Experience Estonia 2023

Discover the Best Museums and Experience Centres in Estonia 2023

Cover Photo: by Teaduskeskus AHHAA ahhaa.ee

Texts: Heidi Vihma

Designer: Aleksander Karu Translator: Juta Ristsoo

Photos: Kadi-Liis Koppel (4,5), Paul Kuimet (5), Sander Ilvest (7), Stanislav Stepaško (8,9), Kaupo Kalda (11), Toomas Tuul (16), Harry Tiits (17), Aron Urb (27), Timo Arbeiter (30,31), K. Beljaev (38,39), Valmar Voolaid (42,43,45), Rita Rahu (44), Allan Mehik (45), Margit Kõrvits (46,47), privat collectios.

Publisher: Best Guides OÜ www.bestguides.ee

You’re invited to discover Estonia through its experience centres!

Experience Estonia – The Best Museums and Experience Centres is an annual publication that introduces the most exciting museums and experience centres in Estonia. Modern science and discovery centres offer visitors of all ages the joy of discovery, and do so in an engaging and fun way through personal experience or the magic of virtual reality. But it’s not only the mind that needs experiences, but also the body, and therefore, we also include exceptional wellness centers. We’re sure that all the places included here are exceptional, each in its own way, and deserve to be discovered. We hope that you will find inspiration here that will enable you to experience Estonia to the fullest.

Katrin Weiss Best Guides OÜ Best Guides OÜ Estonia Estonia

Heidi Vihma

ContentCard

of Museums

Museum of Estonia

Estonian History Museum`s

Estonian Health Museum

Estonian Maritime Museum

Estonian Open Air Museum

Fotografiska

Proto Invention Factory Iglupark

Tallinn Botanic Garden

Tallinn City Museum

VABAMU

KGB Prison Cells

Tallinn Card

Convenient and beneficial

Tallinn Card is an all-inclusive card offering the most convenient way to get acquainted with the entire city. This smart sightseeing pass provides you with free public transport and access to more than 50 of the best museums and attractions in the city. It also includes various other offers and discounts in the local restaurants and shops. The fastest and most convenient way to purchase a Tallinn Card is online. You can choose between various versions that are valid for 24, 48 or 72 hours. With the Tallinn Card, you can enjoy a carefree visit to the Estonian capital.

Estonia is a Land of Museums

As a land of museums, Estonia is much larger than its area or population might suggest, i.e. we have over two hundred museums. In the last couple of decades, great changes have occurred in our museum world. It is no longer “stagnant water”, as museums were once thought to be, but are rippling quite briskly. The opening of Kumu and the Seaport Harbour in 2006 and 2012, respectively, has been significant for Estonian museum life, as has been the subsequent opening of the Estonian National Museum and redesign of the History Museum. New museums continue to be opened and existing museums are being reconstructed. Collections are acquiring valuable additions, and expositions are more and more daringly moving away from the predictable areas and turned to previously unexplored “fringe areas”.

In terms of the expositions’ technical execution and means of expression, Estonian museums are really at the forefront in the world context. We are also proud that our museums are accessible to people with various special

needs. Museums are paying more and more attention to the provision of experiences and entertainment aspects, but this has not changed the principles of our work. We still believe that museums are organisations based on trust: all the information that is provided must be true and be based on the materials in the museum’s collections, which is well kept, well-researched, elucidated and checked. This is the only way that trustworthy exhibitions can be created.

Urmas Dresen Director, Maritime Museum

Art Museum of Estonia

Three of the five branches of the Art Museum of Estonia are located in the beautiful Kadriorg Park and two are in the Old Town. The exhibition at Kumu, which is located in Kadriorg, tells the story of Estonian art and also introduces modern art. In the baroque palace, which is only a short walk away, you can admire Dutch, Russian, Italian and German art, while the Mikkel Museum, which is next door, is dedicated to the exhibition of private collections.

In the Adamson-Eric Museum in the Old Town, you can see the works of Adamson-Eric, a 20th-century modernist painter and applied art artist, as well as special exhibitions.In the Niguliste Museum you can enjoy medieval ecclesiastical art, including Bernt Notke’s Danse Macabre and a magnificent view of the Old Town from the viewing platform.

