Tallinn walking tour & city guide

The Lower Town and Town Hall Square

Tallinn grew rich in the Middle Ages as a member of the Hanseatic League, and its merchants built the Lower Town around Town Hall Square. The Gothic Town Hall, finished in 1404, is the only one of its kind left in northern Europe, and the Town Hall Pharmacy across the square has operated since at least 1422.

Lanes such as Viru Street, with its twin gate towers, and the narrow Saint Catherine's Passage lead between merchant houses, churches and craft workshops. Large stretches of the city wall and more than twenty of its towers survive.

Toompea Hill

Above the Lower Town rises Toompea, the hill where nobles and bishops lived. It holds the pink Toompea Castle, now the Estonian Parliament, the onion-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the Dome Church. Two viewing platforms, Kohtuotsa and Patkuli, look out over the spires and red roofs of the Old Town toward the sea.

Beyond the Old Town

Telliskivi Creative City, in former factory buildings near the main station, is full of cafés, street art and a weekend flea market, and the nearby Kalamaja district has colorful wooden houses. Kadriorg Park, east of the center, surrounds a Baroque palace built by Peter the Great.

Ferries reach Helsinki in about two hours. Winters are cold and dark but the Christmas market on Town Hall Square is one of the prettiest in Europe, while summer brings long, light evenings.