
For all the hype on the Tallinn Christmas market pre-tour, I had high expectations and a long shopping list to get through once we arrived. I was underwhelmed with the 2025 version.

The Tallin Christmas market was directly across from the oldest pharmacy in EU and was only slightly bigger than the last two. More than half of the huts were beverages with identical menus, a few beige food offerings, and a couple of candy stores.

The rest of the huts had mass produced versions of items we had seen at the last two markets, such as Christmas ornaments, acrylic sleep socks and snowglobes. As I wandered around, it was obvious I wouldn’t find anything new here and I definitely didn’t need three hours of “free time” to shop before heading back to the hotel. By the time I had made the first lap around the market, the bus had left.

I camped out at a cafe nearby for most of the shopping time allowed and then wandered through the regular open market to board the bus back to the hotel.