Five unique art museums kunstimuuseum.ekm.ee

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Kumu Art Museum

Mikkel Museum

Adamson-Eric Museum

Niguliste Museum

Kadriorg Art Museum

Estonian History Museum’s Maarjamäe Centre

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Museum

The historic summer palace with its outbuildings and park with enchanting sea views provides opportunities for various leisure activities. The permanent exhibition called My Free Country, along with smaller temporary exhibitions, provides a survey of the last hundred years of the Estonian state. In the Film Museum, with the help of numerous hands-on exhibits, one can learn how the filmmaking process actually works. The youngest museum visitors can enjoy the Children’s Republic activity space and the play area shaped like the map of Estonia. The updated Maarjamäe History Centre opened its doors in 2018 and has received several tourism and exhibition awards.

Estonian Health Museum

Discover the beauty of being human

“A Heart to Heart About Your Body ” in the Old Town is a one-of-a-kind exhibition about the human body and mind. Each of the museum’s rooms provides insight into various topics – from evolution to medical history, from conception to death, from sexuality to addictions, while exploring our very being both on a cellular and social level. The interactive exhibits offer inspiration to guests of all ages. For added realism, plastinates – actual modern mummies – are showcased to display the insides of a real human body. All this while not forgetting our individual and cultural complexities, history and personal experiences.

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Estonian Maritime Museum

A mediator of maritime culture and history

The Estonian Maritime Museum introduces the history of Estonian maritime culture and history at two exceptional buildings, i.e. the Fat Margaret Tower, one of the gates in the medieval Tallinn wall, and the Seaplane Harbour, which is one of the world’s first freestanding concrete domes and was built as part of the maritime fortifications built by Czarist Russia a hundred years ago. The exhibition tells the story of local seafaring from the Middle Ages to this day, while the interactive and large-scale exhibition at the Seaplane Harbour, which is only a 20-minute walk away, focuses on 20th century marine engineering. The Seaplane Harbour also organises temporary exhibitions and operates a marina.

Estonian Open Air Museum

Rural Life Through the Centuries

The Open Air Museum, located in a forest by the sea, tells the story of how rural people in Estonia have lived. Historic dwellings, barns, and boathouses have been collected from all over the country and authentically restored. The past is brought to life by the farm women and men who tell stories and perform historical tasks and activities in which the visitors can participate. You can take a ride on a horsedrawn carriage or sleigh, or pet the sheep and goats. The tavern serves traditional Estonian dishes, and the village shop offers period items. The museum village also includes a Soviet-era kolkhoz apartment building that was awarded the 2021 prize for the best Estonian exposition. Starting in the summer of 2023, children will be able to wander along a herdsman’s trail, which is designed like a modern adventure park.

Fotografiska

The Most Photogenic Meeting Place

Fotografiska Tallinn, an internationally recognised photography museum with roots in Stockholm, is a place where art, good food, music and design meet.The exhibition spaces, cafe and design shop are located on the lower floors of the building in the heart of the Telliskivi Creative City. A restaurant, bar and garden with the most photogenic view of the city is located on the roof. Three to four different artists or current topics are presented in the temporary exhibitions. The restaurant, which has been awarded a Michelin Green Star, is based on the concept of sustainable enjoyment, which in addition to waste-free management, also includes general recycling.

fotografiska.com/tallinn

PROTO Invention Factory

The PROTO Invention Factory is the first educational virtual reality centre where centuries-old scientific discoveries are revealed – unique protypes that are brought to life by modern 21st-century virtual reality technology. The interactive fantasy world exhibits provide an opportunity to experiment and understand physical phenomena from a completely new angle. The magic of virtual realities provides an opportunity to experience exciting adventures in time and space, as well as in the imaginations of past scientists, for example, to bore into the heart of the Earth, race in a self-driving car, or explore the ocean floor. At PROTO, everyone can become an inventor.

Iglupark

A sauna experience on the border between the land and the sea

Iglupark combines three essential aspects –work, leisure, and health - in Noblessner, one of the trendiest areas in Tallinn located not far from the Old Town and the fashionable Kalamaja district. The rental Iglusaunas, Igluoffices and Igluhuts are located literally on the sea, so the views of passing ships can be enjoyed while taking a hot sauna, sitting at a conference table, as well as from the spacious cottage terraces. One of the most exciting extra features of the worldclass sauna experience is the possibility to jump into the Baltic Sea, if you dare. A crazy adventure you will never forget!

