Tallinn with children

Every time we hear the name of our neighbor Estonia, our little sister from the Baltics, makes our hearts flutter. Still little known, mysterious, shrouded in myths and like a small hidden gem. So, this time, let’s get our backpacks ready and visit Estonia’s capital Tallinn with kids!

Tallinn with children- Travel 4 Kids® in cooperation with Visit Tallinn has prepared a comprehensive guide for you with kids to the wonderful city of Tallinn.

Getting to Tallinn with kids – TIPS & TRICKS

Tip 1

A great way to get to know Tallinn is to buy a Tallinn Card in advance, which allows you to visit popular museums and use public transport for free. One card per adult includes two children under 7 for free – isn’t that great?

Tip 2

Take advantage of the Tallinn Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour to see the sights of Tallinn.

Tip 3

In Tallinn’s Old Town, you can find three incredible ice cream shops – Gelato Ladies, Cortile and Baskin Robbins – offering homemade and delicious ice cream. Definitely worth a try!

Tallinn with children – what to see?

Tallinn is famous for its very large, old and well-preserved Old Town. If your family enjoys walking along the stone walls, climbing the towers, walking through the old streets and visiting the ancient museums, make sure you visit Kiek in de Kök. Here you can climb the Helleman Tower, which is accessed via a two-hundred-metre-long path along the castle wall.

If you’re interested in ships, the Fat Margaret Museum tells the story of how ships were built in ancient times, takes you from sailing ships to steam-powered vessels, and introduces you to Estonia’s largest cargo, fishing and passenger ships. And if you’re interested in learning more about Estonian history, the Tallinn City Museum is a must-visit, where you’ll learn about the history of Estonia and Tallinn from ancient times to the 20th century.

Tallinn with children – museums for kids

Estonian Children’s Literature Centre

First of all, visit the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre. You’ll find endless children’s books in this charming old house at the end of Pikk Street. There’s a reading room, a book exhibition, a library and plenty of space for children’s activities and games. Check out the events, there are lots of events for the little ones in the mornings, meetings with writers who tell interesting stories and play games.

Puppet Theatre Museum

After you’ve read the books, let’s go to the Puppet Theatre Museum – free with your Tallinn Card. The Museum of Puppetry Art invites young and old to explore the magical world of puppetry. Here you will not only learn about the history of puppetry, but you will also see many puppets, sets and houses from around the world. You will also learn about the use of air, fire and water in theatre. Isn’t it mysterious?

Estonian Theatre and Music Museum

After getting to know everyone’s favorite puppet theatre, let’s head to the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum. The main exhibition, entitled “Stories and Songs”, presents Estonian history through the prism of music and theatre. Everyone will enjoy this museum, as there are lots of hands-on activities, audio and video activities and visual material. So, you will hear, see, touch and combine the experience into one wonderful tale.

Health Museum

And you can also visit the Health Museum, which is also free with your Tallinn Card. If you don’t have it, advance tickets to the Health Museum are available. Discover the secrets of the human body. Enter this space in two carefully restored medieval buildings in Tallinn’s Old Town. Get a full view of the human interior with multifaceted exhibits. Interact with exciting electronic and mechanical interactive exhibits. Visit the permanent exhibition “Heart to Heart About Your Body” to learn about healthy choices.

Miiamilla Children’s Museum

The Miiamilla Children’s Museum offers fun, creative activities for children aged 3-11. Anyone visiting Tallinn with children will definitely want to add this family-friendly museum to their list. In addition to hands-on exhibits based on the theme of friendship, the museum has its own café and a large outdoor playground.

Open Museum of Estonia

After learning about history in museums, let’s head outdoors to the Open Estonian Museum, which takes you back to local villages from the 18th and 20th century. Wooded parks, ancient buildings, cattle sheds, historic mills, wooden temples and schools, and locals dressed in national costumes will take you back to the Estonia of old. Here you can buy handicrafts and taste local food and drink. The Open Estonian Museum is located in the Rocca al Mare area, which is ideal for family picnics on the grass to get away from the noise and rush of the city.

