tallinn estonia free walking tour

• Transfer Tours
• Shore Excursions
• Walking Tours
• Vilnius Tours

Tallinn Free Tour

Don't mind a bigger tour group? Free things always attract more crowd but the more the merrier.

Watch the video

About the tour, what's included & not included, happy previous trips, thousands of happy customers, "had the best time and learned a lot about the city".

We went for the free walking tour with Liine, it was brilliant! She made sure we had the best time and learned a lot about the city! Totally recommend it!

"Two Fat English Blokes"

Tour: 10.00 am - noon Tuesday 13.06.17. Exceeded expectations (and I've been on a few). Superb guide: knowledgeable, entertaining and most of all she seemed to enjoy herself as much as we did! A valuable insight to places of interest recommended in my Berlitz guide (plug), She deserves to win the trip to Berlin (send my commission to the usual address). Seriously, DO IT!

"Very humorous, learned many interesting facts"

I really enjoyed free walking tour in Tallinn with Helen, she was very humorous and told us many interesting facts about Tallinn. Beer for Helen!

"Wonderful day, warm with clear blue sky"

What a wonderful day in Tallinn, warm with clear blue sky. We are so lucky to have Heli as our old town walking tour guide making this 2 hour journey an enjoyable and unforgettable one. Thanks to Heli and the tourism bureau. Love you all.

"We joined the free walking tour by Heli"

She was a very enthusiastic and knowledgable guide. She put a lot of humorous elements into the tour :D This tour is highly recommended for all people who would visit Tallinn! We will come back again! Thank you!

"Learned a lot of things we couldn't find in books"

We went on free walking tour with Heli. She was so knowledgeable and humorous. A lot of things that we learned from part of her research and we couldn't find them in books. It was really worth talking this tour. Hats off to Heli. This proved the point when saw the number of visitors who joined the tour yesterday. She deserved at least a fiver from each.

"Learned the Estonian way of greeting close friends "

We did the free tour through Tallinn on a Sunday and Henri was a very good guide, concise, funny and told very interesting stories, knew the answer to all the questions and gave us insights into the town and people -- like the Estonian way of greeting close friends (by looking away and maybe grunting "Tere!"). We had thought it had something to do with us up to that point! And we are from Germany... Glad to have that cleared up. Henri was very open and friendly and I can honestly say the 2 hours went by in a flash. Thanks, Henri!

"Really good tips and recommendations"

We did the free tour with Henri. He was a great guide and he knew how to bring the Estonian history to the point combined with a good sense of humour. He provided us with some really good tips and recommendations where to go to in Tallinn. Good job and we will definitely recommend this tour.

"A great and humorous guide"

Henri was a great and humorous guide! He gave us a rather informative history on Estonia and interesting jokes along the way as well :) Thumbs up!

"Excellent tour, informative clear delivery"

Good job Henri. Excellent tour, informative clear delivery. Not only fluent in English, you comfortably used humour like a native English speaker. Thank you so much for the tour of your city :-)

"Very entertaining and educational"

The tour guided by Henri was excellent! Very entertaining and educational. Henri is very knowledgeable and could answer questions. It was fun and I highly recommend it!

"Heard a lot of interesting facts, histories, jokes"

Today we went on walking tour with Henry. He is AMAZING guide! Today is so cold, but he tell us a lot of interesting facts, histories, jokes an so on. He show us the best places of Tallinn. We like him very much! Thanks a lot!

"Made me appreciate the little things and events that may change the history"

Went on a free tour of Tallinn Old Town with Heli. She is amazing, professional, funny and enthusiast. Had the opportunity to get to know some interesting facts and stories that are not written in official guides. Heli made me appreciate the little things and events that, as she says, may change the history (to quote her 'never mess with the Finns'). I definitely recommend a tour with her.

"A lot of humour in the commentary"

Went on a great tour today with Heli, she was very informative and injected a lot of humour into the commentary. Was very impressed that the tour was free and would highly recommend it as a way of seeing this beautiful city and getting a brief history.

"To be able to joke so easy in a second language is a skill!"

We went on a tour with Heli as our guide. She was very entertaining and spoke amazing English. To be able to joke as easily as she did in a second language is a skill! She was very informative and made history interesting.

"Learned a lot about Tallinn which I would not have discovered on my own"

Thank you Martin for the interesting tour today! I have learned a lot about Tallinn which I would not have discovered on my own. I definitely recommend this tour.

"Heli is full of information and character"

Fabulous tour in Tallinn. Our guide was amazing. Highly recommended tour! Heli is the best guide! She's a star and should be on stage. Full of information and character and made the trip just brilliant! Thank you

"A good way to get to know this pulsating city and a great country"

Mart gave us a highly informative, refreshing and humorously stimulating tour - thank you; a good way to get to know this pulsating city and a great country with (a) wonderful people.

"Had a great tour with Martin"

We had a great tour with Martin. He told us about the city and the history of the country, but also about the culture and ways of leaving of the Estonian.

"Good mixture of history and modern day of Estonia with a healthy dose of Estonian self-deprecating humour"

Great tour with Mart. Loved it. Good mixture of history and modern day of Estonia with a healthy dose of Estonian self-deprecating humour. Recommend to anyone.

"An amazing time discovering the old town"

Had an amazing time yesterday discovering the old town on free walking tour with Liine as a guide. Fun, informative and brilliant in all senses! Appreciated Estonian self-irony and funny jokes :)

"Henri's repartee kept all the participants till the end despite the heavy rain showers"

An excellent tour with Henri. His repartee kept all the participants till the end despite the heavy rain showers. And he coped very well with one awkward questioner. Obviously loves Tallinn & Estonia and has a deep knowledge of its history and legend

"Henri's stories included many details and funny things"

We did a tour today with HENRY and he did a great job showing us around his city. His English was excellent (and his Japanese) and his stories included many details and funny things, so it was a really entertaining time spent with the free tour. Highly recommended!

"Recommend Heli 100%"

Today with Heli, she was fantastic, incredible English and an excellent sense of humour, lots of history. I travel a lot and have been to many tours, she is a crack ! i recommend her 100 %

"Very easy to understand even when standing in the back"

Tried the free walking tour and was lucky enough to get Mart. He did a fantastic job. Great mix of information and humor, excellent English, very easy to understand even when standing in the back, and I'm mostly sure we didn't even lose anybody on the way.

"It was a great opportunity for us to learn the history"

We took a walking tour of Tallinn and it was so amazing. Our guide Helli was very knoweledgeable and had a great sense of humor. It was a great opportunity for us to learn tragic but valuable history of the country and the world history surrounding Estonia. We would definitely recommend the tour for all tourists of Estonia. Thanks Helli!

"Not only informative but also fun"

We took a free walking tour with Mart and it was one of the best tours we'd ever experienced. Not only was it informative but also fun. We came there with no idea of Tallinn's history and came out as pretty knowledgeable. If you want to acquaint yourselves with the city and have some fun in the meantime, that's the best choice for you.

"Henri brought exuberance and fun to the tour"

We had a free Tallinn walking tour with Henri on 7 July. He is a well-informed guide who brought exuberance and fun to the tour. He is a big credit to the tour. Tallinn itself is a beautiful city, and we saw all the key spots and discovered its history too on this highly recommended tour.

"Time passed so quickly listening to all the stories"

We had a free tour with Martin. I have been in many free tours around Europe and this was by the moment, the best... Time passed so quickly listening stories about life in the Soviet era, otto prince tricks, or actual prime minister oddities... Also he speaks very clearly even for those who like me don't speak too much english.

"A great introduction to Estonian history, culture and people"

Did the free walking tour with Mart today. It was fantastic. Really interesting and fun. A great introduction to Estonian history, culture and people. I fully recommend it!

"Will leave you hungry for more Tallinn, guaranteed"

Mart was our young, fun, energetic and witty tour guide of Tallinn. He was not only eloquent and informative, packing in a great deal of interesting historical, social and cultural info on Tallinn and Estonian history and people, but he was also kind in answering many questions and always kept it fresh and humorous. He will leave you hungry for more Tallinn, guaranteed! Thanks again for a great experience and keep up the good work!! ; )

"Henri was fantastic"

Henri was fantastic: friendly, charming, and spoke excellent English. I'd definitely recommend him.

"Recommend it to anybody who has the time to attend it"

This was my first time in Tallinn. I had the opportunity to take part to the Tallinn free tour and I enjoyed it a lot. Although I participated after having visited some of the museums, I had the opportunity to learn more about Tallinn and the history of Estonia during the two-hour tour. I would recommend it to anybody who has the time to attend it. I would like to thank the guide of my tour, Mart, who made the tour absolutely enjoyable!

"Made us forget we were walking around in the pouring rain"

The free walking tour of the Old Town in Tallinn was great! Our guide, Henri, was so interesting and funny that he almost made us forget we were walking around in the pouring rain! Definitely a good way to get learn about the history of the city.

"An amazing tour of Tallinn"

Henri gave us an amazing tour of Tallinn! It was fun and we learnt a lot about the city and the country! Top mark ! Thank you !

"A mixture of history and a lot of jokes about everything"

I took the free old town tour with Henri today. The two hours were amazing, he is a really entertaining guide who knows a lot about the city. The tour was a mixture of history and a lot of jokes about everything. I learned a lot about Tallinn today! Thank you for this Henri!

"Would recommend this tour to everybody"

Mart gave us a great tour and answered many questions.He spoke perfect English .We would recommend this tour to everybody.Estonia should be proud of him. We come back.Thank you.

"Despite the crazy rain, Henri was fantastic"

Took Tallin walking tour with Henri. Despite the crazy rain, Henri was fantastic. Informed and funny. He pays attention to important details, and makes jokes about them.

"We could do nothing but appreciate the tour."

