3 Days in Tallinn

I’m going to start by saying that Tallinn, and Estonia in general, is one of the most underrated and beautiful places I’ve ever visited. I’ve been twice now and fell in love with it even more on my second trip. The food, the buildings, the people, the vibe is all incredible and unlike anywhere else I’ve been. I am in love with Tallinn.

List of things to do in the post:

• Stay at Hilton Tallinn Park

• Kuldse Notsu Korts

• Labor Baar

• Old Town

• Master’s Courtyard

• III Draakon

• Telliskivi Creative City

• Rataskaevu 16

• Swissotel Bar

• Dubliner

• Massage at eforea spa

• Peppersack

• Museum of Occupations and Freedom

• Reval Coffee

• Rotermann

• Kadriorg Palace

• F. Hoone

I went to Tallinn in October 2018 with my boyfriend and it was more of a stopover between Krakow and Helsinki since you can take the ferry for around $35 from Tallinn to Helsinki. As soon as I walked into Old Town, I begged Neal to skip Helsinki and let us stay an extra day in Tallinn since we only had about a day and a half on that trip (we ended up keeping our plans and going on to Helsinki, which was just okay in my opinion). Fast forward to 2020, I find $371 RT tickets from Memphis to Berlin. I convince my friend to buy tickets within 30 minutes of telling her about them, and we plan our trip to Berlin. Initially, we were planning on going to Prague and maybe Dublin during this trip, but ultimately made the decision to go to Tallinn. I was so excited!! I was going back!! I would have more time! Here begins my love letter to Tallinn.

We arrived in Tallinn on Saturday around 5:45p. We checked in to the BEAUTIFUL Hilton Tallinn Park, which is about a 10 minute walk from Old Town. I also would like to point out that ubers were never more than €3,50, even to and from the airport. When Neal and I visited in 2018, we found a small restaurant named Kuldse Notsu Korts and I had a life-changing elk stew. I’m not a very adventurous eater, so this was out of my comfort zone, but man was I rewarded. My family and friends have had to listen to me talk on and on about this elk stew for a year and a half now. So I knew that was the first meal I wanted when I returned.

We arrived at Kuldse Notsu Korts and I saw they had changed the menu a bit and that it is no longer an elk stew, but a moose stew. I ended up getting some fried garlic cheese balls, an Estonian honey wine, and the moose stew. It wasn’t as great as the elk stew, but I would get it again in the future! After this, we went to Labor Baar, which is Neal’s favorite.

Labor Baar is a science fair/mad scientist themed bar. The drinks are in test tubes or beakers and have names like “coolant,” “C-4,” “Fentanyl,” etc. and are ranked by the strength of the drink. I got “coolant,” which was vodka, strawberry liqueur, and sprite. It was REALLY good and super fun to drink out of test tubes. They do have an underground club that opens later, but we had stayed out until 4a the night before in Berlin and didn’t take a nap that day lol.

The next morning, I got a massage at the hotel. The massage therapists are so great and the massages are so inexpensive compared to American massages. Neal and I got an hour-long, full body couples massage for about €120. I got a full body hour-long massage for €70 this time. After the massage, I got breakfast at the hotel because it is one of the best hotel breakfasts out there.

After my massage, we went back to Old Town and walked around. We visited Master’s Courtyard, which is a tucked away courtyard with local workshops and a chocolaterie. We found a wood shop and a ceramics shop that we spent about an hour in… I got a pair of sheepskin mittens at the wood shop and countless of ceramics from the ceramic shop. The ceramics are all made my local artists in house so it was incredible to see the variety of styles and looks of the different pieces. I ended up shipping these back for around €30 (UPS quoted us €100 minimum), which included the materials and the shipment. We got a tracking number and she said it would take about 2 weeks to arrive. I didn’t trust my suitcase or backpack or myself to carry quite a few fragile items throughout the airport and around the world.

After Masters Courtyard, we ate lunch at III Draakon. It was such a fun experience! It is about as authentically medieval as you can get. They have no utensils and only have a daily soup, a giant roasted pork leg, 3 pies (apple, spinach + herb, and carrot They also have beer, water, and lingonberry juice. OH, and everything is under €3. So I got the soup (amazing), water (needed), and the apple pie (divine) and it was €7. They have no lights in the restaurant outside of candlelight, so if you don’t like eating in the dark (like me), then this may be tough for you. But the food was so good and so cheap.

We walked around Old Town and saw the major sights: Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, St. Olaf’s Church, Danish King’s Garden, Kohtuotsa viewing platform, St. Catherine’s Passage, Raekoja Plats. My favorite being Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Danish King’s Garden. You can pay to walk around the wall surrounding Old Town, but I have yet to do that. Most of the churches also have viewing platforms, and I haven’t done that either. To be honest, this is the only city I’ve been to that I enjoy just walking around and getting lost.

