Explore Soviet Heritage and History on Tallinn Coast Tour

Starting from the end of the story, we provide an introduction to the historical background of the soviet occupation of Estonia at the symbol of Estonian independence, the “Statue of Liberty,” centrally located in Freedom Square. On the Soviet tour, we will tell you about dramatic and humorous issues and memories (including pictures from the time), which will stay with us for the whole tour.

Heading towards the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, we pass the former Headquarters of the KGB at the legendary Hotel Viru and buildings that represent Stalinist architecture in Tallinn. Stopping at the Song Festival Grounds, we will try to give you a feeling of the emotions that filled the stage in the late 1980s when the Singing Revolution took place here and the Estonian people sang themselves to freedom.

Continuing the Soviet tour along the Eastern coast from Tallinn, we will tell you the controversial stories about the Memorial of Maarjamäe and the former Olympic Centre where the yachting for the Moscow Olympics took place in 1980. Soviet monuments are now exhibited in the History Museum’s Maarjamäe Palace. From Wednesday to Sunday we will visit this museum.

Following the coastline, which was partially closed as part of the border zone established during soviet times, we ending up at the peninsula of Viimsi. We take a walk to an abandoned air force base in the forest where strategic rockets were installed until the restoration of independence in Estonia in the early 1990s. Monday's and Tuesday's we will visit the Museum of Costal Folk instead of the History Museum’s Maarjamäe Palace. The Costal Folk Museum focuses on the multifaceted history and culture of the Estonian coastal people.

On our way back to Tallinn city center, we will visit the Tallinn TV tower (also built in 1980 for the Moscow Olympics) to get to know more about the unbelievable building strategies employed by the Soviets, their censorship of the media, and the dangerous events when Estonia declared its independence in 1991. Our drive back to the city center also takes us through the biggest city district built in soviet times, a high-rise area of apartment blocks named Lasnamäe.