Best Museums in Tallinn
I visited 38 museums in Tallinn, Estonia in 2024 — every one is rated below, best first, on my 0–3 scale (how I rate). 3 earned my top “don't miss” rating — start with Estonian Applied Art and Design Museum. 3 of them are free.
- 1.3
Estonian Applied Art and Design Museum
Don't miss · ~€8 ($8.80) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum of Estonian design, ceramics, glass, textiles, and furniture.
- 2.3
Estonian Museum of Architecture
Don't miss · ~€10 ($11.00) · Visited 2024 · I’d revisit“By far the best architecture museum I have been to”
Local architectural history explored through drawings & models in this museum in a former warehouse.
- 3.3
Kumu Art Museum
Don't miss · ~€14 ($15.40) · Visited 2024Award-winning 7-story museum completed in 2006 & showcasing some two centuries of Estonian art.
- 4.2
Estonian Maritime Museum
Worth a stop · ~€15 ($16.50) · Visited 2024 · I’d revisitEstonian Maritime Museum in Fat Margaret tower, with seafaring history and ship models.
- 5.2
Kadriorg Art Museum
Worth a stop · ~€12 ($13.20) · Visited 2024Foreign art museum in a baroque palace erected in the 18th century by Tsar Peter the Great.
- 6.2
Kiek in de Kök Museum
Worth a stop · ~€16 ($17.60) · Visited 2024Restored cannon tower from the 15th century, now museum with exhibits & tours of secret tunnels.
- 7.2
Maarjamäe Palace
Worth a stop · ~€11 ($12.10) · Visited 2024Historic venue with interpretive displays & artifacts related to Estonian culture & politics.
- 8.2
Museum of Puppetry Arts
Worth a stop · ~€12 ($13.20) · Visited 2024Puppet theater founded in 1952, with puppet museum & expanded repertoire of plays & musicals.
- 9.2
Seaplane Harbour – The Estonian Maritime Museum
Worth a stop · ~€20 ($22.00) · Visited 2024 · I’d revisit“Hard to describe the scale”
Maritime museum in early-20th-century seaplane hangars, with the submarine Lembit, the ice-breaker Suur Tõll, and a 16th-century shipwreck.
- 10.2
Song Festival Grounds
Worth a stop · Free · Visited 2024“Not much there, but an incredible amount of history”
Tallinn outdoor venue of the Estonian Song Festival, central to the Singing Revolution of 1988.
- 11.2
Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood
Worth a stop · ~€12 ($13.20) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on European chivalric orders, decorations, and heraldry.
- 12.2
The PROTO Invention Factory
Worth a stop · ~€14 ($15.40) · Visited 2024Tallinn interactive science and invention center in a former cable factory.
- 13.2
The Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
Worth a stop · ~€14 ($15.40) · Visited 2024Exhibits detailing the German & Soviet occupations from 1939 to 1991, including rusty prison doors.
- 14.1
Anton Hansen Tammsaare Museum
Interesting · ~€5 ($5.50) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum dedicated to Estonia's most famous novelist, A. H. Tammsaare.
- 15.1
Carved Stone Museum
Interesting · ~€10 ($11.00) · Visited 2024Open-air collection of Estonian carved stones, gravestones, and architectural fragments in Tallinn.
- 16.1
Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia
Interesting · Free · Visited 2024EKKM, an artist-run contemporary art museum in Tallinn's industrial Kalamaja district.
- 17.1
Eduard Vilde Museum
Interesting · ~€5 ($5.50) · Visited 2024Tallinn home museum of Estonian writer Eduard Vilde, in his preserved Kadriorg apartment.
- 18.1
Estonian Health Museum
Interesting · ~€12 ($13.20) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on the human body, anatomy, health, and medicine.
- 19.1
Estonian History Museum
Interesting · ~€13 ($14.30) · Visited 2024Museum in a 14th-century guild hall, with diverse artifacts related to Estonian history & culture.
- 20.1
Estonian Jewish Museum
Interesting · ~€15 ($16.50) · Visited 2024“Not on Museum Card”
Tallinn museum on the history of Jewish life in Estonia and the Holocaust.
- 21.1
Estonian Theatre and Music Museum
Interesting · ~€11 ($12.10) · Visited 2024Permanent exhibit with hands-on elements, exploring Estonian musical, literary & cultural heritage.
- 22.1
Film Museum
Interesting · ~€11 ($12.10) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on the history of Estonian cinema, with film props, posters, and screenings.
- 23.1
Fotografiska Tallinn
Interesting · ~€13 ($14.30) · Visited 2024“Not on Museum Card”
Tallinn outpost of Stockholm's Fotografiska, with rotating contemporary photography exhibitions.
- 24.1
Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre
Interesting · ~€7 ($7.70) · Visited 2024Tallinn photography center showing documentary work by Estonian and international photographers.
- 25.1
Kalamaja Museum
Interesting · ~€7 ($7.70) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on the local history of the Kalamaja neighborhood and its workers' wooden housing.
- 26.1
KGB Prison Cells in Tallinn
Interesting · ~€9 ($9.90) · Visited 2024 · I’d revisit“Intense”
Preserved cells in the former KGB headquarters with exhibits on Soviet repression in Estonia.
- 27.1
Maarjamäe Stables
Interesting · ~€5 ($5.50) · Visited 2024Former imperial-era stables in Maarjamäe, now part of the Estonian History Museum complex.
- 28.1
Mikkel Museum
Interesting · ~€6 ($6.60) · Visited 2024Storied museum with Western graphic art & Chinese porcelain from Estonian collector Johannes Mikkel.
- 29.1
Museum of Photography
Interesting · ~€7 ($7.70) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on the history of photography in Estonia, with vintage cameras and prints.
- 30.1
Niguliste Museum and Viewing Platform
Interesting · ~€14 ($15.40) · Visited 2024“Not on Museum Card”
Museum of ecclesiastical art in a landmark 13th-century church building restored after WWII bombing.
- 31.1
Peter the Great House Museum
Interesting · ~€5 ($5.50) · Visited 2024Modest Tallinn cottage where Peter the Great stayed during visits, preserved with imperial-era furnishings.
- 32.1
Pirita Convent Ruins
Interesting · ~€2 ($2.20) · Visited 2024Preserved ruins of a 15th century monastery managed by Birgitine nuns also used for outdoor events.
- 33.1
Tallinn City Life Museum
Interesting · ~€8 ($8.80) · Visited 2024City history displays, including a notable porcelain collection, in a medieval merchant's home.
- 34.1
Tallinna Rahvaste Muuseum
Interesting · ~€4 ($4.40) · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on Estonia's ethnic minorities and their cultural traditions.
- 35.1
The Banned Books Museum
Interesting · Free · Visited 2024Tallinn museum on censorship and books that have been banned around the world.
- 36.1
The Estonian Museum of Natural History
Interesting · ~€10 ($11.00) · Visited 2024Museum on Estonia's geology, flora, and fauna, with a strong taxidermy collection.
- 37.0
Mati Unt Museum
Skip · ~€5 ($5.50) · Visited 2024“No english”
Tallinn museum on Estonian writer and theater director Mati Unt.
- 38.0
The Kai Art Center
Skip · ~€10 ($11.00) · Visited 2024Contemporary art center in Tallinn's Noblessner harbor district, in a former submarine factory.
See also: all cities · every museum in NYC, ranked · the full map