Day 1
Visit the Tallinn Town hall and climb its tower. The tower has great narrow and steep stairs. We love climbing such old towers and were very happy to find this. The views are nice, although the space upstairs is very small and it limits the possibility to enjoy them for long.
After coming down from the tower, head to the 15th century Town Hall pharmacy, which still works today.
There are a few nice cafes nearby, such as Kehrwieder Saiakang Chocolaterie.
Head to Kompressor for an early or late lunch. This place has great pancakes, but huge queues as well. So try to arrive a little outside the lunch and dinner times. You will still have to queue, but the pancakes are worth it and are very cheap – the prices range from 4.50 to 6 EUR. We ordered one savoury and one sweet pancake and were dying afterwards 😊
Head up to the Toompea hill and take pictures at the viewing platforms. There are several platforms:
- Go to Kohtuotsa viewing platform, which is the best one.
- Patkuli doesn’t have such great views, but is still worth checking out.
- Piiskopi is even less interesting, but worth walking around in the area.
See Alexander Nevsky cathedral and the outside of the Toompea castle and the Tall Herman. You can’t enter the Toompea castle, as it is the President’s palace, but you can see this pink building from outside. Also climbing the tall Herman is usually not allowed and the entrance is from the Parliament building.
See the 4 towers and the tunnels under them. The entrance to the towers is from Kiek in de Kok, from which you go through to the other 3 towers. The passageways are nice to walk on and take photos. The tunnels are lined in accordance with historical times. The Soviet parts are followed by medieval parts with armory. Definitely a very interesting experience.
Head back down from the Hill and go to Pierre Chocolaterie for their delicious hot chocolate drinks, ice creams or coffees. It has a lovely yard, where you can sit in summer to enjoy the quiet.
Have dinner at the St. Patrick’s forum, a relatively cheap place with good food. It’s central branch seems to be closed after covid but the Rotermani Kvartal branch still works.
In the evening, you can also go to National Opera Estonia, if you have time and energy 😊 At the time we visited, West Side Story was being performed there.
Day 2
Start this day at one of the great coffee shops, like the Kalev Marzipan (it’s called a museum, but really it’s more a café and a lovely one) or Maiasmokk café. We loved the atmosphere in this old style places with delicious cakes and coffee and cozy seats. Another option is beautiful Kohvik Rukis or Kohvik Must Puudel.
Walk around the narrow streets of Tallinn.
Climb St. Olaf’s church tower. This orthodox church, which dates back to 12th century is definitely worth a visit. Unfortunately, we were not able to do this, as the church is under renovation at least until the end of 2019. But we hear that the views from the tower are the best, so we have a reason to visit again.
You can get cupcakes at Tasikoogod café nearby.
Explore Tallinn city gates and city walls. Just wonder around the outskirts of the old city and you will find wonderful places with the remaining parts of the city walls and several gates all around. Particularly interesting to me was the north side.
Visit the great Guild Hall.
See the St. Catherine’s passage and the art galleries in the area.
Try to eat lunch or dinner at III Draakon. Try because this tavern/pub always has very long queues and if you have limited time and/or are impatient, that may be extremely inconvenient. They don’t have menus, so you will have to ask, what the day offer is. This is a great medieval pub, which is amazing just to visit, even if you don’t eat there.
Visit Helios Hall. They always have digital art exhibitions. Currently they host Monet2Klimt art in motion, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. There’s also abstract art show. Do check their Fb page for more details.
Visit St. Nicholas church and museum.
Spend the evening at the Rotermann city area, where you have a number of food options and bars.