The selection of museums in Estonia is constantly growing, boasting the largest number of museums per person in European Union. There are a total of 190 museums with 249 visitor centers with a collection of about 7.4 million museum objects in Estonia.
TYPA print and paper centre
"The staff are lovely, skilled and knowledgeable. You'll walk through a couple thousand years of paper history, being all hands-on at every step."
– Auriella on TripAdvisor
Photo: Roser Cusso
TYPE print and paper art center
TYPA print and paper arts center is located in an old shoe factory in the city of Tartu. Here you can learn everything is about paper production and printing operations. Visitors are also offered to the opportunity to create their own paper, stamp it and then try to work with poster production – all with authentic old machines. You can also see the production of paper, paper sculptures, historical printing presses, wood, and lead printing types as well as various thematic exhibitions and changing exhibitions.
AHHAA science centre
Science Center AHHAA in Tartu is the Baltic's largest science center where every day is an adventure. It houses hundreds of exhibitions, a large planetarium, and a 4D cinema. AHHAA mixes play with knowledge – jump, experimentand climb while learning something new at the same time.
Seaplane Harbour
"An interesting and interactive museum that you can really see that a lot of thought had gone into."
– Wayneghall on TripAdvisor
Photo: Arne Maasik
Seaplane Harbour (Estonian Maritime Museum)
Estonia's Maritime Museum is perhaps one of Europe's most beautiful maritime museums. The museum is located in a unique building – the early 20th-century seaplane hangars in Tallinn. The museum's 6500 m2-large exhibition tells Estonia's maritime history in a modern and gripping way. The museum has become a great experience for the whole family with a trip in the Yellow Submarine, an aquarium, games, a cafeteria, the harbor itself and many more exciting things to see and do both indoors and outdoors. The main attraction of the museum is the legendary submarine Lembit, which is one of the oldest submarines in the world. Lembit was a crown jewel in Estonia's small war fleet in 1936, which was taken over by the Soviet Union in 1940. Later, Lembit has been renovated and the submarine's interior is restored to the original condition. At the museum, you can enter the ship and imagine the life of a submarine sailor in the 1930s.
Estonia's Healthcare Museum
Estonia's Healthcare Museum in Tallinn's Old Town was established in 1924. The museum has a permanent exhibition on anatomy and healthcare and collects cultural heritage related to Estonia's medical history.
In addition, the museum serves as an educational center where you treat health-related themes in an exciting and enlightening way with the help of explanatory exhibitions.
Museum of Tallinn's Knights Order
"I was not expecting such an exuberant collection. All orders on display are originals. Definitely worth a visit."
– Akaki on TripAdvisor
Photo: Museum of Tallinn's Knights Order
Museum of Tallinn's Knights Order
Tallinn Knights Order Museum has a unique collection of 700 objects: knights orders, medals and awards and other prizes. Most of the original exhibits are orders from royal, princely or priestly knights, but there are also some state orders.
Tartu Toy Museum
The Toy Museum in Tartus Old Town takes adults back to the bright days of childhood and offers children a very exciting exhibition of over 5000 toys. The stationary exhibition includes toys that the children in the area have played with overtime, in addition, art dolls, various nations' souvenir dolls, and Finnish-Ugric traditional toys are displayed. Dolls from Estonian stopmotion films and temporary exhibitions are on display in the farmhouse. From 2010, the toy museum also includes the theater house Teatri Kodu with its own theater hall, a museum for theater dolls and a children's studio.
Estonian National Museum
"The exhibitions on Estonian history and Fenno-Ugric people are built in fascinating way, using most modern technology. The building itself is just beautiful."
– Jouni E. on TripAdvisor
Photo: Estonian National Museum
Estonian National Museum
Estonia's National Museum - The largest museum in the Baltics, comprises a total of 34,000 square meters in the outskirts of Tartu, about 2 kilometers from the center of Tartu. After 107 years of waiting, Estonia's National Museum was finalised on 1st of October , 2016.
Kuressaare Castle
"To spend an hour or two is to pass through the history of this island from Stone Age to Bronze Age to Christian Age to Denmark Rule to Swedish Rule to Russian Rule, then the back and forth between the Germans and Russians in WW 1 &11 which caused the Estonian Diaspora.
Splendid and encompassing exhibits."
– Gene R. J. on TripAdvisor
Photo: Museum of Saaremaa
Kuressaare Castle
Kuressaare Castle is considered one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the Baltics. It is located in the city of Kuressaare on the island of Saaremaa. The castle also houses the Saaremaa Museum, with an interesting mix of exhibitions. A dramatic epoch is depicted with a copy of a rowing boat telling the story of the events that took place in 1944, when the Germans were still holding Saaremaa, but the Soviet army was approaching. A total of 25,000 people, of whom 6,000 Estonian Swedes, fled over the autumnal Baltic Sea. Many set out from the peninsula of Sörve, which is closest to Gotland.
Estonian Open Air Museum
The Estonian Open Air Museum gives an overview of how families from different walks of life lived during the 1800s, 1900s and 2000s. Here are farms that show what a village in the 19th century looked like, including a church, an inn, school, mills and other buildings.
Kumu Art Museum
"The pattern of the museum is easy to follow and the permanent collection is versatile enough to get a gist of Estonian modern art of the past and today.
– dialectichulk on TripAdvisor
Photo: Visit Estonia
Kumu Art Museum
The impressive main building of the Estonian Art Museum, which was opened in 2006, is an obvious magnet for all visitors interested in Estonian culture. A permanent collection of Estonian art from past eras is featured on the museum's many floors, in addition to a series of temporary exhibitions. Kumu was named European Museum of the Year in 2008 and is also one of the largest art museums in Northern Europe.
