The Travel Nut

Tallinn, an underrated stop on our two week cruise around Northern Europe and Scandinavia I would say! If you want to read the whole blog (be warned, it is huge!) you can read that by clicking here.

I really enjoyed wandering around here. The Old-Town is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And I loved seeing the ‘new’ mixed in with the old.

Our only plan in Tallinn was to wander around the town. It was so beautiful. The boys really didn’t appreciate me stopping every few minutes to take yet another photo! It’s a close call between here and Visby of where I took the most photos! (If you don’t like looking at photos of buildings, you can skip straight over this section!)

We wandered slightly outside the old town initially and came across a park/green space. It had a little river flowing through it and it was lovely watching some ducklings on the river bank. We also came across an outdoor gym, which the boys enjoyed. The only advice I would give you about the park area – DO NOT use the portaloo toilets that are dotted around!

From the park we came across the back of Toompea Castle. From here, we followed the path up and arrived at the castle and the Kuberneriaed (Governor’s garden in English), known as Toompea castle garden.

Next to Toompea Castle is The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of Tallinn is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in central Tallinn, built on Toompea Hill. I am not religious in the slightest, but I could not help but admire the beautiful architecture. You are allowed to enter the Cathedral, to admire it and to light a candle for loved ones, which we did.

Not far from the Castle and Cathedral, through a few winding streets is a famous viewpoint. This gives you a gorgeous view over the old town. If your looking for a new Instagram picture, here’s your chance! At the viewpoint there was also a man playing music and a stall selling fresh fruit and juice.

From here, we wandered back down towards the main square of the old town and stopped for some lunch in an Italian restaurant. The owner was Italian, which gave me a small opportunity to attempt to practice my very basic Italian knowledge! The food was absolutely amazing, and they serve huge portions, I would highly recommend eating here during your visit. (I cannot believe I didn’t take photos of our amazing food!).

After lunch we decided to visit the KGB prison cells. This was quite a somber experience. The exhibition they have created really gives you a small sense of how horrifying it would have been for the prisoners here. There is a heavy feeling that hangs in the air there. If you like history, I would definitely recommend paying this a visit.

From here, we continued the rest of the afternoon by just wandering through the streets, admiring the architecture, cobbled floors and green spaces.

If you’d like more information about any of the destinations visited, or want to book your own cruise or holiday, please either comment on this blog, or you can contact me via my page Lisa Craddock Experience It Now Travel.