Tallinn Attractions

Most visitors head first to Tallinn's old city, and rightly so. It’s one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved old cities, and considered one of the main jewels in the Estonian crown.

Soviet rule was a sort of blessing in disguise for Tallinn’s old city. Yes, there was the small matter of the Soviet air force bombing and strafing Tallinn on one day in 1944—an attack which flattened 11 percent of the old quarter (See remnants of the attack on Harju street). And during Soviet rule there was gross neglect of historic structures. On the other hand, economic stagnation then meant development was kept to a minimum. So, unlike Helsinki—scarred by decades of development projects—Tallinn’s old city has remained much the same. In ways, it’s changed more in the past five years than it did in the previous 100. It now has many things city merchants in days of yore certainly did not: like a McDonald’s. Other changes, like cheesy neon signs and a few new modern buildings, must have some Tallinn founding fathers spinning in their graves. But, all in all, the old city has kept its charm.