A day trip from Finland to Estonia may sound unrealistic, but Tallinn is only a 2.5-hour ferry ride from Helsinki. We had some concerns with taking so much of our time to explore away by sitting on a ferry for 5 hours, but in the end, we made the plunge and bought our tickets.
Tallinn, Estonia is well known for its medieval Old Town. If you know anything about me, you know that exploring really old, well-preserved places is impossible for me to resist. You may have heard that Old Town is full of tourists. Well, I am here to tell you that the rumors are true. However, it really is worth seeing, in my opinion. I also hate crowds if that tells you anything.
Plan on catching the ferry from Helsinki as early as possible. You will want to get a good lap in at Old Town before the tour groups start pouring in. We caught a ferry around 5 AM. That’s dedication.
Without further ado, here is everything you need to know about a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia from Helsinki, Finland.
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Booking the Ferry to Tallinn
You will want to buy your ferry tickets ahead of time. We booked ours the night before, but you may need to book more in advance during other times of the year. Our trip was in October. You can book your ticket through TallinK on a Shuttle Star ferry. The cost is about 50 euros for a round trip.
Look at the timetable and be sure to give yourself enough time to explore to your heart’s content. We spent about 8 hours in Tallinn, and it felt just right.
The ferry has a lot of amenities. There are food options and even a Starbucks and a pub. I would have enjoyed that a lot more, but alas, seasickness decided to rear its ugly head. Take some Dramamine if you have a tendency to get motion sickness. I thought I would be fine on a big boat like this one, but boy was I wrong.
Tallinn’s Old Town
The majority of our day was spent exploring Old Town. It is an easy walk from Tallinn’s harbor. Once you arrive, I highly suggest walking around the whole thing at least once. This is when you will get some pictures without gobs of tourists, assuming you catch an early ferry. Then you can do a bit more exploring inside places.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Toompea Castle
This cathedral is probably the most ornate that I saw in Tallinn and clearly very popular. It was designed in the Russian Revival style and built between 1894 and 1900. The Orthodox cathedral is beautiful to look at and you can enter for free.
As you walk around the cathedral, you will pass by the Parliament of Estonia (Riigikogu), which is a baroque style, salmon-colored building. The Parliament building is held within Toompea Castle, which has a long history with Sweden, Russia, and Estonia. However, today it holds the seat of Estonia’s Parliament. You can tour the castle if you book ahead of time. Sessions of parliament can be watched from the public gallery.
The Danish King’s Garden and the Bishop’s Garden
There are many gardens and parks within Tallinn’s Old Town that provide excellent views of the city. I almost forgot to mention, Old Town is hilly. Expect to go up and down some hills and stairs while you are there. It can be a workout.
The Danish King’s Garden is near the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Even without a map, you would probably find yourself here. In 1311, the king of Denmark gave this garden to the lower town to allow the townsfolk access to the stronghold’s hill.
There is also a legend associated with the creation of the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. When the Danes and Estonians were doing battle in 1219, a red flag with a white cross fell into the Danish camp and they gained an advantage. Thus, the flag of Denmark was created.
If you walk through the garden, you will have an excellent view of Old Town.
I also recommend stopping in the Bishop’s Garden as it provides a quiet reprieve from the other people. It’s small, so perhaps the tour guides didn’t want to try to fit people in that space. Whatever the reason, we had this little garden with a view to ourselves. You can find it behind St. Mary’s Cathedral.
The Estonian Museum of Natural History
As a science nerd, I have to go to any museum of natural history that I can find. This one was small and a bit underwhelming. BUT, if you have children I would recommend taking them here. The exhibits are interactive and fun.
We did enjoy the museum, but I don’t think it is worth paying to go unless you have kids with you since it is more catered towards them. They have some good information about wildlife in Estonia, which I found very interesting.
Kiek in de Kök Museum and Bastion Tunnels
If you want a museum to spend some time in, I do recommend the Kiek in de Kök Museum and Bastion Tunnels. This museum has a lot of history and allows you to roam the bastion tunnels and climb the towers that fortify Old Town.
You will have the option to tour the whole museum or you could just tour the towers or just the bastion tunnels. We toured the towers since we were running out of time. Prepare yourself for lots of stairs, but excellent views of the city.
You can learn more about the history of the city’s defenses here and get in a nice leg workout at the same time. I was in pain by the end of it all.
Head Outside of Old Town for Lunch
After looking at several menus in Old Town, none of them were speaking to us. We decided to search outside of Old Town giving us an opportunity to see a little more of Tallinn, and an escape from tour groups.
We found a cool lunch spot at Peatus, which is a pair of old train cars turned into a restaurant. The food was awesome, and I got to try some Estonian craft cider, so it was a win all around.
On the walk to Peatus, we passed by shops, breweries, cafes, and art galleries. If you wanted to spend some time out here, you could certainly find plenty to do. You will also see more cool street art!
Start Planning a Longer Trip to Estonia
Now that I have had a brief experience with Tallinn, I am curious enough to want to plan a longer stay in Estonia. Probably a full trip to the Baltics. Day trips are a great way to give yourself a little taste of a new place in order to plan a longer trip. They can also work in the opposite way and let you know if you don’t want to spend any longer somewhere. This day trip to Estonia showed me just enough to want more!
While I only mentioned a few things that you can do in Tallinn, there are tons of museums and art galleries to explore. There is a lot more food to eat, and years of history to discover. If you are planning a day trip, feel free to reach out to me. There are more places that I would have liked to have visited that I can give you some information on since I already did the research.
I hope that you will consider making this a day trip if you find yourself in Helsinki. Likewise, you could make Helsinki a day trip if you are staying in Tallinn. I have a guide to Helsinki if you need to find some things to do.
Would you like to see more photos of Tallinn in the Fall? The colors are amazing. Give me a follow on Instagram for more!
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