Thanks to Mart we could enjoy the beauty of the old city despite the rain. He was so dynamic, passionate and willing to share the story of Tallinn that we could do nothing but appreciate the tour. Thank you very much to him for this great experience !! PS: very good English !

"What a beautiful city!"

Henri led our tour of old Tallinn today and we absolutely enjoyed our time with him. He is informative, very funny and provided us with many useful insights and tips. What a beautiful city!

"A very interesting and funny tour"

We do our trip through the old town with Henry. It was a very interesting and funny tour. Henry has a good knowledge about the town and knows some funny random facts, so we really enjoy the Tour with him!

"The perfect start for our trip to Tallinn!"

On our first day in Tallinn we decided to explore the city with a free walking tour. Our guide Henri was super nice and funny. His knowledge about the Estonian history and the city itself was remarkable. He answered all our questions and also gave us some local tipps. We really appreciated the tour. It was the perfect start for our trip to Tallinn! :)

"Already recommended this city tour to my friends"

We had a 2h tour of Tallinn on 22nd May with Henri. It was a great experience! Henri told us lots of interesting and funny stories, as well as tips in order to better enjoy the city. I already recommended this city tour to my friends. Good job, Henri!

"Great stories and humor to go with our trip"

Really great tour of Tallinn with Henri. He was very passionate, informative and added great stories and humor to our trip. We followed up on many of his suggestions of what to see on our own and we were very pleased.

"A great free tour of beautiful Tallinn"

We enjoyed a great free tour of beautiful Tallinn on 7th May. There were a lot of people waiting so I was impressed to see 2 guides turn up, we were split into two groups then off we went. Martin, our guide was brilliant. Although still a large group everyone could hear him and his English was excellent. Apart from the history of Estonia and the info about the places seen on the tour, we also learned about the people during the Soviet days and their love of Dallas on tv and the stamp collecting punks. It was all so interesting and the time flew by. Thank you Martin, I thoroughly recommend the tour.

"One of the best walking tours we have ever been to"

This was one of the best walking tours we have ever been to. With Henri introducing Tallinn and Estonian culture, the tour was even more interesting. We like his stories very much:)

"Learned about Tallinn's history in a very funny and instructive way"

I really enjoyed my tour with Martin on March 27th, 2016. We learned about Tallinn's history in a very funny and instructive way. Very witty and polite, Martin was a great guide. Thank you

"Very informative, energetic and humorous"

We did Tallinn Free Tour (March 26, 2016) with Liine and she was amazing: very informative, energetic and with an excellent sense of humor. Sure, guides are supposed to be funny, but Liine exceeds all expectations easily. Strongly recommended.

"Highly recommend the company"

We joined free Tallinn walking tour with Liine on 20 December. It was fantastic!!! Our guide Liine was perfect, very professional, enthusiastic, with deep knowledge and excellent sense of humour! I highly recommend this tourist company and looking forward to next visiting Tallinn! Thank you!

"A fantastic couple of hours"

Helli was brilliant, informative, fun, knowledgable and everything you could want in a guide. Thoroughly recommend - a fantastic couple of hours, and shame on anyone who went on the tour and then sneaked away without giving a donation. Vote for Helli.

"Fast paced, extremely entertaining and very informative two hours"

A huge thank you to Martin for a wonderful tour of the old town on October 28th. A fast paced, extremely entertaining and very informative two hours -- it was a perfect introduction to the city. We look forward to visiting again and taking a longer tour with you.

"Two hours passed like a breeze"

A little bit more than two hours touring with Helli passed like a breeze as it was the best, most enjoyable and educational city tour I have ever done and I have taken lots! The small tip I give was not worth her knowledge, enthusiasm, sense of humor..and she made the Estonia history so simple, easy and fun for me to understand and remember. I m thankful!

"Very entertaining and informative"

Did the free walking tour with Mairi on 10/16 - very entertaining and informative. I loved the time she spent talking about Estonian culture and perspectives. She's a culture theory major at uni and it shows! Recommend.

"Despite the strongly rainy weather, it was wonderful."

I sincerely recommend this tour. We joined the Free Tour on the 7th of September 2015. Our guide, Marii, was wonderful. Despite the strongly rainy weather, she kept a great attitude and made an almost 2 hours long tour showing us Tallinn. Thank you Marii and Tallinn Traveller Tours!

"Mart was one of the best guide we ever had in our life"

During our visit this august, we did the free 2h walking tour of Tallinn with Mart. What a great 2 hours that was ! Mart was one of the best guide we ever had in our life. He was interesting, has a lot of knowledge of the city, it's history, it's people. He had a lot of amusing anecdotes, he could answer most of our question. He even told us about the Estonians, how they were, what were their values, etc. I HIGHLY recommend this tour.

"A very interesting and fun visit"

Mart gave us a very interesting and fun visit to Tallinn on 15 August. Thank you!

"Interesting tour, nice and smart guide, very friendly, with excellent English"

I took part to 2 guided tours, and both were great experiences! Including the free tour through Tallinn lead by Mart: interesting tour, nice and smart guide, very friendly, with excellent English.

"Fantastic"

The walking tour was interesting, but Ann, our guide, made it fantastic.

"Extremely interesting and fun"

My wife and I have just participated in a tour lead by Mart. The tour was extremely interesting and fun. Mart manages to include fun anecdotes about Tallinn keeping his audience interested. Thanks!

"Enjoyed the tour very much"

We took part in a free walking tour with Mart and it was very interesting. He told us info about the history of Estonia, the most relevant deeds and some funny stories. The tour was pleasant and we enjoyed it very much. Tallinn is really lovely and worth to visit. Thanks

"Mart's stories made it very relatable"

We participated on the two-hour free walking tour in Tallinn led by Mart. His presentation of the city was fun, educational, not boring at all and his stories made it very relatable. I especially liked that he not only introduced the city but also talked about the people of Tallinn and Estonia. No questions were left unanswered and in general he had a huge impact on our impression of the city.

"An excellent mix of history, culture and information"

My husband and I joined the free Tallinn walking tour with Mart on Thursday 6 August. We have done a number of these tours around Europe and most recently Riga and Vilnius as part of our trip to the Baltic countries. We found the tour to be an excellent mix of history, culture and information on Estonian society. Mart was absolutely excellent as a guide, informative, charming and was a great representative for his country. The tour was one of the highlights of our Baltic trip and added immensely to our enjoyment of Tallinn. We would recommend Mart, Tallinn and Estonia to all our friends.

"An excellent tour despite of the heat"

Mart gave us an excellent tour despite of the heat (26°). His anecdotes and information were both entertaining and educational alike. It was a big group he led, yet it was personal as he revealed his opinion on historical and current affairs. His loud voice was easy to be understood and the two-hour tour never had a boring moment. Thank you, Mart!

"Think I've learned more from Mart than from reading books"

Saturday, the first of August I went on the free walking tour at lunch time with Mart Veliste. This young student thought us a lot of the country's history but did this in a very pleasant and relaxed way. On all the questions we've asked he could answer and the tour foreseen for two hours went well above this timetable. Mart was eager to give us a good impression of his country and his citizens and I'm certain that I've learned much more from him than from reading books. He advised me to visit the Estonian historic museum and the Kumu as well as the Nevski cathedral. All these were a real success! I can't thank him enough for all the joy he brought in the group and I wish him a successful future!

"The best free walking tour I've done"

I've done "free walking tours" in around a dozen or so Eastern European cities, and, by far, the one I did today in Tallinn was the best one I've seen. The guide, who said this was actually his first summer free tour, was engaging, humorous, well-informed, and gave a balanced view of complex topics for a very diverse group of participants. Well done!

"A really great first morning in Tallinn"

I went on the free tour of the Tallinn Old Town with Heli today and it was excellent, really I would have expected to pay a lot of money for a tour guide who had such good knowledge. She presented very well even with a fairly large group from lots of different countries, she was very entertaining and interesting. Thanks so much, it was a really great first morning in Tallinn.

"A very positive impression of a pretty city"

Tried the Tallinn Free Tour back in mid-May. Blessed with good weather but even more importantly blessed by having Heli as the guide to take around. Learnt interesting history and culture of Estonia, and the places/restaurants she recommended were indeed excellent. She was probably the best tour guide I've had in my travels - enthusiastic, pretty, knowledgeable and great sense of humour (deserves the beer). The tour contributed to a very positive impression of this pretty city. Thank you Heli and keep it up!

"Highly recommend this walking tour"

2 hours was a great amount of time to get a good snapshot of the old town. Our guide Mairy was brilliant- energetic and kept the information concise but interesting!

"I was more than happy to tip"

We did the tour yesterday Feb 19 with the fantastic Liine. I would highly recommend going on it. In 2 hours we did a thorough circuit through old town & got an entertaining insight into the history of Estonia & Tallin as well is its key monuments & buildings.

"Trip was well worth the snow"

I did the walking tour with Liine in early February, it was snowing and cold but her stories were interesting and were well worth it! Actually the snow made it kind of beautiful... The guides on free tours are always more fun and making a greater effort so in the end you tip them happily, even more than you'd pay for a normal tour. Thanks Liine!

"Looking forward to going back"

Amazing! Liine was a great guide with wonderful english skills. It was very exciting to hear her talking about Tallinn history and city stories. I really enjoyed the tour that actually didn't feel like a tour but more a relaxing and engaging discover of the city. I look forward to going back to Tallinn and discover more about the city's corners, legends, culture,... wow! Thank you Liine.

"Very informative and much fun!"

Did the Tallin tour with Liine, was very informative and much fun! Thank you, Liine!! Also was impressed how multi national was my group, all the way from south america to Hong Kong! Cool Best of luck, guys, with your tours!

