Exhausting Your Children Can Save Your Estonian Vacation
Text Stewart Johnson Photos Visit Tallinn / Kaupo Kalda, Stewart Johnson, Andrei Chertkov, Toolbox Estonia / Tõnu Tunnel & Virgo Haan
Reidi Road features playgrounds, cycling and running paths, as well as magnificent sea views right next to the passenger terminals.
Vacationing in Estonia really is as wonderful as everyone says, but if you have kids with you, you certainly don’t want to spend all your time at the hundreds of quality new playgrounds throughout the country. We’ve compiled a list of fun, family-oriented activities that still let the adults see a lot of the country, listed in order of how exhausted the kids will be, and how fascinating the parents will find it.
Estonian Open Air Museum
In first place is the Estonian Open Air Museum, located just past the Rocca al Mare section of Tallinn. Situated in a forest of approximately 75 hectares, visiting this museum is a full-day activity. With over 80 buildings to visit, your kids will be exhausted! The Open Air Museum is a reconstruction of 18th and 19th-century rural Estonian village life. See how food was produced, including live animals such as sheep, and horses (those are for riding, not eating!). Yes, you can hire a horse-drawn carriage at this museum. And there are a few rather large windmills, too. As the ancient Estonian proverb that I just now made up says, windmills captured the collective sighs of Estonians, and turned them into flour.
There are various playgrounds featuring old technology throughout the museum grounds, including massive slingshots that your kids can actually use with bean bags. Depending on which day you visit, you might get to experience one of the museum’s very fun—and educational—theme days. Many of these often include scavenger hunts and orienteering games.
For those with younger children, wagons are available for rent, as are bicycles for families with older children. The walking paths and trails throughout the entire complex are very wide, and very clean. The ticket office is open from 10:00–17:00 except on Mondays, while the park itself remains open until 19:00.
Tallinn Zoo
Tallinn Zoo is more than just a display of over 350 different species, 47 of which are endangered. It’s a zoo museum as well. It has the most modern and innovative exhibits, while also preserving a small portion of the bleak exhibits from a past era, so you can see how far the zoo has progressed, as well as the living environments of its residents.
Tiger Valley is the newest and most impressive installation at Tallinn Zoo. It’s so new in fact that it’s not quite finished, but it is very much open! And what makes this part of the zoo so special? There are tiger walkways that go over the visitors’ heads! If you’re lucky, you can stand under a tiger as it walks over you. Or go to the Rainforest Restaurant just around the corner, and enjoy a tasty lunch as a tiger walks by your window.
Tallinn Zoo is also an interactive zoo. This doesn’t mean you can place your child inside the hippopotamus enclosure (there are signs specifically telling you not to do that!). This means in many places there are special windows where you can see the animals up close, such as the polar bear exhibit. You can watch them swim underwater through the glass. Or walk right up to a lynx and lock eyes with it with just five centimeters between you. Of course children can interact directly with the animals at the rather sizable petting zoo.
Tallinn Zoo also has wagon rentals for pulling smaller children or tired husbands, and there are cafés throughout the premises. Opening hours are daily from 9:00 until 20:00 during the summer months, but keep in mind that some of the buildings, such as the Tropical House, close a bit earlier.
Reidi tee
You probably walked right by the third item on our list when you got off the ferry in Tallinn, and never noticed the new Reidi tee promenade along the coast. Hint: take a left when you leave the port area. Completed recently, this seaside walkway stretches nearly two kilometers from the Rotermann district, and has cycling paths separate from pedestrian paths. Kids will love the multiple playground areas located throughout the promenade, and in summer months there are a couple of fountains and “cloud” machines they can play in. Toward the end of the completed portion is a massive play area featuring abstract designs that all children love to climb and play on.
Kids even love the walking portion, as the seaside part has narrow wooden boardwalks winding through the flowers and plants. During warm weather, there are food trucks and ice cream stands, and coffee for the adults. If you just want to walk along the coast, the entire promenade goes all the way to the Pirita section of town. You can make it there in about an hour. Or you can cross the street and head to the Song Festival Grounds, which are open to the public so you can see where the Singing Revolution actually took place.
