Tallinn Airport: where to stay, areas and recommended hotels

Lennart Meri Airport is just 2 km from the Old Town, the shortest distance between an airport and a historic city centre of any European capital: tram 4 links the terminal to the Viru terminus, right at the edge of the medieval walls, in 15-20 minutes. For this reason staying close to the runways only makes sense for dawn departures or stopovers of a few hours, while anyone with even a single free night will find it easy to head straight into town. The Ülemiste district, a stone's throw from the terminal, is geared more towards business travellers and technical stopovers than tourism, with the real life — alleys, restaurants, bars — concentrated inside and around the Old Town.

Ülemiste, a stone's throw from the terminal

Airport area · The Mercure Tallinn is about 700 metres from the terminal, a 9-minute walk; the Hampton by Hilton is on Tartu tee, about 10 minutes by car from the airport and the same from the Old Town.

Best for: Layovers of a few hours and departures before dawn, when it pays to stay a step from check-in.

Pros

From the Mercure you can reach check-in on foot, without a bus or taxi
Ülemiste Keskus, Estonia's largest shopping centre, is just steps away for a meal or some shopping

Cons

The area is a business park among offices and warehouses: in the evening there is almost nothing to do on foot
To see anything of the city you still need tram 4 or a taxi into the centre

Recommended hotels in this area

Mercure Tallinn: About 700 metres from the terminal (9 minutes on foot), it is the hotel closest to the airport's runways; 132 rooms, restaurant, gym and private sauna for anyone with a dawn flight or a long layover.
Hampton by Hilton Tallinn: On Tartu tee, between the centre and the airport, about 10 minutes by car from the terminal and the same from the Old Town; 184 rooms, round-the-clock gym and sauna.

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The business district, on the edge of the Old Town

City centre · Tram 4 links the terminal to the Viru terminus in 15-20 minutes, running every 10-20 minutes; from there these hotels are a 5-10 minute walk.

Best for: Travellers who want a modern hotel a few minutes' walk from the medieval walls, with the tram for the airport one block away.

Pros

Old Town, Freedom Square and the port within a 10-minute walk or less
Direct tram 4 connection to the airport, with no changes

Cons

An area of offices and shopping centres: outside office hours the surrounding streets are quiet
Traffic on the boulevard towards Viru Keskus is heavy during rush hour

Recommended hotels in this area

Original Sokos Hotel Viru: Right at the gates of the Old Town, 100 metres from the walls and 550 from Town Hall Square; direct access to the Viru Keskus shopping centre, handy for anyone arriving with luggage.
Palace Hotel Tallinn, a member of Radisson Individuals: A 1937 palace at the entrance to the Old Town, about 300 metres from the walls with Freedom Square right in front; indoor pool, Turkish bath and sauna.
Swissotel Tallinn: In the city's tallest skyscraper, in the financial district; the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is about 800 metres away, a 10-minute walk, with views over the Gulf of Finland from the upper rooms.

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Inside the walls of the Old Town

Neighbourhood · The same tram 4 to the Viru terminus (15-20 minutes from the airport), then a 5-minute walk through the alleys to Suur-Karja; by taxi it's instead 10 minutes from the terminal.

Best for: Travellers who want to sleep among the medieval alleys, with restaurants and bars right downstairs and little desire to move around in the evening.

Pros

Restaurants, bars and shops within the walls reachable without ever taking transport
Authentic medieval atmosphere, among the best preserved in Northern Europe

Cons

Suur-Karja, known as the city's nightlife 'Bermuda Triangle', is noisy late into the night on weekends
Large suitcases are hard to drag over the cobblestones of the medieval streets

Recommended hotels in this area

16eur - Fat Margaret's: Hostel right at the medieval Fat Margaret gate, overlooking the historic harbour; private double rooms and dormitories, with a sauna and an in-house bar.
2 Rooms Apartment with Sauna and Terrace (Suur-Karja Residence): Apartment on Suur-Karja, the street that links the heart of the Old Town to the modern centre and that in the evening becomes the capital's busiest area for bars and pubs.

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