"Great weather and great guide"

Thanks to the great weather and our funny, energetic guide Heli I had a great time. We saw the best parts of the old town, got to know some very interesting stories and got tips for other things to see and do. I can only recommend this tour!

"The tour was a real pleasure!"

Totally loved Tallinn free walking tour with Aurelia. It was not my first time in Tallinn, but definitely the most informative. Not only she gave us the history of Tallinn from the middle ages up to XXth century, she also included controversial topics of today, as well as the general opinion and ideas of the locals and interesting information about Estonia in the Soviet era (the common, everyday things the things you cannot find in books, totally loved it!). I would recommend everyone to go to this tour and hope to get Aurelia as a guide as she is very warm and cheerful person - the tour was a real pleasure!

"Engaged through rain and sunshine"

Liine gave us a great tour of Tallinn, fantastic sense of humor, handled a large group extremely well and kept us engaged through rain and sunshine!!

"The best free tour which I have ever had"

I highly recommend to come on this tour. Our guide was Mairi. She was really wonderful! She was very positive, energetic, knowledgeable and with great sence of humour.her excursion is very informative, with her you will know a lot of inreresting facts about Estonia and Tallinn. Thanks a lot, Mairi!

We just had a great tour with Mart and learned not just about Tallinn but about all Estonian history. He was well informed and spoke an excellent english. Thank you.

"Excellent tour"

We joined the free walking tour. Excellent guide Mart (August 14, 2014)! Highly knowledgeable (considering his young age), excellent English, great communitation skills, very good at dealing with a large group of people, amusing. Well done! Wishing you, Mart, all the best! The only criticism would be putting all the blame on the Soviets during WWII. Didn't Germans cause any destruction then; just occupied Estonia without any fights?

I took this tour, and it really really made my day. Seriously, thank you Heli, it was awesome!

"Would love to do it again. "

We altogether three people took the free walking tour in July 2013. We really enjoyed it as Celia, our guide, answered all our questions and has her own enthusiastic way of getting knowledge across so that you can't stop listening. Overall this tour is an amazing offer which we would recommend and would love to take part in again.

"Recommended to everyone visiting Tallinn"

I took Tallin free tour. The tour was awesome as well as the guide Heli;) i would highly recommend this tour to everyone visiting Tallin. It is fun and you learn a lot about the city and citizens)))

"Amazing experience!"

We as a group of 15 roughly people took the free walking tour. We had a lot of fun and I still remember a lot of the interesting stories about Tallinn. Thank you Heli for this amazing experience!

"Perfect balance between info and humor"

Free Tallinn Walking Tour - With 20+ walking tours behind me, Anne has to be one of the best guides I have seen in a long time... She has the perfect balance between info and humor. You cannot go wrong her being your guide in this beautiful city so SIGN UP NOW before someone else books her for a tour.

"Like unusual discoveries? Book a tour with Traveller Tours!"

The 15th of may, in Tallinn, we had a chance to meet a very efficient travel agency, " Tallinn Traveller tours " as we thought of having a tour through the outstanding Lahemaa National Park. Quite by chance, we got a guide for both of us, Mart, whose proficiency and kindness deserve to be highly praised. Thanks to him, we could stroll through the park for not least than ten hours ( ! ) for a rather fair price, so that we could see prominent aeras and discover some scarcely visited spots. We did enjoy this trip and we warmly recommand this excellent agency to those who are keen on unusual discoveries. Pierre et Catherine de Paris

Awesome walking tour very fun and informative!;)

"I had a great time"

Had a great time on the free city walking tour. It took about an hour, My guide was Anne and she was a good guide to listen to. We were taken around some of the famous sites around the old town. We met at the tourist information centre very close to the old town square. Anne was both very informative and charismatic.

Here is a link to a review from one of the leading newspapers in Norway: http://www.dagbladet.no/2013/01/08/tema/reise/tallinn/storbyferie/ferie/25089042/ There is also a video from some of the Free walking tour The text is written in Norwegian but Google translate did a quite good translation to English.

Heli was very enthusiastic and helpfull. Thanks Heli for wonderfull tour. May god bless you and wish you have a wonderfull life. Thanks for your help :).

I want to thank out tour leader Heli for a both informative and fun tour of Tallinn. It was great despite the awful weather.

Had an amazing walking tour with Heli today, very informative and enjoyable, had a great sense of humour which made the tour all round fun. Cheers :)

Great tour. Our guide Helle was hilarious, entertaining and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend.

"Excellent!"

The Old town walking tour was excellent; the tour guide Heli, was funny, articulate, informative, memorable. We learned a lot about the history and the present state of Tallinn, and Estonia! highly recommended - the best way to enjoy the old town of Tallin, July 9th 2012

Extremely good tour around Tallinn's old town. Brilliant ''performance" of sarcastic but, in fact, completely friendly Heli (14.02)! I would love to participate again :)

Had a great time with Ann on the Walking Tour and with Anne on the Bike Tour. Well done and thank you all for making my stay in Tallinn so good!

"Fun even in rain"

Thank you Ann - your talk + walk was great fun even in the rain!

"Highly recommended."

I've done a lot of walking tours, and this was one of the best ever! The guide was knowledgeable, lively, and funny.

"Recommended in a heartbeat"

We had a great time on the walking tour, the young lady who ran the tour had a lot of great information and made the tour lots of fun, I would recommend this in a heartbeat :)

"Thanks for a great tour!"

It was a very refreshing and fast paced walking tour. We had a great number of people in our tour which made it a bit harder to hear everything, but it worked. Our tour guide was very informative in her description of the buildings and sites we were able to see. Her personal opinions reflected the "true history" of Tallinn! The tour started on time and ended on time which made the rest of our plans go smoothly.

Heli was great!

"Get the real story instead of tourist stuff"

We enjoyed the free tour, our guide didn´t save his own opinions, which was good to notice - you feel you get the real story instead of the tourist-stuff, an absolute must if you visit Tallinn!

Heli did an amazing job yesterday. I never thought a tour could be so interesting. Thanks very much. One of the highlights of my vacation for sure :)

"Best city tour ever"

Best city tour ever, anywhere on the world! 2 hours over lunch time in the heat and not 1 second bored! thanks a lot for the many ghost stories!

One of the best city tours I have ever taken and I have visited more than 40 countries.

The old town tour is the best I have done since traveling through Europe for three months.

Meeting Point

Tours depart from Tallinn Tourist Info Center (Niguliste street 2) on the corner of Harju and Niguliste street.

Q&A about this tour

Didn't find an answer ask our customer service wizard now, you may also like, tallinn old town walking tour with a local guide.

Hear the colorful tales of Tallinn and its history without getting dizzy with the dates and figures.

Tallinn Ghost & Legends Tour

A walk through the haunted Old Town with spooky ghost stories, legends and old myths.

Tallinn Food Tour through Kalamaja: 5 Venues

Discover the Estonian food and history of Kalamaja, the bohemian district in Tallinn.

Tallinn Pubcrawl

Come enjoy Tallinn nightlife the Estonian way with a local dragging you around the best joints.

Partners login

Tallinn Free Tour

Tallinn Free Tour is the most popular tour in Tallinn (over 20 000 people toured in 2018) and the best introduction to Tallinn and Estonians. Join our energetic local guides for a truly entertaining tour where history meets urban legends and funny stories.

During the 2-hour walking tour, we’ll cover the most important sights of the Old Town, tell you about the history of Estonia and the people who live here. We’ll take you from beautiful churches, pass historic buildings, to beautiful viewing platforms, and important monuments. By the end of the tour you’ll know a little bit more about Estonians and hopefully, also understand our dry sense of humour.

This tour is for free! If you love the tour then leave a donation at the end. We only survive on your support.

P.S. This tour has restricted access for wheelchairs.

P.S. For groups bigger than 8 people please book in advance [email protected]!

TripAdvisor® Traveler Reviews

based on 1366 reviews

Great way to travel from Tallinn 🇪🇪 to Riga 🇱🇻 🚌

I booked this one way tour as an alternative to a regular bus transfer and was very pleased with my decision.I was travelling alone and there were 3 other travellers taking the mini bus. Our first... Read more comments

Vacation highlight

Did a one way sight seeing transfer from Riga to Vilnius and it was one of the highlights of my 2 week Baltic trip. My guide, Michael, was amazing. He was very knowledgeable about our stops and his... Read more comments

Fantastic tour!

This is a great way to go from one city to another and see some beautiful and interesting sights and learn more about Estonia and Latvia. Sten was very knowledgeable and passionate about his country!

Best things to do and see in Tallinn

Europe can boast of having some of the most beautiful, best preserved and most historic tourist destinations in the world. An example of this is the capital of Estonia, Tallinn . Recognized as a World Heritage Site in 1997, this beautiful town on the shores of the Baltic Sea is a clear example of the medieval European city, with an impressive and truly impressive historical center that has reached our days in excellent conservation conditions. Known as the pretty girl of the Baltic, this villa of great strategic value formerly known as "Kaluria" oozes history in each of its corners. Place of passage of several towns and cultures, they helped to forge the character of this city that today is considered one of the favorite tourist destinations in Europe. A perfect stop for lovers of the best cuisine in the area, such as "sauerkraut" sausages, "sült" or pork hands, or the local blood sausage known as "verivorst". A destination where culture, tradition and history combine to offer one of the most attractive visits in northern Europe. The Estonian capital has a huge cultural offer that can overwhelm the tourist, so it is advisable to sign up for the free walking tour in Tallinn to make the most of your stay in the city. It is advisable to see the Town Hall Square, located in the center of the medieval city, with a great atmosphere and starting point for many tours; Other must-see stops are the Bastion tunnels, as well as the “Kiek in de Kök” museum or the impressive Walls that surround the city. Visiting the city and its extension, implies approaching points such as the impressive Patkuli Viewpoint or Toompea Hill , other essential stops on any professional tour of the capital. The Viru gate, Kadriorg Park and the Palace are other clear examples of the complete tourist offer of this place, which takes several days to be able to enjoy and see it in its entirety. We must not forget other important places in the area of ​​the lower city where we can visit some of its most important churches such as San Olaf, the Holy Spirit or San Nicolás, as well as the enigmatic House of the Blackheads and its beautiful entrance door On the outskirts, the Kumu Museum , the House of Peter the Great , or the Convent of Pirita , are other points of great tourist interest. Travelers who want to know the small European town, have on the free tour Tallinn , the best alternative to make the most of their stay.

