Tallinn’s Christmas market has been running since 1991 and gone from strength to strength. Considered among the Europe’s finest, the Town Hall Square becomes a romantic and atmospheric place where the local merchants sell a range of Estonian arts and crafts, as well as mulled wine and traditional food.
Once you have slowly walked through the streets of magical Tallinn’s medieval Old Town, finally strolling around the Christmas market in a nice winter day or early evening feels like you’ve just arrived at a winter wonderland – especially when it has snowed.
Tallinn is also the home of the world’s first Christmas tree. This tree was erected on Tallinn’s Town Hall Square and was the focal point of a ritual that began in 1441, and involved unmarried merchants singing and dancing with local girls around a tree, which was then burnt. The tree was the first public Christmas tree ever put on display in Europe by the Brotherhood of Black Heads guild.
On these days, the Christmas tree is surrounded by wooden stalls where vendors sell decorations made from wood, hand-knitted jumpers, wool hats, ceramic- and glassware, homemade scented candles, and other decorations made by local artisans. Once you have grown tired of wondering around, you can treat your body (and soul for that matter) either with traditional savoury treats, such as hog roasted pork, sauerkraut, blood sausages; or sweet ones like gingerbread, marzipan, local honeys and other nibbles. On a cold winter day, it’s warming to wash it down with a mulled wine or glögi, as it is called here.
If you happen to be at the right time, you might even bump into Father Christmas who has arrived to pose for photos with children. Entertainment does not need to end there, though. Candle-lit restaurants and cafes nearby provide a romantic atmosphere for an intimate meal out and the Old Town is bustling with classical and jazz concerts, and other cultural activities.
I
Photos: VisitEstonia.
Great video. Was just at the Square 2 weeks back. Missing Tallinn already. Maria, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Is this an advert posing as an article? The references quoted are a bit of a stretch – worldtravelblog says “A little research telling us that one of the finest in Europe was to be found in the Estonian capital of Tallinn” isn’t quite the same as saying it IS one of the finest. I failed to find a reference to the market on travelintelligence but didn’t look too long, and I distinctly remember the market starting in 2001.
Much as I like wandering through the market each year, it can’t compete with he Austrian and German ones, and an article like this is only likely to generate disappointment for those with raised expectations.
I wish the market well, and hope all visitors enjoy themselves, but misleading articles undermine the both the subject and the publisher.
actually it won first prize in Europe for its square in a recent year…It is always kneck to kneck with a town in Germany for this competition.
If you don’t care for the Christmas Market I suggest you don’t go there. I’m sure you won’t be missed. Why do they call you Grumpy?
Dear Grumpy,
I would like to confirm that it’s NOT an advert, posing as an article. As many
Estonian World readers are non-Estonians, and some of them have not visited Estonia yet, we are from time to time posting articles about remarkable places and locations in Estonia – in fact, some of our readers have demanded more of these kinds of articles. The headline clearly says: “it is considered ONE of the finest” – quoting worldtravelblog.co.uk. And indeed travelintelligence.com includes the Tallinn market among “Ten Best Christmas Markets in Europe”
– http://www.travelintelligence.com/travel-writing/europe-s-top-10-christmas-markets. We have not indicated that Tallinn’s Christmas market is THE best – we clearly quoted a couple of international travel sites. In fact, it doesn’t take much time and effort to find loads of positive articles about Tallinn’s Christmas market, if you search the internet.
Best Regards,
Silver Tambur
Editor – https://www.estonianworld.com
You certainly chose the right moniker, Mr. or Ms. Grumpy. Your parsing and straight-out misinformation about the content and intent of the article is downright silly. Or maybe malevolent. Perhaps you’re one of the ones who dreams of the former “glory” days of occupation?
I really like this video because I discover Dexter Gordon is playing on the soundtrack. Anyways I Live in Talllinn and this Christmas market is very cute.