After we saw just about every street, alley, and courtyard in Old Town, we went to Telliskivi Creative City. Telliskivi is a revitalized part of Tallinn in a former industrial complex. It borders Old Town and continues to show the contrast between old and new in Tallinn. Telliskivi houses restaurants, local design shops, start-ups, art studios, and so much more. This is also where Fotografiska is.

Fotografiska is the largest photography museum in the world. There are currently only 3 which are housed in New York City, Stockholm, and Tallinn. And Tallinn is VERY proud of this, as they should be. The museum in Tallinn is massive and also has a restaurant on top. We did not get the chance to go to the museum or the restaurant, and I deeply regret that now.

We went back to the hotel to nap and get ready for dinner. We made reservations at Rataskaevu 16 because I had seen countless rave reviews… and it did not disappoint. I got the pulled elk meat on puff pastry with root vegetables and a sour cream + herb sauce with an Estonia honey beer (tasted like a shot of honey with a bud light aftertaste), and we ended with a bread pudding. Now, I’m from the South so I consider myself somewhat of an expert on bread pudding. They can be too mushy or too dry and it is easy to get it wrong. But once again, Tallinn got it right. While the food and atmosphere were incredible, our waitress, Kristin, stole the show. She was such a light! She gave us the sweetest note with our bread pudding and when we asked for Independence Day recommendations, she came back with a whole list! She was so kind and fun and so proud to be Estonian, which made me so happy. So while I highly recommend Rataskaevu 16, I HIGHLY recommend asking if Kristin is available because she is lovely.

After Rataskaevu 16, we went to the Swissotel Horisont bar. This bar is on the top floor of the Swissotel and has breathtaking views. I wish we had been either during the day or at sunset, but it was still incredible at night. We got some wine and just chilled for a minute and took in the views. Then we decided we hadn’t drank enough so we found an Irish bar, The Dubliner, and I got a Guinness there. This bar was okay, a little less exciting than your typical Irish pub, and they didn’t pour the Guinness correctly, but that is me being picky :)

The next day was Independence Day!! We had no idea when we booked the trip that we would be there during Independence Day, but I was so excited. Kristin had told us about the military parade and suggested the Museum of Occupations and Freedom. So we got breakfast at Reval coffee, bought some small Estonian flags, and watched the parade. Then we went back to the ceramic shop in Masters Courtyard, just to make sure we didn’t miss anything lol, and then we got lunch at Peppersack, a Tallinn icon.

Peppersack’s building has been there since 1520. I ordered the elk ribs, but they were out, so I got the beef tenderloin and it was VERY good. This building is one of the more famous buildings in Tallinn, so be sure to get your picture in front of it :)

After Peppersack, we visited the the Museum of Occupations and Freedom. They had a discount that day since it was Independence Day, and you can also buy a joint ticket for the KGB Prison Cells. So both tickets were €8 and both museums were incredible.

A quick history lesson : Estonia proclaimed independence in 1918, then in 1939, Soviet forces took over. Then in 1940, Nazi forces took over. Then in 1944, Soviet forces re-annexed Estonia. Finally, in 1991, the Iron Curtain fell and Estonia is finally free. So they have a lot to say on occupations and freedom. The museum shows the history starting from Nazi invasion through post-Communism. I HIGHLY recommend this museum. We spent hours there and learned so much. The museum is right outside of Old Town by Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, so it is easy to walk to. The KGB Prison Cells are on the other side of Old Town right by St. Olaf’s Church.

On our final day, our flight didn’t leave until 9p so we tried to see other neighborhoods we hadn’t seen yet. So this is going to be a rapid fire of what we did: We got breakfast at Reval Coffee in Old Town, though I have heard amazing things about ROST in Rotterman. After breakfast, we went to Rotterman, which is their shopping district. I bought a nice flannel for our hike the next day, We also got lunch at an Italian place there, but it wasn’t great. I wish we had more time in Rotterman, but it was probably good that I left when I did so I didn’t spend more money lol. Then we went back to Telliskivi where I found an amazing linen shop called Ookulm! They make linen sheets and I will definitely be buying some. Then we went to Kadriorg Palace, which was built for Catherine I by Peter the Great and is now an art museum. The grounds are really beautiful and the interior is so elegant. For dinner, we went to F. Hoone in Telliskivi, which was so good. I got the kids menu meatballs and mashed potatoes and they were so freaking good. This was one of the best meals we had in Tallinn.

When we left, I cried. I genuinely love Tallinn and Estonia. This country has been through so much and has maintained their sense of self and authenticity. They have completely rebuilt Tallinn outside of Old Town and it is so modern and beautiful. They have the best food, the kindest people, and is seriously underrated. I highly recommend reading this article to learn more about Estonia.

Tallinn, I love you.