Tallinn TV Tower
Completed in 1980 for the regatta events of the Summer Olympics and restored between 2007 and 2012, the Tallinn TV Tower is the tallest structure in the Baltics, standing at 314 meters. Best of all, you can go almost all the way to the top, go outside, and hang over the edge. That will certainly exhaust your children, and maybe even traumatise them so much they never want to go on vacation with you again. But if you don’t want to scare them, they’ll have a great time in the museum section atop the tower. On a very clear day you can see about 60 kilometers into the distance. Not quite far enough to see Helsinki, but signs point out exactly what direction to look in, and for several other cities as well. There are also windows you can stand on in the floor to see just how far up you really are.
The Tallinn TV Tower is open daily from 10:00–18:00, although the ticket office closes one hour earlier. If you’re in the area and want more to do, Tallinn’s Botanic Garden is just a few minutes’ walk away. Both are accessible by bus and car.
Super Skypark and Skywheel of Tallinn
For rainy days, or maybe if you’re the one exhausted but the kids are full of energy, take them to T1 Mall near Tartu Highway to the Super Skypark children’s entertainment venue. This massive park on the top floor of the mall has a multi-floor play gym, a trampoline centre, 7D cinema, the SkyLab science centre, bumper cars, party rooms, and more! Just outside Super Skypark on the same floor are several restaurants where you can refuel as the day passes by.
Just outside the Skypark is the brand new Skylane Hyperbowling and Lounge, if your kids still have energy. Or go out onto the roof (don’t worry, it’s safe!) and take a ride on the Skywheel of Tallinn, featuring 27 fully weatherproof gondolas that give you a view of Tallinn you won’t see anywhere else. Super Skypark and the Skywheel of Tallinn are both open until 21:00 daily.
AHHAA Centre
Tartu’s AHHAA Science Centre is exactly what the name implies: your kids will exclaim, “Ahhaa!” each time they learn something new about the world we live in. The largest science centre in the Baltics, AHHAA is a must-visit for any families who find themselves in Tartu, Estonia’s university town. The centre has a planetarium, workshops, interactive exhibits, and new attractions open all the time. If you don’t want your child to become a doctor, then definitely take them to the University of Tartu Medical Collection in AHHAA, which dates back all the way to 1890! AHHAA is open daily until 19:00, and on weekends until 20:00.
Kadriorg Park
For a more relaxing day, take your family to Kadriorg Park, built by Czar Peter the Great starting in 1714. Visitors can view architectural and stylistic examples from four centuries—the Orangerie has just been completed. Stroll through the well-maintained gardens and forests, and experience a Versailles-style garden between the Kadriorg Art Museum and the Office of the President of Estonia. Of particular interest is the Japanese Garden, which also features a large stone from a tram stop in a city called Hiroshima.
At the heart of Kadriorg Park is the Milli Vanilli Museum. Just kidding, it’s called the Miiamilla Children’s Museum. On the outside there is a large playground with some new and some historical playground equipment. On the inside is a delicious pancake restaurant, and an interactive toy museum, although admittedly this is intended more for younger children. Behind Miiamilla is a small amusement park with a roller coaster.
Honorable Mentions
Estonia has made children its priority, and you can clearly see this by all the great children’s venues throughout the country. If you’re in Pärnu, you will definitely want to spend a day at the Lottemaa Theme Park, which is a real-life reconstruction of Estonia’s most famous children’s character: Lotte the inventor! She’s a young dog who loves making discoveries with her friends.
The Estonian Road Museum is in Põlva County, in Southern Estonia. This is an all-day interactive museum about cars intended for children and adults alike. Children can ride scooters or toy cars through the miniature city streets, learn how cars and car safety work, and much, much more.
Mammoths are always popular. You can see a life-size one at the Ice Age Centre in Tartu County, as well as several other animals from that period, such as a saber-toothed tiger, and other extinct animals.
The PROTO Invention Factory is always a top request from children. Featuring several VR exhibits, kids and adults will both love this place. There are several other interactive science-based exhibits, and on rainy days, you can still sit outside in the modular glass domes and enjoy juice or coffee.
The Mustamäe Elamus Spa, or Adventure Spa, is in the Mustamäe region of town, and features swimming pools, waterslides, and an indoor river for children, plus a playroom in the water. Adults can meanwhile enjoy multiple types of saunas, including a mud sauna.
To learn more about this and similar topicsElamus Spa Estonian Road Museum fun for kids Kadriorg Miiamilla playground Skylane Skypark
