You’re already flying to Tallinn for the WSOP Circuit. The 2026 edition runs July 23 to August 2 at Olympic Park Casino inside the Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel, and it is one of the biggest stops on the European circuit schedule. There are 75 events on the card, 12 of them WSOP Circuit Ring events, headlined by a €1,500 Main Event with a €1,000,000 guarantee. Every ring event winner also locks up a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package including six nights in the Bahamas and entry to the WSOP Circuit Championship. Jenny Westerlund, who won the Main Event here last year, returns to defend her title in a field that has been drawing international players to Tallinn in growing numbers.
- Read more: The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Schedule Features 12 Ring Events
- Read more: The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Schedule Features Multiple Women-Only Events
That’s the poker. But the series also means you have ten days in one of Northern Europe’s most interesting cities during its best season. The white nights are in full effect, the city is warm, the terraces are open late, and there’s more going on than most players will expect. Here’s how to use the time between sessions.
Old Town: Still the Best Thing in the City
Tallinn’s UNESCO-listed Old Town is genuinely one of the best-preserved medieval centers in Europe, and summer is the right time to be in it. The cobblestone lanes, hidden courtyards, and 13th-century Town Hall Square are the obvious starting point. Climb the Town Hall Tower for a panoramic view, then work your way up to Toompea Hill, where the Kohtuotsa, Patkuli, and Piiskopi viewing platforms look out over the red rooftops and the Baltic Sea.
During the white nights of late July, it stays light well past midnight. The Old Town in that light, with the terraces full and the stone lit up, is worth staying up for even after a long session at the tables.
A few specific spots worth finding: St. Catherine’s Passage, a narrow alley lined with artisan workshops selling jewelry, ceramics, and leather goods; the Niguliste Museum, which holds Bernt Notke’s Danse Macabre painting and has a glass-lift up the steeple; and the Kiek in de Kök tower, which connects to underground bastion tunnels dating to the 17th century.
Birgitta Festival: Opera in Ruins
This is the one event that lines up almost perfectly with the WSOPC schedule and that most visitors will not know about. The Birgitta Festival runs August 1 to 11 at the ruins of Pirita Convent, a roofless 15th-century stone structure on the coast north of the city. It’s Tallinn’s most atmospheric classical music and opera festival, and the setting is unlike anything else in Europe.
The 2026 programme opens August 1 and 2 with Monteverdi’s baroque opera Orpheus, performed here for the first time in Estonian history. August 5 brings Eino Tamberg’s Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the most celebrated Estonian operas of the 20th century. August 8 features Estonian ensemble Kadri Voorand and vocal group Estonian Voices with the VHK String Orchestra. The festival closes August 11. Tickets run from roughly €20 to €80 and popular performances sell out. Book at birgittafestival.ee. Bring a layer for evening shows even in August; the coastal air is cooler than the city center.
Lenny Kravitz: If You’re Arriving Early
The series starts July 23, and if you’re flying in a few days early, Lenny Kravitz plays Tallinn on July 20 at the Song Festival Grounds. It’s a Monday night stadium show at one of the city’s best outdoor venues. If you’re building a week around the trip, this is worth timing your arrival around. Tickets at piletilevi.ee.
Tallinn Rock Festival: Scorpions, Godsmack, Sepultura
If opera is not your thing, the other major event overlapping with the series is Tallinn Rock Festival, running July 31 to August 2 at Unibet Arena Kvartal. The headliners this year are Scorpions on Friday July 31, Godsmack and P.O.D. on Saturday August 1, and Sepultura with Hatebreed on Sunday August 2. Sepultura has announced they are retiring by the end of 2026, making their show here their final Baltic performance.
Twenty-six bands from ten countries play across the three days. The venue is a stadium-sized open-air space that’s accessible on foot, by tram, or by bike. Gates open at 3pm daily. Tickets available at piletilevi.ee.
Summer Opera at Tallinn Town Hall
Running July 17 to August 8, the PLMF Music Trust stages costumed concert performances known as Summer Opera in Tallinn City Hall, right in the heart of Old Town. It’s a different experience from the Birgitta Festival, more intimate, more central, easier to drop into between a Day 1 flight and a cash game session. Check piletilevi.ee for the programme and schedules.
Kadriorg: The Park Worth the Tram Ride
A 15-minute tram ride from the city center, Kadriorg Park is Tallinn’s green counterweight to the Old Town’s medieval density. Peter the Great built the baroque Kadriorg Palace here in 1718, and it now houses the Art Museum of Estonia’s foreign collection. The adjacent Kumu Art Museum is Estonia’s largest and is open until 8pm on Thursdays in summer, which is useful if you’re playing a noon tournament and want an afternoon option. The park itself has a Swan Pond, a Japanese Garden, and the kind of clean, quiet space that is useful after several consecutive days of tournament poker.
Pirita and the Coastline
Tallinn is a coastal city and Pirita Beach is the main event: a 3.5km promenade about 4km from the city center with a proper sandy beach, a marina, paddleboard rentals, and views across the bay. It is also where the Pirita Convent ruins are located, so a Birgitta Festival evening and a daytime beach visit can be combined into the same trip out of the city.
Closer in, the Noblessner waterfront neighborhood has become Tallinn’s most interesting new area. The old shipyard has been converted into galleries, restaurants, and the Iglupark sauna complex, which runs DJ nights and comedy shows into the white nights. It is a 20-minute walk from Old Town and worth the trip.
The Seaplane Harbour (Lennusadam) is also in this part of the city: an interactive maritime museum built into a historic hangar with a submarine, seaplanes, and hands-on exhibits. Better than it sounds.
Food and Drink
A few places worth knowing about for the duration of the trip:
NOA Chef’s Hall in Pirita is the serious option, Michelin-starred seaside dining with a tasting menu format. Worth booking ahead for a night when you have busted early and want to do something with the evening. Fotografiska, the photography museum and rooftop bar in Old Town, runs DJ nights Wednesday through Sunday from noon and has some of the better views in the city center. Balti Jaam Market and the adjacent Telliskivi Creative District are the best areas for a casual afternoon: street food, craft beer, record shops, and a generally younger, more local crowd than the tourist core of Old Town. Suveterrass at Kai 5 is a large terrace restaurant near the waterfront that works well for a sunset dinner after a Day 1 bag.
Getting Around
Tallinn is compact. The Old Town, Kadriorg, Noblessner, and most of the restaurants mentioned here are reachable by tram or on foot. The city bike network (City Bike) covers most of the routes you’d want. Bolt is the ride-hail app of choice. Estonia uses the euro and cards are accepted almost universally, including at most market stalls. The Tallinn Card covers public transport and museum entry and is worth it if you plan to visit multiple museums in a day.
The series runs through August 2, and this year the calendar happens to line up with an opera festival in medieval ruins, one of Europe’s bigger rock lineups, and white nights that keep the city lit past midnight. Poker’s the reason you’re in Tallinn, but it doesn’t have to be the only reason you remember the trip.
