Estonia · Self-guided walk
Tallinn in one walk 8 sights, 50 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Tallinn Old Town: 8 sights on one 3.2 km loop, about 50 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 3.2 km, a loop
- Time
- about 50 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Oleviste kirik
- Steps
- no streets with steps on the route
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Tallinn walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Tallinn, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Oleviste kirik
the start
The tower is open from April to the end of October, and there is no lift. What there is, is a spiral of 258 medieval steps up to a platform at 60 metres, and the town flat underneath you. Take them slowly. I would.
Next: Kohtuotsa vaateplatvorm, 520 m, about 8 min, along Lai, Nunne.
2. Kohtuotsa vaateplatvorm
about 8 minutes of walking from the start
There are three of these along the top of this hill and they all face different ways. This is the one everybody finds, at the end of Kohtu. Do the other two as well: one is a little way west, the other sits at the head of a long stair you have to walk anyway. Three looks at one hill. I would take all three, but then I have the time.
Next: Aleksander Nevski katedraal, 330 m, about 5 min, along Pikk jalg, Lossi plats.
3. Aleksander Nevski katedraal
about 13 minutes of walking from the start
This one was dropped into a garden. Until the 1890s the ground in front of the palace was the governor's park, and then this arrived on it, facing the front door. People have been arguing about it ever since. Walk all the way round it anyway. It was built to be looked at from every side.
Next: Pikk Hermann, 40 m, about 1 min.
4. Pikk Hermann
about 13 minutes of walking from the start
You cannot go in. The way to meet this one is from below: take the lane that runs along the foot of the castle wall and look up until the corner keeps going. Come early, though. Something happens up top before the day gets going, and I am not telling you what.
Next: Kiek in de Kök, 180 m, about 3 min, along Toompea, Komandandi tee.
5. Kiek in de Kök
about 16 minutes of walking from the start
It is enormous and completely solid, and the good part is underneath it. The bank of earth heaped up against its foot is hollow: passages run through it, and a guide will take you into them. It is cold in there, so bring a layer. Next door the Maiden Tower has a café in it, which is my favourite thing to find in a tower.
Next: Assauwe torn, 290 m, about 4 min, along Komandandi tee, Harju, Müürivahe.
6. Assauwe torn
about 20 minutes of walking from the start
Most of the towers along this wall are shut. This one is not. From the lane it barely reads as a tower at all, just a swelling in the masonry, and the door is small and round the corner from where you would look for it. Go in. I will stay out here with the masonry, where I am comfortable.
Next: Raekoda, 270 m, about 4 min, along Vana-Posti.
7. Raekoda
about 24 minutes of walking from the start
The square in front of it has been the market since the Middle Ages, which is the correct use of a square. Two things to do here. Climb the 115 steps to the belfry in summer, if your knees agree. And be down in the square on the hour: the bell up there still counts them out, once for each.
Next: Poisid delfiiniga, 830 m, about 12 min, along Raekoja, Vene, Bremeni käik, Uus, Aia.
Lunch break
Rado, Vene 7, about 10 m off the route, open Mon–Sat 12:00–23:00, Sun closed.
A small personally run room on Vene, with the whole menu chalked up fresh each morning and shown to you only once you are through the door. More on what to eat in Tallinn.
8. Poisid delfiiniga
about 37 minutes of walking from the start
Small, low, and standing in the busiest few metres of the whole Old Town, where everybody pours in through the gate and nobody looks down. Look down. Then look properly at the animal these two have got hold of, and hold that thought. I am not telling you the answer.
Back to the start: Oleviste kirik, 780 m, about 12 min, along Aia, Uus, Bremeni käik, Vene, Oleviste.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Tallinn.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 66 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Tallinn Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.