Welcome to Tallinn, in our opinion, one of the best travel locations in the Scandinavian Baltic. If you have just one day in Tallinn, here is a fun-packed itinerary for a daycation trip to Tallinn, Estonia.
Tere tulemast, or welcome in Estonian. Tallinn is the charming capital city of Estonia! Nestled on the shores of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn is a picturesque blend of medieval charm and modern innovation. With its cobblestone streets, well-preserved Old Town and rich history dating back to the 13th century when it was first established by Danish crusaders, Tallinn offers visitors a captivating glimpse into its past as a vital trading hub of the Hanseatic League.
Today, this vibrant city continues to enchant travellers with its architectural wonders, cultural heritage and dynamic atmosphere. You are absolutely going to love Tallinn, Estonia and you’ll have a wonderful time in this city.
How Will You Arrive?
You can arrive in to Estonia by car, aeroplane, ferry or possibly train. However, as the two most common are aeroplane from overseas and ferry from Helsinki, we’ll concentrate on those.
The ferry will bring you into the Port of Tallinn located to the north of the city and very close to some of the larger museums (roughly 10 minute drive or 28 minute walk), whereas the airport is located to the south-east of Tallinn and you’ll need to catch a tram into the city. More details on this below.
If you haven’t bought your ferry ticket yet, you can click below to check out prices and availability. We caught a flight from Luton with Wizzair. Click here to see how much flights to Tallinn might cost you
How To Travel Around Tallinn?
Tallin is quite a small city in terms of seeing tourist things; you’re likely to be located either towards the port or in the old town. Most of this can be covered on foot but trams and trains are super easy to catch and in order to catch them for free, you can purchase a Tallinn card below.
We purchased the Tallinn cards prior to arrival. These cards gave us unlimited access to all of the city’s transport (trams, buses and trains) as well as a huge list of museums. Much like the Helsinki Card, we didn’t have to spend any money on museum entry and we got a discount for ice skating (in winter).
Google Maps offline worked perfectly however, offline didn’t allow me to see the transport links in real time, so I paid Vodafone for a 2-day pass (this is only a problem since Brexit). This enabled me to have all of the transport information, such as tram times & tram numbers and allowed me to follow the route in real time.
Here are some of the things that we loved + map
Many museums were closed on Monday and Tuesday. So, please bear this in mind before you book your trip.
Here are some of the things that we loved, however, we had nearly 3 days, not 1. These are all colour-coded on the map so you can see the locations.
- PROTO Invention Factory
- Estonian Maritime Museum & Lennusadama Muuseumipood (seaplane harbour)
- Townhall Pharmacy
- Energy Discovery Centre/Energia Avastuskeskus
- KGB Prison cells
- Estonian Health Museum
- Kadriorg Palace, Art Museum and Park
- Kiek in de kok Museum and Bastion Tunnels
- Ice skating (we paid extra for this but received a reduction by having the Tallinn Card)
- Tallinn City Museum
- Tallinn Town Hall & Square
- Foto Museum
- Estonian Food Museum
-
Museum of Estonian Architecture
Things we didn’t get to see but that were high up on our list:
- TV Tower
- Botanical garden
- Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
Close to the city = Turquoise
Close to the port = Salmon pink
Far out = Purple and yellow
Food stops = Burgundy
One Day In Tallinn Estonia Itinerary
Here are our suggestions for what you should do:
If you only want to stay close to the city and the port:
- KGB Prison cells
- Kiek in de kok Museum and Bastion Tunnels
- Old town (you will walk around this on your way to other things)
- Estonian Health Museum (good for kids but adults might not be as interested)
- Energy Discovery Centre/Energia Avastuskeskus
- PROTO Invention Factory
- Estonian Maritime Museum & Lennusadama Muuseumipood
If you fancy starting further out of the city:
- TV Tower
- Botanical garden
- Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
- Energy Discovery Centre/Energia Avastuskeskus
- PROTO Invention Factory
Where Should You Eat?
On the map, these are the locations in the dark burgundy colour.
We had a fantastic brunch at 5Senses Tallinn which offers global cuisine, but it is not cheap.
Restoran Trofe is underneath the buildings in what feels like a glamourous cellar. It serves Baltic cuisine. Again, it wasn’t cheap but it was very relaxed and the flavours were fantastic.
If you’re looking for something cheap but flavoursome, the restaurant in the PROTO Invention Factory was wonderful. It’s downstairs and serves a whole range of foods and drinks including daily specials. The lights hanging all around this area make it seem really special. The cakes here are especially nice!
The Viru Food Hall offers many different options however it is a bit out of the city centre.
RUKIS cafe serves delicious cakes and coffee at city-centre prices
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