Today, our perspective shifts from Tallinn’s ancient history to contemporary innovation as we head to the creative Telliskivi District. After spending our first day falling in love with the classic medieval charm of Old Town, we dedicated our second day to exploring Tallinn’s vibrant modern art scene and creative subcultures. It was the perfect blend of historic charm and contemporary energy.

A Historic Coffee Stop at Café Maiasmokk

We kicked off our morning with a sweet taste of local history at Café Maiasmokk, the oldest operating café in Estonia, operating since 1864. Taking our time to enjoy a slow coffee inside its beautifully preserved, historic interior was the perfect, relaxed start to the day.

Stepping inside felt like a step back in time. The first floor interior has stayed almost exactly the same for over 100 years, offering a look at the city history that you cannot get anywhere else.

We enjoyed the traditional marzipan cake. It lived up to the childhood memories our guide shared with us of celebrating all birthdays and special occasions with this special treat. I was also surprised by the matcha latte, which was incredibly good and the perfect drink to relax and slow down after a morning in the Old Town. This was the perfect cafe to sit and relax before continuing on.

Telliskivi Creative City and Fotografiska

From the historic rooms of Café Maiasmokk, we transitioned into the modern side of the city by exploring Telliskivi Creative City alongside our guide, Anastassia. This vibrant, repurposed industrial district is packed with unique boutiques, colorful street art, and indie studios.

The industrial-chic streets of Telliskivi Creative City, Tallinn’s premier bohemian hub.

Beautiful Visual Storytelling

The next stop on our journey took us inside Fotografiska Tallinn, an internationally renowned museum of photography that is so much more than a traditional gallery. It is located right at the heart of the district and is an exceptional contemporary photography museum. Spending the afternoon exploring their thought-provoking exhibits gave us a wonderful appreciation for Tallinn’s thriving modern art scene.

The exhibition spaces inside Fotografiska are designed to inspire, challenge, and spark conversation.

The atmosphere here is intentionally immersive, designed to inspire, challenge, and spark conversation. We chose to explore this museum on our own, which I really appreciated. It gave us the time to linger at the artwork we were especially drawn to and dive into the stories explaining each piece. Some of the stories were fascinating and exploring on our own allowed us the quiet time to think and interact with what we were seeing.

For anyone who appreciates contemporary art and the power of a single frame, this space is an absolute must-visit when exploring Estonia.

Dinner with a View – and I don’t just mean the Landscape of Tallinn

To wind down a really wonderful day of art and culture, we headed up to the rooftop restaurant inside Fotografiska for dinner.

Our wonderful partners in Estonia, Sven and Sten, had pre-arranged an amazing tasting menu for us, so we were able to sample so many different delicious items. This isn’t just a regular dinner spot; it’s a fantastic restaurant focused entirely on sustainable, zero waste cooking. The kitchen does amazing things with fresh, local Estonian ingredients, and you get to enjoy it all while looking out over the beautiful, glowing Tallinn skyline.

Tasting Menu Presentation

The food was so incredibly delicious, and every plate looked like a piece of art itself, I couldn’t stop taking photos. The dessert was gorgeous and deserves a photo all to itself!

It was the perfect, relaxing way to end our time in Telliskivi.

Lost in the Late Night Light

By the time we finished a wonderful dinner at Fotografiska, it was already close to 9:00 PM. But stepping outside, you would never have guessed it. The summer sun was still shining so bright that it felt like mid-afternoon. The photo below was taken at exactly 8:58pm.

This photo at 10:20pm…still no sunset in site!

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful daylight and keep exploring on foot. We started wandering, completely captivated by the streets, snapping photos of the city and enjoying the extra hours together.

This is Tallinn’s medieval city wall.

That endless daylight can be wonderfully misleading, though. We were having so much fun that we lost all track of time, completely forgetting how late it actually was. Pair that with some lingering jet lag, and let’s just say our internal clocks had absolutely no idea what hit them when we finally looked at the time hours later. But we couldn’t head back just yet!

A Beautiful Midnight Discovery

During our tour earlier in the day, I kept noticing so many people walking around carrying fresh flowers. It piqued my curiosity, so I asked our guide, Anastassia, about it. She explained that Estonia has a deeply rooted, everyday flower culture. Giving flowers isn’t just saved for major milestones here, it is a constant gesture of connection, appreciation, and a way to share a little beauty with each other. In fact, she told us that the main flower markets by the historic city walls are open 24/7, 365 days a year. To be honest, it sounded a bit hard to believe, open all night, even in the dead of winter? But sure enough, as we were wandering the streets after our late dinner, we stumbled upon the famous Viru Gate flower market.

It was past 11:00 PM, and every single stall was open, beautifully lit, and filled with vibrant, fresh blooms glowing against the old stone towers. It was absolutely magical to see in person.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love flowers, so seeing a community that places such a high value on connecting with each other through something so simple and beautiful really touched my heart. It is a tradition I would love to see us bring home and do a lot more of in America.

For more information on our itineraries, feel free to email me at dtgainor@gmail.com or visit Global Getaways to learn more about who we are and how we work.