10 Things to do in Tartu That You Shouldn't Miss

TYPA is a design centre for print and paper art where we display a host of historic presses and traditional techniques from papermaking to letterpress book printing. Old machinery is complemented by contemporary architectural paper objects and folded designs. Artists from all around the world work in the studio and display their works in the on-site gallery. As a visitor, you will be given a tour around the centre, during which you will be able to experience work both as a papermaker and a printer. We will take you 2000 years back in history and work our way back into the modern digital world. The tour is included in the price of the ticket, lasts for about 1-1,5 h and is suitable for kids as well as adults. In addition to the tour, we can host various workshops. Ask your tour guide for more information. In our shop corner, you can find a selection of journals and notebooks that we manufacture by hand and we also take custom orders for diaries and albums, as well as custom prints.

Located in an old wooden building in the heart of Tartu’s Old Town, the Toy Museum transports its adult visitors back to their most joyous childhood days and offers children plenty to see and do. The permanent exhibit displays toys that children in Estonia have played with throughout the ages. The display also includes artist-made dolls, souvenir dolls from around the globe and traditional Finno-Ugric toys. The museum has play and workshop rooms, and the exhibit rooms also offer plenty to keep one busy. Alternating exhibits and children’s activities are organized at the museum. In Theatre House there is a theatre stage, Children’s Studio, and dollhouse museum. Theatre House is a unique theatre which gets its inspiration from the Toy Museum, childhood, games and memories.

New temporary exhibition "Aha, Phobias!" open from 5 June! A perfect place for a family holiday, AHHAA is the biggest science centre in Estonia and the Baltic states, located in Tartu. Physics, chemistry, biology and technology have never been made so simple and fun. In addition to three large exhibition halls, you're welcome to our workshops, science theatre shows and one-of-a-kind fully spherical planetarium. AHHAA is open 363 days a year, which means you're always welcome to visit us!

Come and visit one of the oldest Botanical Gardens in the world (founded in 1803). The Botanical Gardens were designed under the supervision of world-famous botanists, Prof Ledebour and Prof Bunge.The Botanical Gardens currently belong to the University of Tartu and they are used as a study base for students. The Botanical Gardens introduce new decorative plans and different methods of landscaping.Interesting facts:- there are 6500 species of plants from all climatic belts of the world in the Botanical Gardens, which makes it the most species-rich area in Estonia;- the palm house of the Botanical Gardens is the biggest in the Baltic States and also the richest in species.

Tartu Town Hall Square is the trapeze-shaped central square of Tartu, surrounded by classical buildings. The current town hall is the third building that has been erected to that spot. In the 18th century, the square was the location of the most important market in the city – der Grosse Markt, or the Great Market. Since 1998, it has been adorned by the fountain known as the Kissing Students. Every day, bells ring out from the tower of the Town Hall; its 18 bells were manufactured in the bell foundry in Karlsruhe, Germany, and 16 bells were cast for the 15th anniversary of bell-ringing at the Royal Eijsbouts Belfry in the Netherlands. A yellow National Geographic window erected in the Town Hall Square represents Tartu as one of the places in Southern Estonia worth discovering.

The Kissing Students' sculpture and fountain is one of the most recognised symbols of Tartu. A fountain has stood in the same place since 1948, when newlyweds and their guests would visit it for luck, and people would also take a dip in it. The sculpture was created by Mati Karmin and completed in 1998. Since 2006 the fountain has been surrounded by tiles bearing the names of Tartu's sister cities: Bærum, Deventer, Ferrara, Fredriksberg, Hafnarfjorður, Hameenlinna, Kaunas, Luneburg, Pihkva, Riia, Salisbury, Tampere, Turu, Uppsala, Veszprem and Zutphen. They are situated in the direction that the cities lie from Tartu, marking the distances.

In Estonia’s biggest museum there’s more than ever before, and indeed more than anywhere else: more space, more stories, more information and more events. All of this provides new answers to the questions: Who are Estonians? Why are they the way they are? What do they do? What do they think? How do they express themselves? What do they look like? The museum’s exhibitions are underpinned by cutting-edge science and technology, but are all about creating mood and stirring emotions. Echo of the Urals, named Best Permanent Exhibition in Estonia 2016, introduces the culture of Estonians and the other Finno-Ugric peoples of Northern Eurasia. Encounters details the daily lives of Estonians, from the Ice Age to today. Audiovisual elements bring the exhibits to life with song and movement, while electronic information placards change languages with the touch of a keycard. This medley of history, design, art, technology and entertainment creates an engaging place for children and adults alike.