Free walking tour near Tallinn

Others cities to visit after tallinn, where are you traveling to.

• Work With Us

Must-Do in Estonia: Free Walking Tour of Tallinn with Tales of Reval

Plus, other budget tips for visiting estonia’s capital..

Last updated Jul 25, 2023

Have you ever traveled to a new city and had absolutely no idea about its history? Well, that is us much more often than we should probably admit. However, during our travels, we have found that many cities offer free historical guided walking tours – which is usually a fun and budget-friendly activity (even if you paid attention during history class).

Luckily, this was the case during our recent trip to the Estonian capital of Tallinn. And the costumed, theatrical free walking tour of Tallinn put on by Tales of Reval was an especially enjoyable way to learn about this medieval city.

While looking for things to do during our five-day stay in Tallinn, we came across Tales of Reval and couldn’t pass it up. This company offers free 90-minute walking tours of Tallinn daily. The tours start at the Visitor Information Center in Old Town Tallinn each day at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (with more times added in summer).

These free tours by a costumed actor, take you on a 1.2-km journey along Tallinn’s cobblestone streets and explain some of the interesting history of the city. The walk is relatively flat and there are only a few stairs involved, so it is something almost everyone can do.

Table of Contents

What We Learned on the Free Walking Tour of Tallinn

Since we really had done limited research before our trip to Tallinn – other than to see how stunning it was, we had a lot to learn!

Quick Intro to the Founding of Tallinn

Estonia and neighboring Latvia were the last countries in Europe to convert to Christianity after the Pope put out a call to bring the religion to this area. Tallinn, originally named Reval, was settled by the Danish (800 years ago as of 2019) who sailed to the Baltics in reply to the Pope’s request .

A few years later, German merchants arrived and offered to contribute to settling another area of what is now Tallinn, since the Danes had taken residence on the more ideal hill-top. The German merchants are to thank for the creation of the vast majority of the city – including the iconic walls and multiple churches.

As mentioned, Tallinn wasn’t the city’s original name, but instead Reval – hence the name of the tour company. This name comes from the story of King Valdemar II (of the Danish nobility) hunting in the nearby forest where he came across a beautiful deer. As he hunted the creature, it ended up jumping off of a high cliff and falling to its death in order to avoid being shot by the King’s arrow .

Being very impressed by the defiance of the deer, the king decided to name the city based on its actions. Reval is derived from ‘reh-fall’, which translates to ‘fall of a deer’ . Reval was the official name until 1918, when the town was renamed Tallinn after gaining independence.

Beer History in Reval

One of the things I found most interesting during the tour was how they came about drinking beer in the city . Due to not being able to preserve water the way we can nowadays, most cities relied on wells to provide water to the city.

However, when a well was dug in the city, the water was not good. Upon asking the local monks how to resolve the issue, thinking an evil spirit was living inside the well. The monks’ solution was animal sacrifices, which generally led to cats being thrown into the well . As you would imagine, the sacrifices did not purify the water, and instead just made things worse.

So, they asked another group of monks how to preserve the water, and they suggested brewing beer with it. Beer was also served in the local churches during Communion, since grapes for wine do not grow in this region . The beer was drawing all sorts of non-Christians into the churches which was always the goal.

However, as the Pope got word of the beer, he banned it from being served in the churches. This led to a batch of the finest beer being brewed and placed in their finest keg and sent off to the Pope for him to try . The plan was that the Pope would like the beer so much he would understand and approve of it being served.

The exact opposite ended up happening. The Pope despised the drink as it had gone bad during transit to him. He actually disliked it so much, that he approved it to be served to the people, because he decided their suffering from drinking it would bring them closer to God .

More Recent History of Tallinn

Tallinn is considered the best-preserved medieval city in Northern Europe , and just walking down the original cobblestone streets you can see why. There’s beautiful architecture, medieval churches, merchant houses, and guild halls all dating back to the Middle Ages. (And, of course, some great modern-day markets as well!)

During WWII, the city only lost about 10% of it’s original structure, meaning that 90% of the city was spared during the war – an uncommon occurrence in Europe. For this reason, in 1997, the old town of Tallinn was dedicated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . (Compare this with Germany’s famous medieval city of Rothenburg , which had to almost entirely be rebuilt).

Another unique fact about Tallinn is that World Cleanup Day was actually started in Tallinn in 2008 , and was originally called “Let’s do it 2008.” What Estonia was doing to clean-up their land led to the creation of the international organization “ Let’s Do It! World ” in 2012.

This then spurred the idea of World Cleanup Day, with the inaugural event being held in 2018 . The U.S. also joined in on “Let’s Do It! World” and held their first National Cleanup Day. As you walk around Tallinn, you will see that its residents still take responsibility for the cleanliness of their gorgeous city.

However, this was just a taste of the things we learned during our tour. For example, Tallinn is also known for creating the first decorated and lighted Christmas tree! But, you’ll have to take the tour to hear the whole story.

Nothing beats being in a city and learning the local history from someone who knows it best . Not to mention the wonderful acting out of these tales by a costumed performer and the $0 fee – although tips are accepted and well deserved! Our tour actually ended up being about 115 minutes because a few guests were lagging behind and he didn’t want them to miss out. Very kind!

Overall Review of Tales of Reval Walking Tour of Tallinn

This free 90-minute walking tour of Tallinn was not only informative, it was also extremely interactive. While we have been on many city tours where the guide is wearing a ball cap, backpack, and has trainers on, that was not the case with our Tales of Reval guide. Sebastian (as his merchant character was called) was actually dressed the part. He played his role very well and made sure that his audience was engaged and having a good time.

During many of his stories, he would pull in someone from the group to help him visually tell the story, which of course meant very awkward situations of random people acting out parts of the stories . This would be from digging the well, to hunting the deer, being a merchant, to just being a performer that ends up falling to her death.

Of course, you could opt to not play a part, but most everyone in our group was a good sport about it. Sebastian just had a great way of making sure everyone was involved, which really separates this free city walking tour from any other we have been on and helps us remember the stories so much better.

Other Budget Tips for Staying in Tallinn

• Food was much more expensive than we anticipated . Luckily for us, we had already booked a room that did include a kitchen, which meant we were able to save quite a bit by cooking and eating at home for most meals.
• However, if you are looking for inexpensive meal options , this blog post has some gems. We tried Kaja Pizza Köök and III Draakon, with rave reviews for both!

• Staying at Romeo Family Uus Apartments in Old Town during our entire five-day stay really worked out well for more reasons than just the kitchen. This was a perfect location, as it was central to everything, and even close enough to the ferry terminal for our day trip over to Helsinki. We ended up paying $40/night, through Booking , which was a great value. Plus, we were staying above the Gelato Ladies shop!
• Just walking around the city, taking in the overlooks (don’t miss Patkuli viewing platform), going to the unique Balti Jaama Market, and exploring the churches is a wonderful way to spend a trip – and will save you a ton of money. The tourism website has some fantastic recommendations.

• While there are plenty of taxis and buses in Tallinn, we opted to use UBER during our trip. We arrived at the bus station from Riga, and our UBER cost about $7 to get to the hotel. Our trip from Old Town to the airport to catch our flight to Copenhagen was only about $8.
• While this isn’t a cheap option, taking a day to head over to Helsinki is a much more budget-friendly way to see the city than staying overnight in this notoriously expensive country. There are numerous ferry options to get over to Helsinki from Tallinn, but we took our trip with Tallink , as they had the best prices and the most time options available.

Overall, we loved Tallinn – especially in the less-busy autumn season – and would definitely return to this gorgeous area of the world.

Have you ever done a city walking tour when arriving to a new city? What is the best free city walking tour you have ever been on?

About the Author: Buddy Baum

Buddy Baum is the travel navigator, photography genius, technological wizard, and co-writer on TrailingAway.com. After five years of full-time travel with his wife Brooke (mainly through international house sitting), he is excited to start their new chapter in their home base of Oahu, Hawaii.

You may also like

Amazing Full-Day Grizzly Bear Viewing Tour from Vancouver Island

Why Tofino in Fall is the Ideal Cozy Canadian Vacation & How to Get There!

Ucluelet Wild Pacific Trail: Best Vancouver Island Hike

Companies we recommend, submit a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign me up for updates from Trailing Away!

What a fun read this was! Thanks for taking us along, and showing us a city I probably never would have put on the list. Can’t to visit now!

Thanks Kelley! Glad you enjoyed it, and you and Rob should totally go visit. We won’t mind if you bring us along 🙂

Brooke’s Books

Become a House Sitter

Tallinn Free Tour

• See all photos

Similar Experiences

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Tallinn Free Tour - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Free Walking Tour Tallinn

See the best Free Tours of Tallinn offered by local tour guides

Highlights of your trip!

Best free tours in tallinn, highlights of a free tour in tallinn, things to do in tallinn, free tours in your language.

Free Walking Tour › Tallinn

Free Tours in More Cities

Tour Calendar

Free tours tallinn.

Free Tour - What Does it Mean?

Free walking tour in Tallinn: A guide for first time visitors to Tallinn Estonia

When you make purchases through links on this website we may earn a commission. Read more .

