Tallinn Old Town Shore Excursion

This tour is for guests who want to spend their entire port day inside Tallinn's Old Town rather than splitting time with a site outside the city.

Your guide meets you at the pier and drives around the medieval city walls to Toompea, the Upper Old Town, where the walking tour begins. Vanalinn, as locals call the Old Town, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, recognized as one of the most complete surviving medieval trading cities in northern Europe, and your guide explains the layered German, Scandinavian, and Russian influences visible in its architecture.

You walk the cobblestone streets beneath Toompea Castle, whose oldest fortifications date to the 13th century even though the pink Baroque facade seen today was added in the 18th century, when the site became the seat of Estonia's Russian governors. In Lossi Plats, or Palace Square, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral has stood since 1900, its onion domes and richly decorated interior a striking contrast to the older Lutheran architecture nearby.

From Palace Square you continue to the Gothic St Mary's Cathedral, known locally as the Toomkirik or Dome Church, Estonia's main Lutheran church and historically the church of its German noble families. Inside, funeral coats of arms from the 17th through 20th centuries line the walls above burial stones dating as far back as the 13th century; guests who climb the bell tower are rewarded with sweeping views over the city's rooftops. Note that your guide cannot lead you through the church during services, generally Sunday mornings and at midday daily.

Descending into the Lower Town, you look back up at towers and steeples rising above red tile roofs before reaching the Holy Ghost Church, which retains much of its 14th century appearance, and the Gothic Town Hall, completed in 1404 and the only surviving Gothic town hall in northern Europe. Your tour finishes on Katariina Gild street, the Old Town's most picturesque lane, where craft workshops set inside 15th to 17th century houses let you watch glassware, ceramics, and textiles being made by hand before your guide returns you to the pier.