Tallinn ended up being one of the biggest surprises of our 2023 travels. Estonia wasn't a destination we'd spent years dreaming about visiting, but after a few days there we were already talking about coming back.
We spent three nights in Tallinn, using Hotel Telegraaf in the Old Town as our base while exploring the city. Along the way we toured the historic center, visited the Kiek in de Kök Museum and Bastion Tunnels, and headed up the Tallinn TV Tower for views over the city and coastline. Like most cities we visit, a lot of our time was also spent wandering, drinking coffee, and finding good places to eat.
One of the more memorable mornings was spent at an outdoor sauna park on the edge of the Baltic Sea. The routine was simple: sit in a blazing hot sauna, run outside, plunge into the freezing sea, then repeat until your body stopped questioning your life choices. As first-timers, we weren't entirely convinced this counted as relaxation, but by the end we understood why people swear by it.
The food was another pleasant surprise. Estonia's cuisine felt noticeably different from what we'd experienced elsewhere in Europe, with menus featuring ingredients like reindeer, elk, wild mushrooms, northern fish, and hearty rye breads. It's the kind of food that makes sense once you realize how far north you are. We also met up with our friend Graeme for dinner and a visit to a local bakery that absolutely lived up to the hype. Between the unique local ingredients and a surprisingly strong café culture, we found ourselves enjoying the food scene more than expected.
What surprised us most about Tallinn, though, wasn't the Old Town. It was Telliskivi Creative City, a former industrial area that's been transformed into one of the coolest neighborhoods in the city. We spent hours wandering through independent design shops, grabbing coffee at Fika, and soaking up the creative energy of the area. It felt modern, local, and a little different from the parts of Tallinn most tourists spend their time visiting.
Tallinn is genuinely one of Europe's most underrated cities. It's compact, easy to explore, and manages to combine medieval history with a surprisingly modern culture. If we returned tomorrow, Telliskivi would probably be the first place we'd head back to.