Vanalinn, the old town
A complete medieval Hanseatic town, walls, towers and cobbles included.
Duration
2 hrs 30 min – 5 hrs
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Tallinn was a prosperous Hanseatic town and it has kept its medieval structure whole: two kilometres of walls, twenty of the original forty-six towers, and a street plan unchanged since the fourteenth century. Few cities in Europe keep as much.
The town reads on two levels. Toompea, the hill, was the town of the lords and of power; the lower town was that of the merchants and craftsmen, with its own administration and its own walls. The two loathed each other and the gates between them were shut at night.
Getting there
In central Tallinn, entirely pedestrian. Tram to Viru, then in through the Viru Gate.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
Rules on site
On cruise-ship days the old town is saturated between ten and five: the calendar is public. The cobbles are slippery in winter and the Toompea lanes are steep.