• Why visit Tallinn Estonia?

Estonia  has been on my list of places to visits since 2000.  Given how much time I’ve spent in Europe since then, I’m not quite sure why it’s taken me so long.  Perhaps though, it’s been a good thing, as Tallinn has grown up, out of its Soviet past.  It’s now dressed and ready for visitors, with a new moniker as one of the most exciting and beautiful countries in the world to visit.  Put it on your list!

It’s funny what sticks in your mind.  In 2000, I was working for Australia Post when a woman from Estonia Post visited us on a business trip.  As a business development manager at the time, I was charged with trying to bring new businesses on board for our bill payment service.  A process where people could pay their bills over the phone or online.

In 1998, this was relatively new in Australia.  It only took a few minutes of her talking to us for me to realise what a world-leader Estonia was in terms of technology.  In 1998, they were selecting carparks and paying for them with their mobile phones.  All bills had been paid online for many years.  By 2003, Estonians would be integral in the development of Skype and later Kazaa, a peer-sharing music network.

Tallinn is a world leader in technology

Tallinn still has some challenges, tallinn – a perfect place to visit, tallinn – one-day and two-day itinerary, free walking tour in tallinn, the town wall, fat margaret and the great coastal gate, kgb prison cells, great guild hall, town square, harju street, freedom square, toompea hill, piiskopi – bishop’s garden, look out for the hidden courtyards, rotermann quarter, kadriorg district, telliskivi creative city, balti jaama market, day trips from tallinn, tips for making the most of a visit to tallinn, where is tallinn, by bus and train, where to stay in tallinn.

In striking contrast to the former life they had lived under Communist rule, where strict rules stymied independent thought and creativity was non-existent, the new government was seriously progressive.  Instead of conforming to new rules or processes, the very young government with an average age of under 40, went straight to the leading edge.  It developed state-of-the-art digital phone technology which performed at such a level that telecommunications companies all over the world routed their own service through Estonia.

In the early 2000s, I bought a travel sim in Australia for use overseas.  It had an Estonian phone number, not an Australian one, as all calls were routed through Estonia.  Hi-speed internet access came shortly after.  Today, free wifi is available all over Estonia, even in some of the more remote parts.  It’s not hard to imagine after the government rules internet access “a human right”.

There is no doubt, that Estonia is an e-society, a leader in the digital world.  Estonians are e-people, with e-ID cards and online tax declarations are completed in a matter of minutes.  They vote online, with Estonia being the first country to have an online voting system that was legally binding.

Our Uber driver, en route to the airport, told us ” we have very clever people in Estonia and clever people come to Estonia to stay because we make it easy for them”.  He’s right, with the government also breaking down the barriers for start-ups and fostering entrepreneurial spirit and enterprises.  Is it any wonder this is such a forward moving country.

It’s not all a bed of roses, however.  After a long history of German and Soviet occupation, independence was only achieved in Estonia in 1991.  Challenges abound.  Estonia has struggled with unemployment.   There are cultural sensitivities between ethnic Estonians and Russian-Estonians, much of it caused by recent modern history throughout the occupation.  Whilst digital infrastructure is at the forefront of government strategy and spending, the opposite can be said about much of the physical infrastructure.  Roads are ok but don’t really connect where you think they should.

Tallinn is a great place to visit for a few days.  If you only have one day to visit, you’ll still be able to see a lot, but having two solid days would be perfect.  We spent two and a half days in Tallinn itself which was perfect.  The remainder of our week was spent elsewhere in Estonia.

Whether you are looking for things to do in Tallinn in one day or two days, this guide will have you covered.  Many cruise ships come into port in Estonia, but those stopping by normally have a brief stay of a few hours.

This free walking tour guide will allow you to pick the best things to do for your short-stay in Tallinn.

Tallinn Old Town

Ancient cobblestoned roads and laneways, meandering throughout one of the most preserved medieval cities in Europe is just the beginning.  An (almost) intact wall of defence protected this city from as far back as the 13th century.  It’s almost incredible to think that it survived two world wars and a variety of other conflicts, without being destroyed.  There are areas within the walls that suffered this fate during World War Two, so it’s not like it was out of the question.  Thankfully, it is now UNESCO protected.

There are churches and a Gothic medieval town square, not dissimilar to those we saw in Belgium.  Ornate street lamps and buildings exposing layer upon layer of different building materials,  hark back to yesteryear and remind us of the stories that this city keeps.  The Old Town is compact, a mixture of the lower and upper towns, two areas where life played out very differently for those that lived here.  A gate separated the two, with the rulers and nobility living on the upper section, a hill called Toompea, and the working class at the bottom.  Outside the walls, parkland provides a welcome patch of green space before the Old Town of Tallinn is merged with the more modern version.

Here’s our pick of the best things to do in Tallinn Old Town.  Put your comfortable shoes on conduct your own free walking tour of Tallinn.  It’s the best way and allows you to stop and take a peek into all the nooks, crannies and secret laneways you’ll uncover along the way.

Nearly two kilometres in length, the wall is dotted with 20 huge towers as well.  Originally there were about double that amount, so it would have looked even more impressive.  At Helleman Tower, there is a portion of the wall that can be walked across to Munkadetagune Tower, providing a reasonable view over the rooftops of the old city.

At the northern end of the cobbled Pikk Street, the Great Coastal Gate containing the Estonian coat of arms represented the main entry into the town.  Pikk Street was the main street for merchants, coming from the nearby port.  Here they set up trading houses from where they would buy and sell their goods.

 The Great Coastal Gate is one of only two remaining city gates, built around the perimeter as a line of defence.   Adjacent to the gate is Fat Margaret.  With a  25 metre diameter, 20 metres high, and impenetrable five metre thick walls, the name is rather unfortunate but fitting at the same time.  Used as a cannon tower, it was built centuries after the gate was built.

Nowadays, Fat Margaret is used as a museum, although it is currently closed for renovation.  It’s a great place to start your exploration of the Old Town, winding your way up one of the major streets inside the walls.

Walking inside the gate feels like you’ve stepped into a book of fairytales.  Just inside on the right, you’ll find the Three Sisters, a 15th-century house, warehouse and office for wealthy merchants. The soft pastel coloured buildings with their triangular, gabled roofs line the streets.  Look up and you will also see the signs of this once thriving merchant street.

Under the gable roof, there remains evidence of the cranes that were once positioned here to allow for goods to be lifted up from street level.   Our feet, in our flat shoes, walk quietly over the cobbles.  The streets are quiet in the early hours and it’s just us around.  Then the silence is broken with the sound of car tyres rolling over the stones, most of which look very old.  The sound reminds me of being on the Champs-Elysées, where cars in their droves speed over the same kind of cobble.  It’s a weird association, but one my mind makes instantly.

The tallest building in Tallinn, St Olaf’s Church was also once the tallest in all of Scandinavia. Inside, it’s a very plain church, with plain white walls and high arched ceilings.  You can climb the tower of 234 steps for a small fee.

As you arrive at the corner of Pikk and Pagari Street, there is a stark change to the buildings that are immediately obvious.  Glance down at street level and you will see that all the windows have been blocked up.  All around, similar apertures have decorative gates, windows and various other door coverings.  Once a humble residential building, then the central command of the Estonian War Ministry, it later became the scene of untold horror during World War Two

From 1941 and continuing well after the end of the war, until 1950, the Estonia Soviet Socialist Republic used this building as prison cells to torture people that they believed were enemies.  Whilst many of those captured were ethnic Estonian nationals, with a focus on politicians, intellectuals and bureaucrats, it didn’t take much to upset the ESSR.

….”not much was needed in order to become an enemy of the state – simply a wrong word or an awkward glance could warrant being sent to prison or shot by these organisations….” – KGB Prison Cell exhibition

It doesn’t take long when you put your head inside one of the thick-walled cells, with blocked up windows and wire gates to imagine that there would have been some heavy punishment meted out.  Along with concrete walls half a metre thick there was no way anyone passing by would have heard a sound.  There would have been no way to know what atrocities were being carried out just metres below the surface.  Many of the prisoners were either killed following their interrogation or sent to labour camps in the heart of Siberia.

Whilst the entrance price is rather steep, it’s a sobering and interesting recount of the history of these cells, with video and other imagery assisting with understanding. It’s yet another example of atrocious historical war crimes, and it gives context to the political and cultural situation that exists in Estonia today.

An art exhibition by Estonian Joann Saarnitt vividly tells the story of his experience during the war years.  Seconded to the Red Army during the occupation, he saw so much.  He escaped, joined the Germany army, then was later re-captured by the Soviets before finally fleeing once more, permanently this time.  His artwork is a direct reflection of the things he saw over this period.

All along Pikk Street are reminders of their merchant past with guild halls of varying kinds built to cater to the various associations that were created.  Up until the 19th century, German merchants were a strong force in Estonia.  The wealthy merchants were members of the Great Guild, whilst those deemed less important (usually because they weren’t wealthy enough or were unmarried) were members of the Black Heads Society.  Both had their own specific building in which to gather.  The Great Guild Hall is in a small square near the Holy Spirit Church, which has a clock dating back to 1633.

Tallinn doesn’t have one unique type of architecture but is rather a blend of different styles influences.  Hardly surprising given its history.  Apart from 20 years during the 20th century, Estonia was ruled by someone else until it achieved its independence in 1991.  There are a few beautiful examples of the art nouveau style that pop up along Pikk Street as well.

The Town Square is pretty but not as engaging as I thought it would be.   Granted, there were fewer people here than would be in summer but we weren’t in the middle of winter either and there just didn’t seem to be a great vibe here.

The town hall dating back to the 15th century is the most significant building on the square that was once the central market area for the lower town.

