exchange insults from the opposite banks of the River Narva. At a certain point the argument got so heated that two men from the respective sides, fortified by vodka no doubt, decided to duke it out in the middle of the river. They jumped in practically simultaneously. Let's say it didn't end well for neither of the parties concerned: the fast-flowing river proved detrimental to them both; one had his head smashed against a pillar of the bridge, the other simply drowned.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Rainer Vilumaa oh wow! That really didn’t end well for them😬 Vodka and a river is never likely to be a good combo I guess.

[@VladisRed]

Such interesting video)) Basically to me Narva is a boring city. I'm from city of Kohtla-Järve also in Ida-Virumaa as Narva. Ida-Virumaa was forgotten lands in the not so distant past. Tourism here is not so intense yet

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you, it’s great to know you found the video interesting. We liked Narva, it’s definitely very unique and has a mix of things going on. It will be interesting to see how it looks in years to come!

[@ssoubatch]

Would you refer to the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as to the border between Europe and the UK?

[@TideKnotTravellers]

See pinned comment 🙃

[@merledavodov4700]

I HAVE BEEN TO NARVA I LIVE IN ESTONIA

[@TideKnotTravellers]

You live in a lovely country, Estonia is beautiful!

[@comrade916]

I'm curious. In your opinion, is the population in Narva a bit hostile to tourists? Are they resentful that Estonia is part of the EU?

[@TideKnotTravellers]

From our experience we found a more mixed feeling there than anywhere else we had been in Estonia. I would say the comments on this video are fairly representative of our time there, many were friendly but a few were VERY unfriendly. Guess it could be due to resentment towards Europeans.

[@zanyarshow8861]

Rusia dan Estonya ya geçmek için vize gerekli mi alternatif yol yok mu ?

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Not sure what the rules are for all nationalities but we didn’t require a visa to travel from Russia to the Baltic countries but did need one to enter Russia.

[@zanyarshow8861]

@@TideKnotTravellers I think I got it, I want to go to Estonia from Russia, is there any customs control?

[@jonathanstinson3690]

is it possible to cross the border by walk from estonia to russia and backwards ?

[@sumudu478]

Please do Russia Finland border line video

[@TideKnotTravellers]

We did make it to Finland but not to the border there.

[@kamaljit2543]

Can we cross the border without visa of Estonia...?

[@utc7406]

Sadly, there's not much remained after that famous battle. almost planned to there, now it seems unnecessary. Thank you

[@ConanVeneto]

La città sembra vuota !

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It was very quiet but then many places in Estonia are not too crowded.

[@krunoslavkovacec1842]

Border towns and areas are realy cool precisely for things like these.

[@عازفكمان-ر8ض]

مرحبا أنا من العراق اعمل في مجال الطب القديم وطريقة التحضير ممكن اقدم على الإقامة على دولة ستونيا

[@michaelarrowood4315]

The wildly swinging camera work and constantly shifting views were so nauseating, I didn't make it into the rest of the video. What a shame. Sounds like an interesting topic.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Sorry you felt that way, maybe watch something else.

[@mahboobhussain6165]

good looking

[@EstonianBerserker]

Your turning/pans are too fast but great content though! 🇪🇪👏🏻

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Thank you! We’ll try and slow the pan shots 😊

[@Agur.A]

As you said, you would like to explore over the border country, well you kind of already did 😁 Thats the mentality over there and sadly yea, there's almost no Estonians left in Narva. Altough it's a beautiful city 🙂

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It is beautiful but would definitely be better if Estonia claimed it back properly and got rid of all the Soviet apartment buildings and filled the place with Estonians too😊

[@Mirkocc14]

Narva is the most racist place in Europe, where the Estonian government denies citizenship to most people in the city. They even enforce the usage of Estonian in this area that only speaks Russian. The Russian language is the mother tongue of 33% of Estonians and 100% of Narvians. You said people don’t wish the Donbas scenario to be repeated? It is up to the EU and Estonia to treat people with respect. The pressure is very high, but tourists only see the icccreams and few singing students

[@zygoptera666]

Bla-bla. Bla-blaa. Bla. We are not in the position to take over Estonia. So we go and butcher it in social media. We are fearless warriors in our secure homes and offices. We can tell whatever shit comes up. Russia is f-king big. Russia is f-king strong. Russia has A- bomb. Hallelujah! Now what?

[@zack3563]

Is Narva ppl needs visa to visit Russia?

