Tallinn

What to see

Town Hall Square

Town Hall Square is the floor of the lower town, with the Gothic town hall, its tower, and the cafés that have claimed every edge. The square is the place to arrive. Climb the tower if the weather is clear; the lanes matter more than any one façade.

Raekoja plats 1, Tallinn

Photo: Pudelek (Marcin Szala) · CC BY-SA 3.0 ee

Open in Google Maps , Town Hall Square

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The Orthodox cathedral on Lossi plats is the bulky onion-domed church facing Toompea Castle, built in the late imperial years and still the skyline of the upper town. The interior is dark and gilded. The square outside is the view back over the lower roofs.

Lossi plats 10, Tallinn

Photo: Pudelek (Marcin Szala) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Open in Google Maps , Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Toompea Castle

Toompea Castle is the seat of the Estonian parliament, a pink baroque front on a medieval core at the top of the hill. You can walk the courtyard when the gate is open; the chamber itself is not a casual museum. The viewing platforms nearby, especially Kohtuotsa, are the public reward.

Lossi plats 1a, Tallinn

Photo: Sargoth · Public domain

Open in Google Maps , Toompea Castle

St. Olaf's Church

St. Olaf’s spire was once among the tallest in the world and is still the needle of the old town. The climb is narrow. On a clear day you see the port and the gulf; on a grey one you mostly see the climb was enough.

Lai 50, Tallinn

Photo: longmandancer@btopenworld.com · CC BY-SA 2.0

Open in Google Maps , St. Olaf's Church

Kadriorg Palace

Kadriorg is Peter the Great’s baroque palace in a park east of the old town, now the home of the KUMU approach and the foreign-art rooms of the Art Museum of Estonia. The park is free. The palace interior is the ticketed half, and the walk from the Viru Gate is the pleasant way there.

A. Weizenbergi 37, Tallinn

Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0

Open in Google Maps , Kadriorg Palace

Food and restaurants

Restaurants and hotels change hands. These listings were last checked on 26 October 2026.

Olde Hansa

Olde Hansa on Vana turg is the theatrical medieval restaurant of the old town, with candlelight, costume, and a menu written as a feast. It is a show as much as a meal, and it has been the show for years. Book in summer. If you want a quiet modern room, this is the wrong door.

Vana turg 1, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Olde Hansa

Maiasmokk

Maiasmokk on Pikk has been a café and a marzipan shop since the nineteenth century, a small room of cakes rather than a restaurant with a long evening. It is the old-town coffee stop with a real history. The queue in summer moves; the marzipan window is the souvenir that belongs here.

Pikk 16, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Maiasmokk

Rataskaevu 16

Rataskaevu 16 takes its name from the address, a cellar restaurant that has been a steady Estonian table in the lower town for years. The cooking is local and seasonal rather than medieval theatre. Book if you want an evening that is about the food.

Rataskaevu 16, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Rataskaevu 16

III Draakon

III Draakon is the tiny medieval-style tavern inside the town hall, known for elk soup served in a ceramic bowl and for being almost too small to sit. It is a curiosity and a quick lunch, not a place for a long conversation. Go early or accept the step outside.

Raekoja plats 1, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , III Draakon

Restaurant Ö

Restaurant Ö, toward the port on Mere puiestee, is the serious contemporary kitchen of Tallinn, a tasting-menu room rather than an old-town tavern. Reserve. It is the meal for a night when the medieval show is not what you came for. The menu changes; the address has been the stable part.

Mere puiestee 6e, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Restaurant Ö

Where to stay

Restaurants and hotels change hands. These listings were last checked on 26 October 2026.

Hotel Telegraaf

Hotel Telegraaf occupies the former telegraph building on Vene, a polished old-town hotel between the square and the port lanes. It is a full-service stay inside the walls. Ask for a quieter courtyard room if the street outside a weekend bar is not the night you want.

Vene 9, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Hotel Telegraaf

The Schlössle Hotel

The Schlössle is a small hotel in a medieval merchant house on Pühavaimu, a few turns from the town hall. The rooms are inside a real old building, which means stairs and thick walls. It is the stay for people who want the quarter under their window.

Pühavaimu 13/15, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , The Schlössle Hotel

Palace Hotel Tallinn

Palace Hotel faces Freedom Square, just outside the old walls, a grand interwar building that has been a hotel for decades. You are a minute from the old town and clearer of its night noise. It is the formal option when a merchant-house staircase is not the brief.

Vabaduse väljak 3, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Palace Hotel Tallinn

Shopping

Balti Jaama Turg

Balti Jaama Turg, beside the main railway station, is the city’s working market: produce, street food, and a rebuilt hall that replaced a rougher yard. It is more useful than the souvenir lanes. Morning is when the food stalls are worth the walk from the old town.

Kopli 1, Tallinn

Photo: Tony Webster · CC BY 2.0

Open in Google Maps , Balti Jaama Turg

Viru Keskus

Viru Keskus is the shopping centre under the square where the old town meets the modern city, useful for a pharmacy, a bookshop, or a dry hour. The Soviet-era Viru Hotel rises above it. The centre is practical; the KGB museum in the hotel is the odd exhibit if you have twenty minutes.

Viru väljak 4, Tallinn

Photo: Jaanus Silla · CC BY 2.0

Open in Google Maps , Viru Keskus

Katariina käik

Katariina käik is the short passage of craft workshops between Vene and Müürivahe, where hats, linen, and ceramics are made in rooms you can see into. It is the souvenir that is actually made here. The lane is easy to miss; it leaves Vene near the old guild houses.

Katariina käik, Tallinn

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

Open in Google Maps , Katariina käik

How to get there

Tallinn Airport

Tallinn Airport is a short tram or bus ride east of the centre, close enough that a taxi is a small fare and a tram is often as quick. It is the air gate for Tartu, Pärnu, and Narva as well. The old town is not at the terminal; allow twenty to thirty minutes.

Lennujaama tee 2, Tallinn

Photo: Dmitry G · Public domain

Open in Google Maps , Tallinn Airport

Balti jaam

Balti jaam is the main station, tucked against the north-west wall of the old town, with trains toward Tartu and Narva and the market next door. It is a practical hall, not a palace. From the platform the old town is uphill and immediate.

Toompuiestee 37, Tallinn

Photo: Dmitry G · Public domain

Open in Google Maps , Balti jaam

Tallinn Passenger Port

The passenger port, a walk from the old town through the harbour quarter, is the terminal for ferries to Helsinki and for many cruise calls. Terminal buildings are signed A and D; check which one your ship uses. The old town is close enough to walk with a small bag and far enough that a large one wants a taxi.

Sadama 25/2, Tallinn

Photo: Pjotr Mahhonin · CC BY-SA 3.0

Open in Google Maps , Tallinn Passenger Port

A travel company can place a labeled partner route here. Advertise with us