Things to see & do in Tallinn

We won’t say it’s fairy-tale, as that would be too much of a cliché, but the red-roofed, pastel-coloured houses and shops selling marzipan in Tallinn’s Old Town are ridiculously picturesque. The streets are winding and cobbled, without so much as a glimpse of a modern building poking through, and it’s all wrapped up by remarkably intact medieval walls dotted with turreted towers. Estonia’s capital was wholly untouched by the wars that raged through Europe in the 20th century, in physical terms at least. Tallinn’s Jewish inhabitants faced the onslaught of the Holocaust full force, while the Cold War brought shady KGB espionage and chilling Soviet surveillance to its sweet streets.

Couple Tallinn’s dramatic recent history with a strongly Nordic influence – it’s sat just a short hop across the Baltic Sea from Helsinki – and you have a cornucopia of culture to explore in both the Old Town and the modern part of Tallinn, that is fast becoming a digital powerhouse. Here, glass skyscrapers of Europe’s answer to Silicone Valley are the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Skype and home to NATO’s cyber defence center, among other IT giants.

Tallinn’s UNESCO-listed old town has two distinct personalities: Toompea, or the Upper Town, set on an oblong hill, and All-linn the walled Lower Town, one of the best-preserved Hanseatic towns in Europe. Medieval Toompea Castle and its sugar-pink Baroque and Neoclassical 18th century additions, and the onion-like domes of the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral dominate Toompea. In the Lower Town painted, gabled houses line winding cobbled streets. Duck into Europe’s oldest continually operating pharmacy (it’s been here since 1422), sip a coffee in an open-air café, or climb one of the Old Town wall’s towers for a glorious view across the rooftops. You can also explore the Bastion Tunnels underneath it all. These 17th century defences became air raid shelters during the Second World War and Cold War.

With the Baltic Sea lapping at the gates of the city center, Tallinn’s heritage as a fishing port has a heavy influence on its distinctive local food. For a truly symbolic Tallinn dish try vürtsikilu, spicy sprats pickled in pepper, allspice and cloves. Or go one better with kiluvõileib, a rye-bread open sandwich topped with vürtsikilu as well as boiled egg, mayonnaise and herbs. Alternatively put your feet up in the main square with a verivorsti, a blood sausage hot dog topped with lingonberry jam.

Estonian restaurants abound in the city, serving up menus filled with heavily seasonal goodies that reveal Estonia’s foraging traditions, such as wild mushrooms and berries, as well as a plethora of pickles, traditionally used to keep vegetables edible throughout the long winter months.

Summer in Tallinn is short but spectacular, with long summer days and short ‘white nights’ in June, when the sun barely dips below the horizon. Temperatures peak around 20-22°C in July, when the Baltic Sea beaches are a popular escape from city life and outdoor cafes bustle in the Old Town center.

To avoid the peak sightseeing crowds consider traveling in May or September, the former is still warm while the autumn sunshine of the latter casts a warm golden glow over the red-tiled roofs of the Old Town. Be warned, it gets cold quickly in September, so you’ll need to pack warm layers. Departures of most small group tours to Tallinn (and the other Baltic capitals) fall into the warmer May to September window, with the odd Christmas trip as well.

In winter you can expect some snow – and cross-country skiing becomes a popular pastime in the city – with a selection of tracks around the city to explore. If you can cope with the cold, and it is often below freezing, then Christmas can be magical, with markets lining the snow-dusted cobbled streets.