Spending a weekend in Tallinn

A few weeks ago, I went to Tallinn for a weekend to visit my friend who is studying there at the moment. During my time, I visited several places in the Estonian capital. For more photos, you can take a look at my previous article ‘Photodiary Tallinn’. In this article I will give you some tips and recommendations for when you are planning a trip to Tallinn.

Places to visit in Old Town

Viewpoints
The old town of Tallinn is full of points where you can have a breath taking view over the city. Two of the most popular viewpoints are Patkuli and Kohtuotsa. I have been to both of them, but I think my absolute favorite is the Patkuli viewpoint. The Patkuli viewpoint has some fairytale views of Tallinn Old Town, which you can also see in the picture above. The Kohtuotsa viewpoint is more on the northern side of Toompea hill. This viewpoint shows you views over the many houses in Old Town and also over the new part of the city with some high buildings.

Town hall and Raekoja Plats
In the center of Old Town Tallinn you can find the town hall and Raekoja Plats with colorful houses, nice restaurants and little shops. The whole square is very cosy. During wintertime, you can also find here a Christmas market. Unfortunately, we just missed it, because it started the 18^th of November. The Christmas market will take place until the 7^th of January. You can visit the market each day from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. in the evening.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
This Russian Orthodox church is not only impressive and beautiful on the outside, but also on the inside. The church was completed on Toompea Hill in 1900, when Estonia was part of the Russian Empire. It has a beautiful architecture and on the inside it features a lot of beautiful details. This cathedral is definitely worth a visit. The entrance is free.

Viru Gate
This gate is both beautiful to see in summer as in winter. The Viru Gate was part of the defence system of Tallinn city wall which was built in the 14^th Century. Furthermore, this gate is an entrance to the Old Town of Tallinn. You will enter the Viru Street, which is one of the main streets of Old Town with many shops and restaurants.

St. Olav’s Church tower
Once, this church was one of the tallest buildings in the world (in the 16^th century). You can climb the staircase of the church to go to the tower’s viewing point and to enjoy the beautiful views over the city.

Other places to visit in Tallinn

Telliskivi
This part of Tallinn is also known as ‘the Creative City’. It is a district just outside the city centre of Tallinn, in a former industrial complex. It features ateliers, studios, creative companies and offices of artists. You can find many shops which offer products such as interior design and clothes. Also, there are many unique cafés and restaurants which you can find in the area. What can also blow you away, is the street art in Telliskivi. You can spot a lot of beautiful creations on the walls around the district.

Linnahall
Linnahall is a former sports venue (for the Moscow Olympics) which is located on the harbour of the city. It is also very close to Old Town. Since Linnahall is located next to the sea, you can have a beautiful view on top of the hall. Unfortunately, we did not get to see such a beautiful view, due to the weather and mist that day. Nowadays, the hall is not open anymore, but you can still admire it from the outside.

Ülemiste Keskus (shopping mall)
Between the airport of Tallinn and the Old Town, you can find the shopping mall Ülemiste Keskus (easily to go to by tram or bus). This shopping mall is very big, with two floors in total, and features many different kinds of shops and eateries. You can also find here some international shops, like the H&M and the New Yorker. It’s the ultimate place for shopping lovers to spend a nice afternoon.

Places to eat/drink

Restaurant Pegasus
This is definitely my favourite restaurant of the ones I have been to during my weekend in Tallinn. Hospitable staff, nice views, perfect ambiance and great food. I have been her twice: ones for lunch and the next day for dinner. As a pre-dinner we both times got their home made white bread (which was, among other things, made out of beer and oil); this was so delicious! I wish I could buy some to bring home.. All the other dishes were great as well. During lunch I had a soup, while during dinner I had a tasteful main dish and dessert. The restaurant is also located at a good place, namely in the middle of Old Town Tallinn.

Address: Harju tänav 1, Kesklinna linnaosa.

Kivi Paber Käärid
In the district Telliskivi you can find a lot of nice places to eat and drink. After wandering around the district for a while, we decided to go lunch in one of the many eateries. We ended up at Kivi Paber Käärid, which was afterwards a very good choice. Again, this place has a nice ambiance, very friendly staff and tasteful dishes. When we took place, the waiter came towards us and offered a nice, typical Estonian drink to try. Some later we got or lunch: a burger with sweet potatoe fries, yummie! It was very good and tasteful, I loved it. And definitely try the sweet potatoe fries when you get there one time, they are delicious!

Address: Telliskivi 60a, C4.

Caffeine
All around the city you can find these coffee shops. It is like Starbucks, but then much cheaper. You can get here all kinds of coffees (and ice coffees, teas, hot chocolates). If you are a real coffee lover, you should definitely pay a visit to one of the Caffeine locations. I enjoyed a really nice pumpkin spice latte when I was there. Tip: one of the Caffeine locations is right on the opposite of the street from restaurant Pegasus. If you are planning to have dinner at Pegasus, you can get yourself a nice coffee afterwards at Caffeine.

The places in this article are the ones I have visited myself during the weekend I was in Tallinn. Because it had already snowed and we had not have the time for it, we did not visited lots of other beautiful places that Tallinn has to offer. The friend I visited was already in Tallinn during the summer, so she is going to tell more about other great places to visit in a article which we will publish later, so stay tuned for more about Tallinn!

Author: Tamara

This article is part of the GPSmyCity iOS app. You can download it, read this article offline and obtain travel directions (by foot, car or bicycle) to the places mentioned in this article. Click here to download it.

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