Tallinn Botanic Garden

Natural plant terraces on the slope of a primeval valley

The Tallinn Botanic Garden is located at the headwaters of the Pirita River and is surrounded by a beautiful pine forest. The arboretum designed as a park, with its rich plant communities installed on four terraces that bloom from early spring to late autumn, along with the forest groves, beautiful ponds and winding paths in the background, have made it a favourite place for city dwellers to take a stroll. There are approximately 6,800 different plants in the twenty-two-hectare garden, with an additional 2,000 in the greenhouses. The Garden of Senses, or socalled medicinal garden, features useful and edible plants.

Tallinn City Museum

Seven Stories About Tallinn

Exhibitions, interesting and educational tours and lecture series – there is something for everyone at the Tallinn City Museum. The City Life Museum reveals the history of the city’s development from its earliest years to the present day in a medieval merchant’s house. The Kiek in de Kök Fortifications Museum is comprised of four towers and bastion walkways. The Museum of Photography, which is located in the Old Town Jail, introduces the history of photography and organises exhibitions of modern photographs. Located in a formerly poor neighbourhood, which is now an urban business district, the Gallery Seek welcomes lovers of photography from May to October. Tallinn Russian Museum presents the cultural heritage of the Russian-speaking community. The House of Peter the Great recalls the past in the Tsarist state. The Kalamaja Museum is a pleasant community centre.

linnamuuseum.ee

Vabamu Museum

Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom

The exhibition titled Freedom Without Borders at the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom focuses on the concepts of justice and freedom based on the personal experiences of the Estonian people, which, depending on one’s fate, can be positive or negative, hopeful or hopeless. The exhibition is fact-filled, yet sufficiently playful and engaging to attract visitors of all ages and nationalities. Modern technology helps to animate and give meaning to the personal stories. The permanent exhibition tells the story of Estonia from 1939 until the restoration of independence. An exhibition that opened in November 2022 deals with the last three decades, during which post-Soviet Estonia has become a digital country.

KGB Prison Cells

Stories about Crimes Against Humanity

The permanent KGB Prison Cells exhibition enables one to see a place where Communist crimes were committed. During nearly half a century of Soviet occupation, this building, which was originally built as a residence, housed the headquarters of the NKVD, later called the KGB, which was responsible for the political surveillance of the population. At the beginning of the occupation, the cellars were used as prison cells, which were among the most notorious in Estonia. The upper floors were used for interrogations and as workrooms. In this feared and hated building, they tried to break the spiritual backbone of Estonians by particularly cruel means. History shows they did not succeed.

Tallinn Map

Tartu

With a population of barely 100 thousand, Tartu is not a very large city. However, it is large in spirit. The spiritual life of the Tartu has been shaped by the centuriesold university and the artistic and literary life that has been centred there. Since it is the most densely populated city in Estonia, most of the attractions are located within walking distance of the heart of the city. These include the historical buildings on Toomemägi Hill, the classicist main building of the University of Tartu, The Kissing Students sculpture and fountain on the Town Hall Square, which has become a symbol of the eternally youthful city, the AHHAA Science Centre and the Estonian National Museum, which is dedicated to Estonian culture and history.

AHHAA!

The most delightful science centre in the Baltics

Estonians exclaim Ahhaa!, when they discover something new and surprising. Located in the centre of Tartu, the AHHAA Centre offers new knowledge and the joy of discovery to visitors of all ages, and does so in an engaging and fun way. For instance, you can ride a bicycle high above the hall, observe the daily routines of ants and chicks, or discover human anatomy in an entirely new way. You can touch the exhibits and try them out. The workshops provide opportunities for doing crafts. Films are shown in the planetarium and performances are given in the science theatre. In November 2022, the interactive exhibition “Aha Brain!” will open, which will examine the capabilities of the organism and what our brains and central nervous systems are capable of.

ahhaa.ee

Aura Centre

Fun for everybody

In the water park, you can enjoy the chutes, slides, water curtains and the caves behind them, as well as swim against the current and relax in the hot tub. The attractions for the youngest guests include a baby pool and children’s water slide. The Aura Centre is the only water park in Estonia with an interactive tube slide. The 60-metre tube slide has a touchpad as well as light and sound effects. The exciting slide ends with a water curtain.