Harju Street, so named because it was once the main road leading to the city of Harjumaa, dates back to early medieval times.  Over the years it has been called the Blacksmith St, Jugmakers St and Tinners St, all referencing the types of tradespeople that worked here.  Nowadays. it’s considered part of central Tallinn and has many modern businesses here.  Much of it has been rebuilt, however, after being demolished by bombs during World War Two.

Note the damage in the image below.  In the rear of the photo, you can see several original buildings.

St Nicholas’ Church, also destroyed, was rebuilt in the 1980s and now sits impressively on the hill overlooking an area that has been left as green space.

A little further down, at the end of Harju Street is Freedom Square.  Other than the huge glass cross of the War of Independence and a viewing area where you can see the Harju Gates that once protected the town on this end, it’s largely a pedestrian area and place for events.  We were unable to see the War of Independence memorial when we visited as it was fully covered and undergoing maintenance.

From Freedom Square, we began our walk up to Toompea Hill.  To the right of the War of Independence, walk along Komandandi tee and turn right at Toompea.  Alternatively, there are steps that come off Komandandi tee that will take you through the Danish King’s Garden.  Positioned near one of the high walls is the Kiek in de Kök tower, providing visibility for the military personnel who worked here.

Toompea Hill overlooks the Old Town and is a must-visit area in Tallinn for many reasons.  As the home to many embassies and government buildings, it makes for an interesting stroll.  Toompea Castle which sits proudly on the hill is the home to the Estonian Parliament.

There’s also the striking, not to be missed, Russian Orthodox cathedral.  The onion-domed St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built on Toompea Hill in 1900 as a defiant strategic move to note who ruled the country, during a period of rising Estonian nationalism.  It faces the country’s parliament directly across from it.

In contrast to the Russian architecture, the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin (also known as the Dome Church)  is typically Gothic.  Whilst not an incredibly spectacular view from outside, inside it showcases the opulence of the German nobility who frequented the church.  The walls are covered with coats of arms.  Climb the tower for a good view too.

We loved just walking around up here in one of the oldest parts of Tallinn.  Laneways that wove across and around the hill, exposing hidden courtyards and wonderful doors too.

For one of the best views in Tallinn, make sure you find the Bishop’s Garden, once the gardens of the nearby Dome Church.  From up here, it’s fantastic to see so many of the city’s towers.

Because you can never have too many views, don’t miss Patkuli, another viewing area a little lower down the hill and with views towards the port.

Head back down the hill along Pikk Jalg, also known as the “Long Walk”.  It’s such a beautiful way to walk back down the hill, with the street lined on both sides with high stone walls.  Always in sight is the red roof of the Long Walk gate.  Behind it is the striking tower of St Olaf’s Church.

The Short Leg Gate was the shortcut between the lower and upper town.  This gate was considered to belong to the lower town and controlled the movement of people through it.  The area around the gate was fortified, allowing the lower town to remain protected from those who invaded the upper town.  This location is still used as a poignant meeting place between the Mayor of Tallinn and the Prime Minister of Estonia whenever the situation dictates the two coming together.

Back in the centre of the Old Town, cross through the Town Square and head down Viru Street. Along this busy street you’ll find some great clothes and shoe shops, alongside the souvenir shops designed to lessen the load of a tourist’s wallet.  There are some very good cafes and restaurants here and if you have a hankering for Australian beef, you’ll find a terrific restaurant here too.

To the left of Viru Street, you’ll find Müürivahe Street.  Tucked under the arches of a part of the old wall, you’ll find street vendors selling all kinds of jumpers.  In complete contrast to these homogenous jumpers, you’ll find this street is also the home of local artisans and craftspeople.  The Viru Gates represent the end of the Old Town in this area, before crossing into the Rotermann Quarter.

Other things to do in Tallinn

Off many of the main streets, there are small laneways that often lead into amazing and colourful courtyards like the “Masters’ Courtyard” below.  In days gone by, this was where you could find craftsmen, working away.  On the day we were here, there were freelance painters sitting on the steps mirroring these medieval days, whilst others sat around an enjoyed a coffee and a chat.

Once a heavy industrial area, the old warehouses and mills of the Rotermann Quarter are now being replaced by modern restaurants and shops.  Located between the port and the Old Town, it’s also a burgeoning cultural precinct, particularly around Viru Square.

With a large green park as the central drawcard, the prestigious Kadriorg district makes a worthwhile area to visit.  The Kadriorg Palace and surrounding grounds were once the summer home of Russian Czar Peter the Great.  With wooden houses dating back to the 1920s, having an address here is highly sought after.

Getting to Kadriorg is easiest by tram or bus.

Continuing the leading edge activities that occur in Tallinn, Telliskivi Creative City is the place where plenty of hipsters can be found.  There’s street art, cool cafes and craft beer.  There are designer studios, cultural events that take place during the year, and shops selling unique designer wares.  What’s not to like?

In the Telliskivi area, just outside the Old Town is a wonderful old market selling great fresh produce and street food.

Grab a hot drink and tasty pastry at Maiasmokk, the oldest cafe in Tallinn.  Located along Pikk Street, it’s opulent inside with plenty of old world charm.  It’s also known for painted marzipan treats, something we are not fond of but they are worth having a look at them in the co-located sweet shop.

Tallinn is a terrific place to stay for a few days and in fact, I highly recommend this. It also provides an excellent opportunity to use as a base for day trips into the Estonian countryside.  Tallinn is not a singular representative of Estonia overall.  Rather, the landscape of both the natural and built environments vary widely from the city to the east and west coast.  Soviet influences become more obvious as you approach the Russian border.  The eastern areas are more European.

Haapsalu, Narva, Parnu and Tartu are the main cities where day trips would be a good idea as well as the Lahemaa National Park.  Offshore, Helsinki is one of the most popular day trips from Tallinn.

We did day trips to Haapsalu , Narva and the Lahemaa National Park.

• Go in different seasons if you are able.  In summer, like a northern European city, it’s a vibrant place to be.  The weather is great, there are plenty of people about and everything is open.  Some cities like the seaside towns of Haapsalu and Parnu really come alive during this season.  The downside, of course, is the crowds of tourists.
• For a different and much quieter perspective, go in the autumn.  The streets can almost feel like your own, especially in the early morning, and the hordes of tourists just don’t exist.
• If you can, do your research and find out when the cruise ships are in port and then visit on another day.  The cruise ships bring throngs of people into the city all at once, making it extremely busy, and in my opinion, less authentic.
• Check out as many of the great food places as you can.  Tallinn is becoming widely regarded as a location for high-quality, innovative food.  A great restaurant experience can be found for a fraction of the price you might pay in other European cities.
• Make a reservation!  The restaurants are popular, even in the offseason, so to avoid disappointment, be sure to make a booking.
• Walk around as much as you can.  Tallinn is a very easy city to walk around and doing so ensures you don’t miss a thing.
• Wear comfortable shoes.  Once you’ve walked around on the cobbled streets all day, or navigated the streets in the wet or snow, you’ll be thankful you did.
• Stay in the Old Town or just outside it.  Whilst it’s easy enough to get public transport into the Old Town, staying within the walls is the perfect place to stay.
• Keep an eye on your weather app for the “feels like” temperature before heading outdoors.  In autumn and winter, you’ll be grateful as the apparent temperature can be considerably lower to the reported temperatures.
• You don’t really need cash.  Of course, if cash is your thing, then have a supply of Euro’s on hand but Estonia is a tech-savvy country and credit cards are used everywhere.  We didn’t use cash at all in the week we were there.
• We didn’t find Estonia expensive, and in fact, there were many things we considered to be quite cheap.  But, we come from Australia where we are used to a high cost of living.  Other visitors who aren’t may well find it expensive, similar to other Scandinavian countries.  Many Finnish people travel to Estonia because they believe it is cheaper than home for some items.
• If you are entering Tallinn from the port, don’t just walk into the first restaurant you see. Pikk Street, which is the main entry into town from the port is lined with restaurants for the tourist market.  You’ll recognise them easily. They’ll have someone out the front with a stack of menus, calling at you to come inside, or they will have big signs in the windows with photos of food and lots of English flags.  There are some great restaurants in this area too, you just need to look further afield.

For those that know a little about Tallinn, you’ll most likely recognise that I haven’t mentioned the themed medieval restaurants.  This is quite deliberate as we believe there are so many better places to eat in Tallinn, serving better food at better prices and without all the hype.  Many will not agree I’m sure, but I think this is one of the things to do in Tallinn that is over-rated and most definitely over-priced.

Being tourist restaurants, the food quality is also not going to hit any peaks.  If you aren’t really looking for the best food options in Tallinn, and the theatre of the medieval days intrigues you, then by all means, you should do it.  Just understand that they are more tourist attraction than great dining experiences.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is located in northern Europe.  It is bordered by Latvia to the south and Russia to the east.  To the north is the Gulf of Finland.

How to get to Tallinn

Tallinn is serviced by Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport and is only four kilometres from the city.  A variety of mainstream domestic and international air carriers operate from here.

Bus number 2 and tram number 4 operate to the city centre.  We found using Uber was just as easy and inexpensive.  Taxis are also available.

Book a flight

Ferries can be used to get to Tallinn from Helsinki and Stockholm.  A cruise ship also arrives weekly from St Petersburg.  Cruise ships also make a stopover in Tallinn part of their itinerary.

Depending on the ferry taken, the trip to and from Helsinki is two to three hours one way.  From Stockholm, it’s often around 15 hours and travels through the night.

It’s an easy walk, approximately 15 minutes from the port into the Old Town.  Taxis and Uber also operate from the port.

Book a ferry

Several bus lines operate from a couple of nearby European cities and a train operates from Moscow.

Book a train

Major highways connect Estonia and vehicles may also be brought into the country aboard the ferries.

