Where to stay in Tallinn

The Old Town is the oldest part of Tallinn. Its 13th-century street plan of medieval and Hanseatic origin survives inside the town walls on 113 hectares, and UNESCO has listed it as World Heritage since 1997. Raekoja plats, the Town Hall Square, lies in a pedestrian area of 30 streets and squares.

Around it lies Kesklinn, the central district on Tallinn Bay, with the Rotermann Quarter under 1 km from Town Hall Square. Kalamaja, a subdistrict of Põhja-Tallinn, starts just northwest of the walls on the coast; Telliskivi Creative City occupies the former Baltic Railway Company factory there. Kadriorg, about 3 km from the Old Town, takes its name from the Baroque palace built for the Russian empress Catherine between 1718 and 1725, now the Kadriorg Art Museum, with the Kumu art museum in the park. Pirita, a district of its own about 7 km out, has a sandy beach and the ruins of a 15th-century convent.

Tallinn sets its parking fees by city council regulation, in the version in force since 1 September 2025. Public paid parking is split into four zones. The Old Town zone costs EUR 0.10 a minute and the Downtown zone EUR 0.08 a minute, both around the clock. The City Centre zone, which surrounds them as far as streets such as Põhja puiestee, Kotzebue, Kopli, Telliskivi, L. Koidula and J. Poska, costs EUR 0.025 a minute on weekdays from 07:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 08:00 to 15:00, and is free on Sundays. Pirita's zone is a single car park, charged only in summer.

Show the start time on a parking clock or a note on the windscreen and the first 15 minutes are free; the fee is due after that. Drivers pay by SMS to 1902 with the registration number and the zone name, through the Pargi.ee app if their phone has no Estonian contract, or at a meter that takes coins and gives no change. The 15 free minutes do not apply in private car parks. An unpaid stay costs EUR 31, payable within 14 days.

The boundary streets belong to the paid area in full, and streets beyond the zones are free public parking, according to the city. Kalamaja and Kadriorg sit on the edge of the City Centre zone, so the rate can change from one street to the next; check the city's zone map for the address before arrival. GetCar's car rental page for Tallinn compares cars for the trip.

A city government regulation of 2012, in the version in force since July 2022, keeps a pedestrian area in the Old Town where motor traffic is allowed only by exception. It covers streets such as Raekoja plats, Viru between Aia and Vene, Pikk between Rataskaevu and Pagari, Suur-Karja, Harju and Vana turg. Vehicles may serve businesses there from 06:00 to 10:00, and may reach a building only for a short time, when unavoidable, with a permit from the Tallinn Transport Department, which decides within five working days.

Between 15 November and 31 March the Transport Department may ban parking from midnight to 06:00 on even dates in one part of the Old Town and on odd dates in the other, for street cleaning, announced by signs. For a winter stay in the Old Town, ask the host how guests with a car arrive and where the car spends the night.

Estonia has no tourist tax. The Local Taxes Act, in the version in force since 1 January 2025, lists the taxes a municipality may levy, and none is charged on accommodation, so no Estonian city can add one in 2026. The question of a tourist tax has come up before; in November 2024 the ministry said it was not on its agenda and Tallinn opposed it.

Under the Tourism Act the host registers every guest before the stay, as a rule from a passport or identity card. Citizens of Estonia, the EEA and Switzerland give their name, date of birth, citizenship, country of residence, the dates and purpose of the trip; other guests also give the type, number and issuing country of their travel document. The host keeps the record for two years and hands it to the Police and Border Guard Board on request.

Pirita's public paid zone, the car park at Jõesuu tee 3 and 5, is charged only from 15 May to 15 September, from 10:00 to 22:00, at EUR 0.01 a minute. In the City Centre zone a Sunday arrival parks free until Monday morning.

Non-EU travellers arriving from outside the Schengen area pass the EU Entry/Exit System, fully operational since 10 April 2026, at their first Schengen border, and may stay 90 days in any 180. Compare prices on this page before booking.

A first visit on foot: the Old Town.

The Old Town a walk away with the airport tram close by: the city centre and Rotermann Quarter.

A longer stay at the edge of the cheapest central zone: Kalamaja and Telliskivi.

Parkland and museums: Kadriorg.

A summer stay by the sea with a car: Pirita.