[@yuryhonest1474]

The entire southern side of the city of Narva, the castles and the bridge were destroyed by the Soviet and (Germans) army in 1944 during the liberation operation, because (the Germans) were in Narva. 2 armies were bombing each other through the river for few days, and finally when the city was gone, Germans retreated and Narva liberated from occupation. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ambaiYqPqKeCb9k - Russian castle and bridge after the battle. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3bEaZJ5ntOMp5Y - from the scene kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJSxmoJ8dramftk - from the scene

[@SorgiStories]

"The Death Stairs." Cue the Empire Strikes Back theme... (Wait...you've had your fill of feature films already in Estonia!) Yeah, Russia ain't a cup of coffee across. Why can I picture John Cleese coming out from the roof of one of those two castles and doing the Monty Python Holy Grail "French taunting" scene? You realize you can make as many silly faces as you want at Kerese. He's not going to let it faze him. It shouldn't faze you. And the Lenin Statue won't beat Kerese at chess, either.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

😅 don’t think I’d win a game of chess against a 10 year old version of myself let alone Kerese!

[@SorgiStories]

@@TideKnotTravellers Same here. But seriously, another fun, fantastic video!

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Sorgi Stories thank you 😊

[@demonhalo67]

Estonia has long been on my list of places to visit well before the pandemic. I am hoping restrictions on travel are soon to be removed to make short breaks more viable. I would also like to visit Russia but obviously that is not going to be possible at the moment.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Estonia is an incredible little country. We hope for peace around the world so that all can travel freely and we can all learn and understand one another better 🤞🏼

[@sewinai9456]

Pove the history of narva 😰

[@CarlCOts]

They hade some Spy changes on that bridge not that long ago

[@РусланЗаурбеков-з6е]

New Glienicke bridge, almost ))

[@alanomer6523]

Russian side looks more beautiful tho! ;) yet it is interesting how estonia looks like from the top of the russian castle view

[@mishaknopkin2199]

Narva is a Russian-speaking city in Estonia. And "Democratic" government in Estonia forbids all Russian there. Language, culture and history. Even prescriptions in Russian for elderly people are banned. They think that we Americans do not know that. Shame to them from us Americans! or, Narva does not care about Estonian language teachers. They will speak Russian anyway. Most likely within the Russian Federation.

[@swansbear]

I wonder if the Estonians are scared of the crazy Russians coming across & reclaiming their former Soviet territory back. 😬

[@TideKnotTravellers]

They have caused so much damage and destruction already to others and their own people, lets hope they learn to stop sooner rather than later 💙

[@ciscoviking4209]

Really great video !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@BladeJones]

Just raft across the river. No need to deal with border patrol on that bridge.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

Wouldn't fancy the consequences of that though! 😅

[@afcgeo882]

What’s sad about Narva is that Estonia is mostly ignoring it as a city solely because most residents are ethnic Russians. They can’t even be citizens there, even though they were born in Estonia. Estonia chose to give its citizenship to ethnic Estonians instead of native Estonians, something other European nations can’t even comprehend. Cutting off your nose just to spite your face indeed.

[@kriskt4754]

Nah its the Russian mentality, you can find the same in every smaller city in Russia.

[@afcgeo882]

@@kriskt4754 WTF are you talking about? Russians can’t be citizens of Russia? Are you drinking?

[@muuke]

Estonia was soccupied by the Soviet Union from 1940-41 and 1944-91. The locals had no say over how many immigrants were brought in from the USSR. In 1945, Estonia was at least 92% Estonian, by 1991, only 61% Estonian. If Soviet immigration had continued (ie had the UUS not collapsed), Estonians could have ended up as a minority in their own homeland... After restoration of independce in 1991, Estonian citizenship was automatically granted only to the citizens of the Republic Estonia as of June 1940 and their desdendants, regardless on ethnicity. So approximately 80,000 Russian acquired citizenship automatically, the rest had to apply for it after having passed an Estonian-language exam (at the current B1 level). Everyone born in independent Estonia after 26 Feb 1992 (when the first citizenship legislation was enacted) could apply (or their parents, regardless of citizenship, could apply on their behalf) for Estonian citizenhip without having to pass the Estonian-language exam. Currently, about 45-50% of Narvans are Estonian citziens, the rest having either Russian citizenship or without determined citizenship ("grey passport" holders).

[@RodneyEnt]

In Narva and Jõhvi there are very few ethnic estonians. That discusting spitting and littering in general, is basically russian "thing". They just don't give a crap. I'm not saying that no estonian won't do that, or that all russian do, but i quess you noticed the difference with more estonian-populated places.

[@TideKnotTravellers]

It’s an interesting place to visit, but yes the whole area has a completely different feel to the rest of the country.

[@martplees5004]

Germans didn´t destroy Narva, it was russians. City was restorable, but soviets was leveling those beautiful baroque buildings and replacing them with ugly soviet archidecture. Later native estonians were forbidden to move back to the city and soviets was bringing in new colonists, mostly russians.

[@abc-eq9so]

You should see the small border crossing in the Balkans if you thought that was scary :D

[@TideKnotTravellers]

We definitely hope to someday!

[@abc-eq9so]

@@TideKnotTravellers You absolutley should. Serbia was really popular now during the pandemic. A lot of KZbinrs uploaded during these times.