Tallinn Zoo

And if you want to see lots of animals and love them, make sure you visit Tallinn Zoo. By the way, you can even visit the zoo for free with your Tallinn Card! The zoo is located in the forest of Veskimetsa Park and offers you the largest number of animal species in Northern Europe.

It is home to African elephants, rhinoceroses, royal predators, playful primates and other exotic and unknown species. The zoo is home to a large world of polar bears. It also boasts the largest collection of goats and sheep in the world! And if you like birds, you’ll find a huge number of eagles, owls, vultures and cranes. Tallinn Zoo is home to more than 8,000 animals representing 400 species and subspecies from Australia to Alaska. You can visit any day of the week except Monday, when the indoor exhibitions are closed. And if the ticket office has already closed, know that you can wander around for a few hours and enjoy the animals getting ready for their night’s rest.

PROTO Invention Factory

Maybe you are an amazing scientist and inventor? Maybe you are going to surpass Einstein with your inventions? Then you must visit the PROTO Invention Factory, free with your Tallinn Card. If you don’t have a card, buy tickets to the Invention Factory in advance.

Can you imagine walking on the ocean floor in the center of the Earth? Or maybe you’d like to ride in the world’s first car, steam train or hot air balloon? You can do it with the help of PROTO – virtual reality tools. Only here, virtual reality, science and world fiction come together. This place for families combines entertainment and education – what you might not experience in the real world, you can do here. Alongside the big science activities, there are also little inventors’ discovery areas for smaller discoveries.

Energy Discovery Centre

And if you want to learn about the rules of physics through games, visit the Energy Discovery Centre – free with your Tallinn Card – in a 100-year-old power plant. Visitors can enjoy thrilling lightning shows, static electricity demonstrations and more than 100 hands-on exhibits and planetarium films.

Tallinn with children- activities for kids

Super Skypark

Access a unique football field-sized jump zone and enjoy active activities perfect for adrenaline-fueled adults and the smallest members of the family.

Buy a ticket and take advantage of attractions such as Europe’s largest trampoline area, 17 party rooms with panoramic views, a 10 m high climbing area with slides, a play area for the little ones and much more. Jump in two 1,500 m2 trampoline arenas. Climb and slide all day on the climbing frame, which is 10 meters high and the equivalent of a four floor house.

Don’t miss the 7-metre-long tubular slide, where you’ll instantly feel the free fall, the four-lane wave slide, where you can race your friends, the soft-ball cannon and the ball pit.

Tallinn eye

Get a bird’s eye view of the city with this city cent0re attraction. See sights such as the Tallinn TV Tower and the red and white chimney of the Kristiania boiler house. Take in stunning views of the city, the sea, Lake Ülemiste and the airport.

Especially beautiful in the evening. Tickets for the observation wheel can be purchased in advance.

Parks and playgrounds with kids

• You can admire the city of Tallinn from the rooftop promenade of the new cruise terminal, where there are leisure areas for everyone to enjoy.
• The Pirita promenade stretches to Pirita Beach, passing Kadriorg Park, Tallinn Song Festival Square and the Maarjamäe History Centre. In addition to pedestrian paths, there are also paths for runners, skaters and cyclists with sea views. There are also plenty of playgrounds and sports grounds along the way.
• Tondiraba Park is the largest and most modern park in the Baltics, covering 29 hectares of green space and recreational facilities. The park’s recreational areas are arranged around the forest to avoid damaging the park’s species diversity. Tondiraba Park has the largest sports and playground in the Baltic States, covering more than 5.7 hectares. A total of 10 kilometres of hiking, jogging and forest trails can be found in the park. In addition, there is a skateboard park, a pumptrack, dog parks, hammocks, barbecues…

We sincerely thank our friends at the Tallinn Tourist Information Centre for their cooperation in preparing a comprehensive guide to Tallinn.

Photos: Visit Tallinn, Energy Discovery center, Museum of Puppetry arts, Anete Toming, Kadi-Liis Koppel, Maret Põldveer-Turay, Anette Konksi.

Travelling in neighboring country Latvia Riga with children, Family holidays in the Gauja National Park, Ventspils with Children, Jurmala with children.

This article is an original article prepared by Travel 4 Kids®. Reproduction and use without permission are strictly prohibited.

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