Book a hire car

Staying in the Old Town in Tallinn is highly recommended.  Having discovered the Masters’ Courtyard whilst we were in Tallinn, I would have loved to have stayed in the Villa Hortensia apartments located right in the courtyard.

View the photos, prices and reviews on Trip Advisor .

The Three Sisters , located in the merchant building at the beginning of Pikk Street is at the luxury end of accommodation in Tallinn.

A more modern building, but still 19th century, the Hotel Telegraaf also provides a top-end comfortable stay in the Old Town.

View the prices, photos and reviews on Trip Advisor .

We stayed in an apartment just outside of the Old Town, with an incredible view of the wall and the St Olaf Church.

Beer and Croissants was a guest of Visit Estonia as part of their tourism initiative, Storyteller’s Nest.    As always, all editorial content, images and opinions are entirely our own.

About The Author

Kerri McConnel

A former corporate business executive, Kerri is the content creator for Beer and Croissants, a trusted source of detailed guides on motorhome travel, road trip itineraries, and destinations.

Together with Stirling, they are motorhome experts, having independently road-tripped their way across much of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand since 1995. Back home in Australia, they own their own motorhome and can always be found on a regional road trips, taking in towns that often no one has heard of.

They are responsible travellers; long, slow trips in motorhomes, spending time in small regional communities where the tourists usually don't wander, and spending money in their small economies. And where possible, they travel in shoulder and off seasons, so they don't add to the tourist rush.

As an Honorary Barge Lady for Barge Lady Cruises and a regular on European Waterways vessels, Kerri is also an expert on luxury barge travel in Europe, having completed five barge cruises in France and Scotland.

Kerri is a Digital Travel Publisher Member and former board member and treasurer of the Australian Society of Travel Writers (2020-2023).

Everything written and produced on this site is our own work. there's no AI and if we've written about it, you can trust we've been there, done that!

Read more about Kerri here

1 thought on “Free walking tour in Tallinn: A guide for first time visitors to Tallinn Estonia”

Thank you for a wonderful overview of Tallin with spectacular photographs and excellent information. I shall be there in the last week of September, probably lovely weather, being Autumn. Regards, KF

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Free Walking Sightseeing Tour #1 in Tallinn, Estonia

Guided free walking tours.

Book free guided walking tours in Tallinn.

Guided Sightseeing Tours

Book guided sightseeing tours and activities in Tallinn.

Explore Tallinn in Estonia with this free self-guided walking tour . The map shows the route of the tour. Below is a list of attractions, including their details.

Sight 1: Merineid

"Merineid" is a bronze sculpture created in 1980 by the Estonian sculptor Edgar Viisi, dedicated to the Tallinn sailing regatta of the XXII Olympic Games.

Wikipedia: Merineid (skulptuur) (ET)

Sight 2: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Fyodor Dostoevsky Monument is a monument in Kanuti Garden, Tallinn.

Wikipedia: Fjodor Dostojevski mälestussammas (ET)

Sight 3: Margareeta aed

Margareeta Garden is a green area in Tallinn's Old Town between Väike Rannagate, Pika Street and Rannamäe Road. The area of the garden is 1.8 ha.

Wikipedia: Margareeta aed (ET)

Sight 4: Town Hall Pharmacy

The Raeapteek is a pharmacy in the center of Tallinn, Estonia.

Wikipedia: Raeapteek (EN) , Website

Sight 5: Estonian History Museum

Estonian History Museum is a museum about the history of Estonia in Tallinn. It was initially established by the pharmacist Johann Burchart, who ran the town hall pharmacy known as the Raeapteek.

Wikipedia: Estonian History Museum (EN) , Url

Sight 6: Great Guild Hall

The Great Guild building is a building located in the Old Town of Tallinn, where the Tallinn Grand Guild, which unites merchants, operated in the Middle Ages. It is currently one of the buildings where the Estonian History Museum is located.

Wikipedia: Suurgildi hoone (ET)

Sight 7: Metskits

"Roe Deer" is a bronze sculpture by Jaan Koort, completed in 1929, in the green area of Nunne Street in Tallinn.

Wikipedia: Metskits (skulptuur) (ET)

Sight 8: Eduard Vilde memoriaal

The monument to Eduard Vilde is a monument erected in memory of Eduard Vilde on Harju Street opposite the Tallinn Writers' House.

Wikipedia: Eduard Vilde monument (ET)

Sight 9: Harjumägi

Harjumägi is a park in Tallinn, Estonia.

Wikipedia: Harjumägi (EN)

Sight 10: Johan Pitka

Johan Pitka Monument is a monument erected in memory of Johan Pitka in Tallinn.

Wikipedia: Johan Pitka monument (ET)

Sight 11: Falgi park

Falk Park is located in the center of Tallinn, in the area between Wismar, A. Adamson Street and Toompuiestee.

Wikipedia: Falgi park (ET)

Sight 12: Kristjan Raud memorial

The Kristjan Raud Monument is a monument to the artist Kristjan Raud, erected in 1968 in Hirvepark in the center of Tallinn.

Wikipedia: Kristjan Raua monument (ET)

Sight 13: Karu

Karu is a sculpture of Enn Roos's pink-red granite in Hirvepark in Tallinn.

Wikipedia: Karu (Tallinna skulptuur) (ET)

Sight 14: Linda kuju

Linda is a monument created by the sculptor August Weizenberg. It was completed in 1920, and it stands on Linda Hill in Tallinn, Estonia. It is registered as cultural heritage.

Wikipedia: Linda (sculpture) (EN)

Sight 15: Stenbock House

Stenbock House is a prominent neo-classical building located on Toompea hill, Tallinn. It is the official seat of the Government of Estonia.

Wikipedia: Stenbock House (EN)

Sight 16: Naine vaagnaga

"Woman with a pelvic" or "Eva" is a fountain on the Towers Square in Tallinn.

Wikipedia: Naine vaagnaga (ET)

Disclaimer Please be aware of your surroundings and do not enter private property. We are not liable for any damages that occur during the tours.

GPX-Download For navigation apps and GPS devices you can download the tour as a GPX file .

UK-based blog for and by travel-loving women

Exploring Tallinn’s old town – Free walking tours in Tallinn

Compact it may be, but Tallinn’s old town has so much to see and do. During our stay we spent a lot of our time exploring this area, visiting some of the many sights and activities on offer within the old city walls. In my opinion, one of the best ways to explore a city is by foot (although in my instance this does involve a lot of café stops!) so whenever we visit a new city, one of the first things we do is see if there are any free walking tours.

Happily, we discovered these took place regularly, often led by local students looking to make a little extra money in the form of tips (and from experience I always think they earn them!). People meet outside the tourist information centre, where the guides then split you into groups and begin their tours.

Free Tallinn old town walking tours

Firstly our guide took us past a small modern park on Harju Street, introducing us to some of Tallinn’s tumultuous past. She explained that here once stood a row of houses that were sadly were destroyed in one of the big bombing attacks on the city in 1944.

This spot is overlooked by St Nicholas’ Church, which was also partly destroyed in bombing. Now fully rebuilt, it is home to the Art Museum of Estonia and is also often used to host concerts.

The city has had a pretty tough time of it over the years, as we discovered when we moved along to Freedom Square and our guide talked about Estonia’s occupation by both Russia and Germany. However, the tales took a light-hearted turn when she told us more about the War of Independence Victory Column.

Discussed for decades but only finally completed in 2009, it appears this monument isn’t universally loved by Estonians, often due to the teething problems it had when it was officially opened. Firstly it was rather expensive – estimated at around €8.5m – as it has been said that it’s built from the world’s strongest glass, supposedly capable of surviving a nuclear attack. Then there were issues with many of its lights not working and finally, the most entertaining anecdote was the story that parts of the monument turned pink when dust managed to seap inside. Doh!

Beside the monument she pointed out one of the entrances to the Bastion Tunnels, which you can tour and which now also houses a carved stone museum. This intrigued us so much we booked a visit – but more on that in a future post!

Kiek in de Kök

From the monument we headed up the stairs to the upper old town, where we got to see Kiek in de Kök in all its glory. And yes, I sniggered, but to be fair, this place has made it onto Buzzfeed’s list of rudest place names! A massive 38m high cannon tower, when translated Kiek in de Kök actually means peek into the kitchen, as from high up you could easily look down and into the neighbours’ houses.

In late 1500s, the tower was attacked by Ivan the Terrible’s army, which managed to badly damage the top storey. However, the tower survived the onslaught and during post-war repairs a row of four cannonballs was placed in the newly patched stone wall as a memorial, which you can still see today.

As with many of the city’s older buildings this has been turned into a museum. This one focuses on fortifications, weapons and medieval-era life.

Tallinn’s upper old town churches

Our next stop on the tour, after passing Toompea Castle, the pink parliament building, was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church, which I personally thought was one of the prettiest buildings in Tallinn’s old town. In the power struggle between Russia and Estonia it was built ‘bold and beautiful’ so that the country could see that ‘Estonia was Russian’. After independence Estonians considered demolishing it however, thankfully, they eventually decided against it.

In the upper part of Tallinn’s old town you’ve got two great viewing platforms that let you look out over the city and to the sea, offering some great photo opportunities. It’s also home to several churches, as we discovered when our guide stopped us in front of St Olaf’s, right next to one of these. Once known as one of the tallest buildings in the world (albeit a good few centuries ago), the first mention of St Olaf’s can be found as far back as the 12 th century.

Over the years it’s reported to have been hit by lightning 10 times or more, and on several occasions burnt to the ground and rebuilt. You won’t find me hanging around on a stormy day, that’s for sure…

I could have spent much longer exploring the little side streets with their gemstone shops and cute restaurants, but our guide told us it was time to head back to the lower area of the old town. Taking the 150+ steps down the limestone rock hill, we ended up at speaker’s corner. Here our guide told us more about the Estonian Language (including the fact it has over 10 different ways to pronounce nouns?!) and even got us having a go at speaking a phrase or two ourselves.

