"Tallinn - Medieaval town" Tallinn by jonkb

Tallinn Travel Guide: 1,740 reviews and 4,701 photos

General info

Most of what's to see in Tallin is within the old town walls, but that doesn't mean that the city is limited to that area. It's Estonias largest city and it's capital, and if you're going somewhere else in Estonia, chances are you'll be traveling through Tallin on your way.

History

Tallin hasn't always been called Tallin. Reval was the name the Germans used. Tallin actually means the danes town. Pointing to the fact that it was the danish who first settled a town here. After the danish the teutonic order took over. After the germans the Swedes and the russians had a go at ruling the town. Estonians proclaimed their own state between the two world wars, before being dregged into the second world war by both Russia and Germany, who both occupied Estonia. The russians did not leave untill the 1990s.

Why was I here

My uncle celebrated his 60th birthday. On that excuse he invited his and his wifes family to Tallin (he lives in Oslo). His wife family is quite large. His own is his son, my parents and me, so we felt pretty much forced to go, and since we were there we could just as well stay a few days.

Last visit to Tallinn: Jun 2006
Intro Updated Mar 26, 2007
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Reviews (15)

Singing bowl Off The Beaten Path (1)

This is the site of Estonias national song festival. It was here, in 1988, the singing revolution had it's high point.... more travel advice

A well to sacrifice in Things to Do (11)

There is a well the Tallinners used to sacrifice cats in. Legend has it that a spirit that lived in the well demanded... more travel advice

Museum of Photography Things to Do (11)

This small, sligthly claustrophobic, museum is actually quite good. It houses a collection of cameras and film from the... more travel advice

Walk the walls Things to Do (11)

You can walk inside the western walls. The walls have some towers you can walk into. All the way to the roof, which... more travel advice

Favorites (3)
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boson May 12, 2009 at 6:54 AM

Few corrections: "Vana Toomas" not "Vaana Toomas" ;) and... i'm quite sure that the old man (to whom Toomas has to say that Tallinn isn't finished) is from the lake Ülemiste not from the sea. :)