Fall colors charm in Tallinn's Old Town

Photos from Tallinn's Old Town by Sirpa Pääkkönen

From Helsinki Finland it takes two hours to get to Tallinn by boat. So near but at the same time you’ll get to a very different world. The reason is history. Tallinn is a medieval city and has a very beautiful but quite small Old Town. Once it was surrounded by walls and there are still quite many old towers from the middle age.

The Old Town is beautiful in all times of the year. Just now the autumn colors make it colorful, bright and charming even the weather can be cloudy and grey.

Tallinn was founded in 1248, but the earliest human settlements are over 5,000 years old. So it is one of the oldest capital cities of Northern Europe. Due to its strategic location, the city became a major trade hub, especially from the 14th to the 16th century, when it grew in importance as part of the Hanseatic League.

Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a  Unesco World Heritage Site.

The Old Town is a major tourist attraction in Tallinn. Others are the Seaplane Harbour of Estonian Maritime Museum, the Tallinn Zoo, Kadriorg Park, and the Estonian Open Air Museum. In Tallinn there are more than 60 museums and galleries.