Exploring the fairytale medieval city of Tallinn, Estonia

For a change of pace from outdoor adventure fun, we headed to Tallinn, Estonia for 24 hours. However, if we had recorded the walking we did in the city on Strava, our walking track would have looked liked a ridiculous pile of spaghetti which would have ended up being a decent distance.

We woke up early in order to catch the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. It is only a 2 hour ferry ride to get to Estonia. While on the ferry, people do lots of shopping as everything is duty free because it is in international waters. In fact, lots of people who live in this region take ferries to different ports partly for the shopping and partly to visit other places as the tickets are not expensive.

Our "little" ferry to Estonia

We're getting good at figuring out how to get tickets.

The sunrise was as we were leaving the port of Helsinki.

Leaving the port of Helsinki 

Island of Suomenlinna is just off the coast of Finland. It’s home to the 18th-century Fortress of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its passageways, cannons, and a former prison.

Passengers doing duty free shopping - alcohol

Passengers doing duty free shopping - chocolate

Passengers doing duty free shopping

Arriving at the port of Tallinn

Tallinn is the capitol of Estonia and is the country's cultural hub with a mix of both Nordic and Russian influence. Even though it is only a two hour ferry ride from Helsinki, it felt like we had traveled a great cultural distance. The Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in all of Europe. It consists of winding cobblestone streets, architecture from long ago centuries, lots of unique doorways, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

We read a little bit about it before we went and had  several places we wanted to check out, but not much of a plan. The city has a wall around it complete with towers that was initially built in the 13th century. Our 1st stop was Kohtuotsa viewing platform to see the view and get our bearings. From there, we wandered around the Old Town without much method to our madness, taking in different sites and a fair share of pastries. Of note, there were many Ukrainian flags flying and clearly lots of support for Ukraine (even more so than in Helsinki, which there were a lot there too).  

Outside of the walls of the medieval city

Entering the walled city of Tallinn.

So many unique doorways

Notice the Ukrainian flag flying on the building. There is huge support for Ukraine in Estonia. We saw Ukrainian flag everywhere.

Interesting old architecture and lots of cobblestone streets.

Signs against the Russian war against Ukraine.

More signs protesting the Russian war against Ukraine.

A street heading to the town square with the 13th century Town Hall in the middle.

Town Hall Square

Town Hall Square

The view of the Old Town from the Kohtuotsa platform.

Clearly this critter is used to tourists.

Sarah and I at the Kohtuotsa viewing platform.

The view from Patkuli viewing platform.

The view from Patkuli viewing platform.

It was windy and cold outside, so we ducked into this café. It felt like an oasis with a warm wood stove and healthy, tasty food.

This meal tasted so good! It felt like we hadn't eaten vegetables in forever.

Sarah can't wait to dig in!

Sarah accidentally poured water into the pick candle holder. We both thought it was hysterical, but the person working there did not smile when we told her what happened.

The "thirst & hunger" café hit the spot.

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church built in the 1900s by Russians. When we went inside, we were surprised to see that there was an open casket funeral happening.

Toompea Castle built in the 1700s which now houses Estonian parliament.

The old town well

Heading up the Nunnatorn tower (tower for the nuns)

View from the Nun's Tower

Inside the top of the Nun's Tower

Some sketchy stairs in the Nun's Tower

Inside the sauna tower

Looking at the Nun's Tower and the Sauna Tower

Enjoying Town Hall Square

Going into the old town hall pharmacy which is the oldest operating pharmacy in Europe (since 1422).

The symbol outside the oldest working pharmacy in Europe.

Lots of old medicine

Examples of medicine - lizards?

Dehydrated toads?

A dried deer penis as medicine?

We headed to our hotel in the afternoon to recharge before going back out to explore more.

Complementary wine when we checked in - so fancy!

The chocolate store smelled so good, we just had to go in.

We had trouble passing by bakeries without stopping in to sample what they had.

The market just outside of the walled city.

Ooooo, another bakery. Of course we had to stop and sample the goods.

Inside the big marketplace. This is where locals go to shop.

Giant cans of olives and olive oil.

They are making mini blinis. Check out the giant cast iron forms for making these.

Outside of the other side of the marketplace.

St Olaf's Church tower. Records go back to 1267. It is closed in the off season. The tower was one of the tallest towers in Europe for a long time.

Interesting old houses

This street really caught my eye.

The old well

We went into an English Bookstore and saw this book. It's comical.

Exploring St Katherine's Passage

Viru Gate built in the 1400s.

Flower sellers just outside of the Viru Gate.

Olde Hansa Restaurant (where we ate).

Olde Hansa has a elaborate medieval theme.

Entering Olde Hansa

Musicians playing medieval instruments.

We even used a giant wooden spoon to eat our soup.

Our server was quite the ham.

Dessert was delicious - the one with cream was described as a "journey".

Employees at Olde Hansa in medieval clothing.

This skating rink was just inside the Old Town city walls.

Ahhhh, back at our hotel.

It was a full day with lots of walking and exploring this fairytale-like town. The Estonians have done an outstanding job of preserving/restoring this treasure. Tallinn was not in our original travel plans. However, I'm really glad we made time to check out this gem of a city. The next morning we start our long, 24 hour trek home very early, so it was an early to bed kind of night.