Alexander Nevsky Church in Old Town Tallinn
Highlights
Old Town Tallinn is a walled medieval city filled with history through its colorful buildings, churches and museums. Walking its cobbled streets is like going back in time. It is a wonderful place to visit.
Time of Visit: July 2025
Duration of Visit: Three Nights
Description
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia. Tallinn’s main attraction is the Old Town where part of a medieval fortress wall still exists. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Within the confines of the Old Town, colorful old buildings exist including churches with domes and tall steeples. The Old Town’s streets are still made of cobble stones from different eras.
The Old Town sees its fair share of tourists. It is not uncommon to see tour buses and tour groups between 10AM and 3PM. The Old Town Square remains lively even when the tour buses are long gone. Tourists still remain in the area to soak up the evening atmosphere.
There is no shortage of things to see and restaurants in the Old Town. Discovering the Old Town on your own or joining the Tourist Office’s free walking tour is one way to explore the place.
Here we provide the necessary information such as activities, how to get there, where to stay and expenses so that you can successfully plan your visit.
Activities
There are both free and paid places to see in Old Town Tallinn. We stuck with just walking around and the free stuff which included joining the two hour walking tour that started at the Tourist Office and ended at the Old Town Square.
If you are a museum person, you should consider getting the Tallinn Card. It is available on-line or can be purchased at the Tourist Information Office in the Old Town. The Tallinn Card allows visitors access to many of the paid admission places.
To figure out if the Tallinn Card is right for you, we recommend first to watch this YouTube video that shows which attractions are included with the card. The video does a good job of showcasing what to do and see at each attraction. This would then allow you to make a list of attractions to visit.
Once you have the list, you can tally up the entry fees and compare that to the cost of purchasing the Tallinn Card. Google Maps does a good job of showing the entry fees although the fees shown are for regular tickets. Seniors (65 and older) and students have reduced fees. These fees may be found at the attraction’s website ( if it has one). The Tourist Information Center may also have that information.
Listed below are additional information we learned from our exploration of Old Town Tallinn..
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
The cathedral is free to enter but no photographs or videographs are allowed inside. Although the church is beautiful, our tour guide said that many Estonians hate it because it reminds them of Russia’s occupation.
St. Nicholas Church
The church acts more as a museum than a church. It is the only church with a working elevator.
Old Broken Truck
Not far from the Tourist Information Office is a small tract of land that is owned by an individual. There is an old broken truck in the middle of the track of land that is not mowed nor maintained.
The story goes that the land owner placed the truck there as a sort of protest because the City of Tallinn refused to buy his land at a fair price. The poor owner cannot do anything with the land because of the UNESCO World Heritage Site restrictions.
Now the truck has become an attraction within the Old Town.
Freedom Square
Freedom Square is just outside the Old Town walls. You will find at the square a tall monument made out of glass. This monument is Estonia’s symbol of independence.
Narrow Streets
There are some streets in Old Town Tallinn that are narrow such that it is only wide enough for two people. In the old times, women wore hoop skirts or crinoline.
A hoop skirt is a frame-like undergarment made of fabric and flexible hoops (originally whalebone, later steel or plastic) that supports the skirt and makes it flare out dramatically from the waist. A crinoline was originally referred to a stiffened fabric used under skirts, but later came to mean the entire structured petticoat that held out the skirt.
With such flared bottoms, it became problematic for two women going in opposite directions to walk in a narrow street. The city attempted to solve this problem by ruling that the younger woman should give way to the older one. When our tour guide was telling this story, some middle aged women in our group were quick to make the comment that it was a stupid rule as no woman would like to admit that she is older than another (unless it is blatantly obvious).
St. Mary’s Church
There are many famous and important people buried in the church. But our tour guide said that there is one infamous German merchant in the olden times when men wore trousers and women wore skirts that is buried in the church entrance. I forgot the merchant’s name but somehow “Oto” stuck in my mind.
The story goes that Oto lived life to the fullest. He was a gambler, seeked out prostitute services and basically not one that you would call a god fearing person. Oto’s loose lifestyle eventually caught up with him and contracted syphilis.
Fearing his days would soon be over, he convinced the priest to be buried right at the church’s entrance. When he was finally laid to rest at the entrance, the church’s priest noticed that Oto’s friends were laughing.
Intrigued, the priest asked Oto’s friends what was funny about the entire thing. The friends responded that even in death, Oto has not changed his ways. Because now he was buried in a location where he could look into the skirts of all women that entered the church.
How To Get There
Tallinn has an international airport, code TLL. From the airport, we took bus number 2 to our hotel which was at Balti Jaam. Balti Jaam is the train station located just outside the Old Town to the Northwest.
After exiting the airport’s baggage claim area, turn right and follow the signs that indicate public transportation. This will take you to the bus stops. There is a ticket vending station just before the building’s sliding door that leads to the outside.
Tallinn also has a port. Ferries from Helsinki, Finland arrive here. The port is walking distance from the Old Town.
Visitors can also reach Tallinn from the other Baltic countries (Latvia and Lithuania). We rode the Elron train from Tallinn to Riga, Latvia which also continued on to Vilnius, Lithuania.
Where To Stay
Definitely stay within the Old Town if you can. The tour groups normally arrive around 10 AM and will be gone around 3 PM. The Old Town then becomes a quieter place.
Though most of the shops and museums will close after the tour groups leave, this would be your opportunity to take photographs without having to wait a while to avoid being photobombed. It is just a much nicer atmosphere.
Most of the cafes and restaurants in the Old Town remain open too. Plus the Old Town Square continues to be lively and busy.
If you cannot score a place within the Old Town, try to get one nearby so you can just walk over when you need to. We stayed at Go Hotel Shnelli on our first night and it was a just 10 minute walk to the Old Town Square.
How To Get Around
Old Town Tallinn has a small footprint. We were able to walk from one end to another in about 20 minutes. Buses and trams are available if you need to go outside of the Old Town. There is also Bolt rideshare.
Expected Expenses
There is no entry fee to enter the Old Town. However, there are entry fees to visit most churches and museums. Use Google Maps to find out the entry fees in advance.
Getting the Tallinn Card may be cost effective if you want to visit a lot of attractions in one day. How to figure out if the card is cost effective was described earlier.
Summary
Tallinn’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a definite must visit if you are in Estonia or even in Helsinki, Finland. The Old Town has a medieval feel with beautifully preserved structures that were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. Even some of the restaurant staff members get into the medieval spirit through their dress attire.
The Old Town is very walkable because of its compact size. Most of the streets still have cobbled stones.
There are many churches and museums in the Old Town, enough for a day or two. Or you can just be content in just hanging out at the Old Town Square drinking your favorite beverage, sample traditional Estonian food and just watch the world go by. Whatever you decide to do in Old Town Tallinn, for sure you will look back at it as a place worth the visit.