Old Town (Vanalinn)

A look around

What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.

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Where it sits

The circle is Old Town and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.

How far is everything?

From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.

• Estonian food & cosy tavernsright here0 m
• Balti Jaam Market4 min walk363 m
• Telliskivi Creative City6 min walk517 m
• Rotermann Quarter7 min walk611 m
• Seaplane Harbour Museum22 min walk1.8 km
• Kadriorg Palace & Park8 min taxi2.5 km
• KUMU Art Museum9 min taxi2.9 km
• Pirita Beach & seaside18 min taxi6.0 km

On your doorstep

What you’re living next to if you stay here.

• 1.The medieval Old Town — One of the best-preserved medieval old towns in Europe and a total fairy tale — Tallinn's Vanalinn, a car-free maze of cobbled lanes, gabled merchant houses, Gothic spires, hidden courtyards and turreted stone walls, largely unchanged since its Hanseatic heyday. Simply wandering its storybook streets, discovering a medieval church, a cosy cellar tavern or a viewpoint around each corner, is the essential Tallinn experience — pure enchantment, especially early morning or under snow. Give it a whole day of aimless, joyful exploring. Utterly magical and unmissable. The heart of the city.
• 2.Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats) — The beating heart of the old town — Raekoja plats, a beautiful cobbled square ringed by pastel merchant houses and dominated by the striking Gothic Town Hall, the oldest in northern Europe, topped by 'Old Thomas', the city's guardian weathervane. Once a bustling medieval market, it's still the city's gathering place, lined with café terraces in summer and transformed into a magical Christmas market in winter. Soak up the atmosphere over a coffee or mulled wine, and admire the Town Hall; it's the postcard heart of Tallinn. A lovely, central and essential highlight. Charming year-round.
• 3.Toompea Hill & viewpoints — The upper town crowning the old town — Toompea Hill, the ancient seat of power, home to the pink baroque Toompea Castle (now parliament), the spectacular onion-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the medieval Dome Church, and above all the famous viewing platforms (Kohtuotsa and Patkuli) with breathtaking panoramas over the red-tiled roofs, spires and city walls to the sea beyond. Climb the cobbled ramp to the top for the iconic Tallinn view, especially glorious at sunset. A magnificent, essential highlight and the best vista in the city. Simply stunning; go for the views.
• 4.The medieval city walls & towers — Tallinn is ringed by remarkably intact medieval fortifications — nearly two kilometres of stone walls studded with dozens of red-roofed defensive towers, among the best-preserved in Europe. Walk a section of the ramparts (accessible via the Hellemann Tower or the Nunne-Sauna-Kuldjala towers), climb the atmospheric Fat Margaret and Kiek in de Kök tower-museums, and admire the fairy-tale scene of turrets and red roofs, especially from the famous Viru Gate. A wonderful, evocative plunge into the city's medieval past. A must-see; the walls and towers make Tallinn a storybook. Atmospheric and photogenic.