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Europe Estonia Tallinn Top 10 Estonian Open Air Museum

Overview

Estonian Open Air Museum

The guide was updated: 2024-09-17

This museum lets you travel back in time to the rural Estonia of old. The vast, forested park is filled with thatched, 18-20th-century farm buildings, windmills, a wooden chapel and a village school, with staff demonstrating how people lived and worked in times past. An ideal place for families to take a picnic and escape from city life.

Useful Information

Address: Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum, Vabaõhumuuseumi tee 12, Tallinn
Opening hours: Museum park: daily 10am–8pm. The building are open until 6pm. Everything closes an hour earlier in the winter
Website: evm.ee/en
Phone: +372 654 9100
Email: info@evm.ee

Our travel guides are free to read and explore online. If you want to get your own copy, the full travel guide for this destination is available to you offline* to bring along anywhere or print for your trip.

*this will be downloaded as a PDF.

Price

€4,95

Purchase

Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin & its Tower

Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin & its Tower

The Medieval church that stands at the centre of Toompea hill is one of the county’s most fascinating historical attractions. Traditionally catering to the nobility, it is filled with spectacular, wood-carved artwork and elaborate coats of arms. Visitors can climb the 69-metre baroque bell-tower, added in 1779, for amazing views of the city.

Estonian History Museum — Great Guild Hall

Estonian History Museum — Great Guild Hall

This extensive museum presents Estonia's history from prehistoric times right up to the end of the 20th century. Films and interactive displays show how people here lived, fought and survived over the last 11,000 years. Children can look for the museum’s very own dragon, displayed for centuries on the building’s pillar.

Kiek in de Kök

Kiek in de Kök

The name of this massive, 38-metre-high cannon tower and museum of the town’s defences literally means “peek into the Kitchen". It was so high that Medieval guards joked they could see right down the chimneys and into the kitchens of the houses below. Make sure to pay a visit to the top floor cafe for beautiful Old Town views.

Kohtuotsa Viewing Platform

Kohtuotsa Viewing Platform

On the east corner of Toompea hill sits quite a spacious viewing platform with unforgettable views to the medieval neighbourhood against the backdrop of its more modern district. From here you can see most of the Tallinn's spires, even the highest of them, the Tallinn TV Tower in the distance. During the summer season outdoor cafe and dance evenings take over the space.

Town Hall Square

Town Hall Square

From this spot, with a little stretching and bending, you can see the tops of all five of Old Town's spires. Today, the square remains the social heart of the city, a venue for open-air concerts, handicraft fairs and Medieval markets. Each winter, it's home to the town's Christmas tree — a tradition that stretches back to 1441 — and a buzzing Christmas Market. In spring it hosts the Old Town Days festival, a modern version of a medieval carnival, where traditions from the Middle Ages are kept alive.

Seaplane Harbour

Seaplane Harbour

With the help of modern multimedia, the Seaplane Harbour in the wooden architecture suburb Kalamaja tells exciting stories about the Estonian maritime and military history promising a "sea full of excitement" for the whole family in an area that would take nearly 2 million A4 paper sheets laid down side by side. The museum’s display that comprises of more than a couple of hundred large exhibits revitalizes the colourful history of Estonia. In the outdoor area, visitors can tour a collection of historic ships, including the Suur Tõll, Europe's largest steam-powered icebreaker.

Kadriorg Art Museum

Kadriorg Art Museum

A trip to Tallinn isn’t complete without a visit to this magnificent northern Baroque palace, built by Peter the Great for his wife, Catherine I, in the early 18th century. Designed by Italian architect Niccolo Michetti, the grandiose palace and surrounding manicured gardens are a humbling example of Tsarist extravagance, but just as important a reason to visit is that this is also home to the foreign art collection of the Art Museum of Estonia.

Kumu Art Museum

Kumu Art Museum

The Kumu Art Museum is a modern architectural masterpiece. Curves and sharp edges mark out the copper and limestone structure, which is built into the side of a limestone cliff. The museum program features art from the 18th century until today, Estonian art until the II World War, art of the Soviet era and a temporary exhibition program of contemporary art.

Tallinn TV Tower

Tallinn TV Tower

Built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and extensively revamped in 2012, Tallinn’s 314-metre TV Tower is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. In addition to the panoramic views from its observation deck at the 170-metre level, visitors will be treated to a real TV studio tour and an interactive exhibition. Adrenaline lovers should check out the Walk on the Edge experience.

Estonian Open Air Museum

Estonian Open Air Museum

This museum lets you travel back in time to the rural Estonia of old. The vast, forested park is filled with thatched, 18-20th-century farm buildings, windmills, a wooden chapel and a village school, with staff demonstrating how people lived and worked in times past. An ideal place for families to take a picnic and escape from city life.

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