What can you expect from a free walking tour in Tallinn Old Town?
On the last day of February 2020 I joined an afternoon walking tour. The tour was organized by Estadventures – depending on the day they rank #1 or #2 on Tripadvisor for Tallinn tours so expectations were high.
So… what was it like?
Where do Tallinn free walking tours start?
Walking tours in Tallinn Old Town start near Tourist Information Centre, on the corner of Harju street and Niguliste street, quite close to Town Hall Square.
From Vabaduse väljak (Freedom Square) it takes just 3 minutes to get there and I had it planned minute by minute – to be there as on time as possible!
Our guide was waiting outside Tourist Info Centre with blue Estadventures’ umbrella. some 10 people were already there at 13.59.
The guide asked where I was from and he seemed not that surprised by hearing „Tallinn“.
Just seconds after I had arrived, a group of Spanish eRasmus students also joined us. That day we started and finished the tour with a group of 17 people – just right number of people for a small group so everyone could hear the guide. It must be double or triple that during high season.
First introductions
At first we walked to a quieter spot across the street and our guide introduced himself. Jaakob, history teacher by profession. That set the bar for expectations a notch higher and he delivered for sure.
First he summarized Estonian history in less than 10 minutes. That gave context to everything else during the tour and got a couple of laughs from the group too.
Then we walked to our second stop on Vabaduse väljak or in English, Freedom Square.
Stop at Freedom Square
We stopped under War of Independence Victory Column to hear more about Vabaduse väljak / Freedom Square and all of the purposes it served over hundreds of years.
For example, one point hundreds of years ago this was a marketplace just outside city gates.
All consumables that could not be traded behind the city walls for some reason were traded there. Large bales of hay and so on.
In the end of Soviet era the hill behind the cross was a popular place for a small music market. Mainly for trading imported vinyls and cassettes with punk music that was frowned upon in Soviet Union as Western influence. As the authorities approached sellers, the sellers ran away and this happened over and over again…
Then we walked to Virgin Tower
The legends about it really came to live on tour and even just these few stories would have made the tour worthwhile.
By the way, could you imagine trying to attack these walls in medieval times while being shot at with arrows and later cannons?
Mysterious monks
On to these monks. Apparently they symbolize something else than historic accuracy. However they do make good photo opportunities near Virgin Tower.
By the way, this is the happiest faceless monk statue I have seen.
What if I walk away and look back? There’s two of them!
The parlament building and Tall Hermann tower
Every day Estonian flag is raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. Both times the national anthem is played. Jaakob explained in detail why the Parliament building has the colour it has and told us the story of Estonian flag's origin.
Next stop, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. This 120 years old building is one of the major tourist attractions in Tallinn Old Town.
The staff were not keen on people taking photos and I was asked to put the phone away the moment I took one photo of impressive ceilings there.
Tallinn viewing platforms
Then we continued through colorful streets with two brief stops on to Patkuli viewing platform.
You may have seen photos of Tallinn Old Town with this iconic perspective, these are taken from Patkuli.
It started snowing within minutes! Jaakob gave us a bit of time to enjoy this view. Then he suggested we should see amber in souvenir shops nearby to warm up a bit.
We also discovered the narrowest street in Tallinn Old Town.
It started snowing again when we got to the second viewing platform, Kohtuotsa.
The iconic Viru Hotel building is barely visible through falling snow.
More interesting than the shape of the building is the story of hidden floor and KGB museum inside.
Jaakob once again gave us good overview of it and now visiting KGB museum is on my to-visit list now.
By this point we had about half an hour till the end of tour so we started making our way back to the Town Hall Square.
One really interesting stop was by the well with a wheel on Rataskaevu street.
Even though it was one of just three wells in the Old Town in medieval times, it created quite an havoc and there were interesting ways of dealing with the troublesome well. Sadly, it didn’t end well. Pun intended.
Last stop – Town Hall Square
Our last stop was at Town Hall Square and Jaakob told us how one symbol of Tallinn, Old Toomas windflag got it’s name.
The two-hour tour finished exactly on time.
As free walking tour guides depend on tips it was time to thank the guide verbally and with euro notes. He stayed there for a while answering people’s questions. One question that I remember hearing from out group, „Where to find affordable vegan food in Tallinn?“ “Oh, you should go to Balti Jaam…”
Then I walked away to get a last photo of Town Hall Square.
It was a good tour and Jaakob definitely brought history teacher’s detailed insights with him. The stories were interesting and entertaining.
Thank you Jaakob and Estadventures!