We took a slow stroll down the cobbled streets to the town hall square to end our tour. From here we were able to head off and explore even more of what the old town had to offer (consider this tour a taster – there’s still so much more to see!). But first we decided to potter around the square’s craft market and stop for a spot of lunch in the famous ‘medieval pub’ ill Draakon. Our guide thanked us for our time and sent us on our way but happily hung around to answer visitor’s questions about what we’d seen and where else she’d recommend we visit.

Why I recommend a free city walking tour

A great way to learn much more about the city you’re visiting, I’m a big fan of city tours – especially free ones, which appear to be growing in number. I find having a physical guide is much more informative and entertaining that a self-guided or audio tour, and – as with all the other free tours I’ve now taken, I’ve found the guides very friendly and helpful, with great English (putting our Estonian to shame!).

Prebooking on the Tallinn Old Town free walking tour isn’t necessary, simply check what times they’re running and rock up at the meeting point 10 minutes or so beforehand. There’s no charge at all, but if you enjoy the tour, why not tip your guide for introducing you to their city?

Pin for later!

By day Co-Editor Keri is a freelance journalist and copywriter, but spends most of her free time either travelling or planning her next trip!  A complete travel fanatic, she has a love of tropical climates, wildlife and afternoon tea (hence the creation of her Global Afternoon Tea Challenge!)

You May Also Like

Kalamaja, Tallinn – My Hipster Heaven

A Quick Trip To Tallinn’s Old Town

That Time I Stupidly Booked a Bed on an Overnight Ferry that Wasn’t Going Anywhere! [A Review of the M/S Viking XPRS Service Between Tallinn and Helsinki]

26 comments.

Tallinn seems to be growing in popularity as a tourist destination. I would really like to visit the city before it gets too popular. #MondayEscapes

Now’s the time to go then Sandra! It’s getting more popular for sure, but certainly not overcrowded when we went, which is good.

Walking tours are a really good way to get to know a city. Tallinn is one place I would love to go. #MondayEscapes

I totally recommend it Allison! K

Caity Pfohl

I always love checking out free walking tour options when I visit a new place. This looks like a great one and you had perfect weather for it, too! Definitely hoping to make it to Tallinn someday soon. 🙂 #mondayescapes

Ah we had such great weather while we were there Caity, hardly any rain over the four days…

I always love taking free walking tours, it immediately gives me a feel for a city, so I have a clue where I am going later on 😉 Tallinn is still high on my list to see, I would totally take this tour there. #CityTripping

Yup, definitely helps you get your bearings!

California Globetrotter

Would love to visit Tallinn! I think walking tours are such a great way to explore cities and learn history from a local’s perspective! #CityTripping

PS. Just pinned like 10+ of your afternoon teas! How have I missed those?! I’m OBSESSED!

Ha ha, there’s a whole section dedicated to them! I’m working my way around the world on my Global Afternoon Tea Challenge!

Megan - Truly Madly Kids

Talinn sounds like such an interesting place. Walking about is the best bit of any city break. #mondayescapes

It’s definitely a great way of seeing the city!

I have come back from a trip to Tallinn and loved Tallinn. I absolutely loved the Old town. Would definitely go back there. Great post. #mondayescapes

Did you visit Kalamaja? That was the district we stayed in and it was amazing!

Emma Raphael

As someone who takes far too many pictures, I love that piece of graffiti! Tallinn sounds and looks amazing – one day! 🙂

Its cool, isn’t it. I love finds like that!

Sol Solntze

Tallinn is one of the nicest places I’ve ever been , and I can definitely see that a walking tour is the way to experience it.

everyone that goes seems to love it don’t they?!

Cathy (MummyTravels)

I love all the history and architecture of Tallinn, somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while – the tour sounds a great way to appreciate it as well. I’m definitely making a note for when I finally get there. Thanks for linking up with #citytripping

Hope you get there Cathy, it’s a really great city – think its a good spot for kids too – the maritime museum is amazing!

Ooh Tallinn Old Town has a free walking tour – that’s great! I’m an advocate for walking tours and I love free tours too. However, because it’s free, there could be many people joining the tour. My last experience with a free walking tour was in Porto last September – unfortunately, the group was too big, the guide spoke and moved too fast that I didn’t get a chance to take good photos 🙁 #Citytripping

Ah that’s a shame Kat. Actually there was a big group, so we were split into two and weren’t rushed at all!

I bloomin’ love a good walking tour! We went on one in Havana and it was perfect for introducing us to things that was right on our doorstep. Love your photos of Tallinn too – we’re contemplating going later this year. How long do you reckon you need there? I’ve heard from many people that it’s quite small/compact, so would 2 days be enough? xx

2 full days would definitely be enough – you can easily fill 3 though if you go further afield and spend time exploring all the museums! (there’s a lot!)

I had no idea there were walking tours in Havana, damn that would have been good…

How wonderful that it was a free walking tour. It’s defiantly something I will be looking out for in future. #MondayEscapes

You can find them in most big cities now Karen, well worth doing.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• For visitors For travel trade For media For digital nomads
• Eesti keeles
• Auf Deutsch
• FONT SIZE: A A A
• Map of Estonia

visit estonia

• All categories
• Nature & Wildlife
• Food, drink & nightlife
• History & Culture
• Accommodation
• Activities & Adventure
• Health & Wellness
• Bicycle routes
• Tourist information centres
• Seminar rooms
• Special offers and packages

City or region:

• Throughout Estonia
• North Estonia
• South Estonia
• West Estonia
• Cool facts about Estonia
• Estonian history & culture
• Travel information

• Food & Drink & Nightlife
• History & culture

• Nature sites
• Hiking & nature tours
• National parks
• Parks & gardens
• Zoos & farms
• Bird-watching
• Horseback riding
• Estonian cuisine
• Culinary experience
• Restaurants
• Bars & pubs
• Nightclubs & parties
• Medical spas
• Museums & galleries
• Architecture
• Castles & manors
• Lighthouses
• Arts and crafts workshops
• Water sports & leisure
• Sail in Estonia
• Cycling routes in Estonia
• Sports & games
• Adrenaline rush
• Winter adventures
• Local design & boutiques
• Handicraft & souvenirs
• Shopping centres
• For caravan traveler
• Green & sustainable
• Tallinn, the capital

• Travel here & around
• Travel to and around Estonia: FAQs
• Travel to Estonia
• Travel around Estonia
• Why Estonia
• See tours around Estonia
• #EstonianWay

Guided Walking Tour in Tallinn's Old Town

• Start: Tallinn
• Finish: Tallinn
• Distance: 2.0 km
• Duration: 2 hours
• [email protected]
• (+372) 588 65231

On this guided walking tour, we will explore both the Upper and Lower Old Town of Tallinn, where you will discover more than 800 years of history. We will speak of the city's golden era and its decline, of wars and city life; trade and wealthy merchants in the Lower Town and the colourful pasts of the nobles of the Upper Town. Grab some friends and take part in this memorable walking tour. The tour starts at Viru Gate and finishes at Town Hall Square. The start and end points can be changed per request.

Sites along route

Starting point

Historical buildings

Viru tänav, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn

Danish King's Garden

Parks & Gardens

Lühike jalg 1, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn 10130

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Lossi plats 10, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn 10130

The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin in Tallinn and its bell tower

Toom-Kooli tänav 6, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn 10130

Estonian History Museum — Great Guild Hall

Museums & Galleries

Pikk tänav 17, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn 10123

House of the Blackheads

Pikk tänav 26, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn 10133

Tallinn Town Hall Square

Raekoja plats, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn

Times and prices

Is open advance bookings only

Group price:

Exact price to be clarified by service provider.

Features and amenities

Languages spoken, number of participants, further information, transportation type, getting there.

• Sealed access road
• By public transport

Stops nearby

Coordinates.

• 59°26'12''N 24°44'59''E
• Download GPX file

Similar offers

Kihnu Travel Wheel Kihnu Reesuratas - official tourist route

Self-guided tours

Cultural guided tour on Tartu Vanemuise culture street and in Karlova district

Guided tours

Ghosts and Legends Tour in Tallinn's Old Town

Guided walk in Tallinn Old Town and car tour in the Kadriorg–Pirita region

Discover the secret exciting places of Tartu

Guided walk in Tallinn’s Old Town

Excursion to Andri-Peedo Farm

Guided exhibition tour of the Museum of Estonian Architecture

Tallinn Private Highlights Tour & Synagogue visit

Tallinn Private Legends Tour & Town Hall visit

Visit to Sleddogs Training Centre

Lahhentagge taste tour on Saaremaa

National Park Explorer

Medieval and Soviet Tallinn Private Tour with KGB Museum

Tallinn Private Christmas Tour & Gingerbread Making Workshop

Tallinn Private Old Town Walking Tour & Round-Trip Transfer

Tallinn Booze'n Bites Tour with a guide

See the Old Town: a free audio guide "Ghosts and Legends"

Guided tour of Alatskivi hiking trail and castle

Tohi Distillery tour

Our site is also available in Chinese and you will be redirected to Visit Estonia Chinese website visitestonia.cn

爱沙尼亚旅游局中文官方网站现已上线，即将跳转至中文官网visitestonia.cn

• Yes, redirect me / 前往中文官网
• No, stay here / 停留在本网站

• Destinations

Old city free walking tour in Tallinn

• Tours in Tallinn
• Old city free walking tour

• Join Freetour
• Provider Sign In
• Affiliate Program
• Security & Privacy
• Terms & Legal
• Cookie policy
• Freetour Awards
• Ratings & Reviews powered by