Best Things to Do in Tallinn
Best Things to Do in Tallinn
Tallinn hands you a genuinely intact medieval core, and then a set of things to do that most first-timers never get past the Old Town gates to find. Here is how to spend your time, ordered from the obvious wins to the ones worth going out of your way for.
Climb to the free viewpoints on Toompea
Skip the temptation to pay for a tower first. The Kohtuotsa and Patkuli platforms on Toompea hill cost nothing, have no queue, and give you the postcard shot over the Lower Town’s red roofs and spires. Get there before the cruise crowds arrive mid-morning. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral sits at the top too, a Russian Orthodox church built in 1900 under Tsarist rule, free to enter with modest dress. It is a historical legacy, not a sign the city is Russian: Estonia is a Baltic EU and NATO state, and Estonian is Finno-Ugric, closer to Finnish than to anything Slavic.
Do climb one tower: St Olaf’s
For the view worth paying for, St Olaf’s Church has a tight spiral climb to about 60 metres for a few euros, one of the best effort-to-payoff deals in the city. Confirm the fee at the door, since it shifts.
Go underground in the Bastion Tunnels
Kiek in de Kok, the old cannon tower, connects to the Bastion Tunnels, a guided walk through defensive passages later used as Soviet-era shelters, about 90 minutes for roughly 10 to 12 euros. Capacity is limited and it sells out in high season, so book online rather than counting on a walk-up.
Walk through a submarine at Seaplane Harbour
Seaplane Harbour (Lennusadam) is a maritime museum built into a 1917 seaplane hangar, with a full submarine you can walk through and a seaplane hanging overhead, 22 euros adult. It is one of the best museums in the Baltics and far less crowded than anything with Old Town in its name.
Spend an afternoon in Kalamaja
Trade a second Old-Town lap for Kalamaja, a wooden-house district a short tram ride out, and Telliskivi Creative City inside it, a former factory complex now full of independent shops, bars and studios. Lunch next door at Balti Jaam Market, the working produce market locals actually use, a world away from the souvenir stalls on the square.
Slow down in Kadriorg
Kadriorg Park is Peter the Great’s 18th-century palace grounds, calm and green after the cobblestones, with the KUMU art museum at the far end for 16 euros. If Cold War history draws you, the KGB Museum inside Hotel Viru is guided-only and sells out, so book ahead.
Read more: the Tallinn travel guide sets these into a full trip plan.