The sauna centre provides relaxation in nine different saunas, a winter room, Japanese bath and cosy relaxation area with hanging chairs. The outdoor terrace includes Iglusaunas and hot tubes with different temperatures – the former pleasantly warm and the latter refreshingly cool.

Upside Down House

A good mood is guaranteed!

The Upside Down House could be a typical Estonian family house, with the most ordinary furnishings. But, everything in it is turned upside down – in the literal sense. The top floor is the bottom and the bottom floor is the top. The sofas, kitchen cabinets and everything else, which is usually located on the floor, is on the ceiling in the Upside Down House. Actually, they are on the floor, but the floor is the ceiling and the ceiling is the floor. Naturally, the sauna in the house is also upside-down. The house is also slightly tilted, which tests our sense of balance. Or maybe, we’re the ones who are upside-down? All this creates confusion, makes us laugh and creates a good mood. And what wonderful photos you can take in the Upside Down House!

V Spa

Get everything from the water

V has combined a hotel, spa and conference centre under one roof. The single-letter name alludes to that fact that V liberates its guests from everything that is superfluous and prevents them from enjoying life, a good mood and their health. In this world of water and relaxation, 13 different waterholes and 13 saunas with different temperatures and humidity levels await. One can relax in a steam sauna, salt steam sauna, and Russian banya. The water and sauna pleasures are complemented by various massages and treatments, that include holistic spa rituals developed by the in-house professionals, treatments inspired by Ayurveda, as well as Thai massages.

Ice Age Centre

A theme park on the shore of Saadjärv

The Ice Age Centre in Tartu County is a colourful experience centre located on the shore of the Estonia’s third largest natural lake, that is unique in the Baltic states. The theme park provides an overview of how the nature of the world and Estonia has developed since the last Ice Age. Answers are provided to questions like: how the universe was form; how mammoths lived; whether the Ice Age will return; and how humans are impacting climate change today. It is believed that 10,000 years ago the last mammoths in today’s Europe region lived in Estonia. That’s why two life-size mammoths are the symbols of the Ice Age Centre. The centre features activities for the entire family. And you can have a nice lunch at the Polar Bear Cafe.

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Tartu Map

Tartu

Kuressaare

Saaremaa is Estonia’s largest island and Kuresaare is its capital. Life on Saaremaa differs somewhat from that on the mainland. The nature is different as are its people, who are mellow, kind-hearted and very energetic. What life was like on the island in the past is described in the museums located in Kuressaare, i.e. the Saaremaa Museum, which is located in the old bishopric castle, and the Saare KEK Museum. What life is like on the island today, we can observe for ourselves. Life in Saaremaa progesses at its own pace, and to better observe it, one needs to take their time. Then one will also find the best smoked fish and sea views. And the famous spas of Saaremaa, which are among the best in Estonia, help one to relax.

Saaremaa Museum

The bishopric castle tells the story of Saaremaa

The Saaremaa Museum is located in the convent building of Kuressaare Castle, which dates back to the 14th century, and together with the surrounding fortifications, is one of the most completely preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. During the summer season, the tower cafe is open, and craft workshops with a historical feel, concerts and Castle Days are organised. Exhibitions introducing the culture and history of Saaremaa are on display in the halls and adjacent buildings. The branches of the Saaremaa Museum include the Mihkli Farm Museum located in the village of Viki, where one family’s household that has housed eight generations since the beginning of the 18th century is on display, as well as the Johannes and Joosep Aavik House Museum, the home of the philologist and music teacher in Kuressaare.

Saare KEK Museum

Travel back in time to everyday Soviet life

The Time Travel Back to the Soviet Everyday takes a humorous look at a time period, i.e. the 1970s and 1980s, that today’s Estonians can freely smirk about. By that time the Soviet regime had lasted quite a while, but many goods were still in short supply. The situation was difficult, and one had to cope with all the hardships daily, be creative and resourceful, by sometimes, balancing on the edge of absurdity. The exhibition is comprised of 12 different thematic rooms, including a Soviet-era village store and bar. The Saare KEK building itself, which is one of the most outstanding examples of Soviet-era constructivism, deserves special attention.

Kuressaare Map