In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Noblessner (Noblessneri sadamalinnak) is a former submarine shipyard on the seafront, redeveloped since 2013. Its limestone and brick halls now hold the PROTO Invention Factory (€16 to €20, free with the Tallinn Card), the Kai Art Center (€12), the Põhjala brewery and Tap Room, the Iglupark saunas on the water and several restaurants, one with two Michelin stars. Next door is Kalamaja, a district of wooden houses. Or book a tour: a Soviet walking tourad visits the Linnahall on the seafront and the former KGB headquarters.
⚠️ Monday closures. PROTO is open Tuesday to Sunday (11:00 to 18:00), the Kai Art Center Wednesday to Sunday (12:00 to 18:00) and the Põhjala Tap Room Tuesday to Sunday. The Kalamaja Museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Lore Bistroo is open every day.
Industrial origins: the submarine shipyard
Noblessner dates from 1912, when two St Petersburg businessmen, Emanuel Nobel (nephew of Alfred Nobel) and Arthur Lessner, built a submarine factory here for the Russian Empire. The name joins their surnames. Between 1913 and 1917 the yard built 12 submarines.
After Estonian independence in 1918 the yard built smaller vessels, and during the Soviet period it was a naval and fishing-fleet yard, known as Marine Factory No. 7 and Shipyard No. 7. The last vessels were built in 2018. Since 2013 the site has been redeveloped as a quarter of cultural venues, a marina, a seafront promenade, restaurants and apartments.
PROTO Invention Factory, Peetri 10. Photo: Sinikka Halme, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
PROTO Invention Factory: virtual reality and hands-on science
PROTO Invention Factory (PROTO avastustehas) is in the shipyard’s former foundry at Peetri 10, and opened in October 2019. It pairs virtual reality with old inventions: you put on a headset to ride a hot air balloon, a flying bicycle, a steam train or a steam-engined racing car, or to take a deep-sea exploration vessel down. The hands-on exhibits include a thunderous piano, an air cannon precision game, a cyclodrome and a model of Noblessner. There is a children’s area, and the ticket covers all activity exhibits and VR except the proto-scooter.
Visiting information
- Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00. Closed on Mondays. Saturdays are the busiest.
- Adult ticket (19 and over): €16 from Tuesday to Friday, €20 on Saturday and Sunday.
- Student ticket (18 and under): €11.
- Discount ticket: €10 for pensioners and people with special needs, with proof.
- Family ticket: €35 to €40 for two adults and their minor children.
- Free: children up to 6, and Tallinn Card holders.
- Café: the PROTO café is on the first floor, with its own street entrance, and is open Monday to Sunday.
Kai Art Center: contemporary art
Kai Art Center (Kai kunstikeskus) is at Peetri 12, in the former ship systems workshop of the shipyard, built in 1916 and recognisable by its convex roof. It shows contemporary art by Estonian and international artists, runs an artists’ residency and has a 70-seat cinema. Restaurants occupy the ground floor.
- Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 12:00 to 18:00.
- Exhibition tickets: €12 regular, €7 discounted (students, seniors, people with disabilities and some others), and €7 for everyone on Wednesdays. Family ticket €27.
- Cinema: €8 regular, €6 discounted. A film and an exhibition on the same day is €15, or €10 discounted.
- Free: Tallinn Card holders.
Noblessner marina. Photo: Teet Koitjärv, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Iglupark: saunas on the water
Iglupark at Lennusadama 7, where Noblessner meets Seaplane Harbour, is a row of sauna cabins on the water, each with a private terrace and a way into the sea. The Noblessner site is open until 31 December, and the operator says a new Iglupark is opening elsewhere.
- Private saunas: five saunas with sea views. The wood-fired sauna takes up to 6 in the steam room, the premium wood-fired sauna up to 8, and one is electric. Bookable on iglupark.com daily 11:00 to 23:00 for a minimum of two hours.
- Hot tub: a hot tub can be added from 16:00 with a private wood-fired sauna.
- Shared sauna: a daily morning session, 8:30 to 12:00. Buy a ticket for your date in advance, because numbers are limited. Wear swimwear or a towel.
Põhjala Brewery and Tap Room
Põhjala is an independent craft brewery, founded in 2011, based at Peetri 5 in a converted submarine factory. The Tap Room has 24 taps of Põhjala IPAs, barrel-aged imperial stouts and guest beers, with Texas-style barbecue and slow-smoked meats from the kitchen. Brewers can be watched through windows from the dining room.
- Tap Room hours: Tuesday to Thursday 12:00 to midnight, Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 01:00, Sunday 10:00 to 17:00.
- Brewery tour: €20 per person, with a tasting of three or four beers and a tour glass to take home. Book at least 24 hours ahead, because each tour has only 20 places.
- Tour times: English on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 18:00 and on Saturday and Sunday at 14:00; Estonian on Friday at 19:00.
- Private sauna: the Tap Room rents a sauna for up to 8 people at €80 for the first hour and €60 for each further hour, with a two-hour minimum.
Eating at the marina
- 180° by Matthias Diether (Staapli 4): a fine-dining restaurant with an open kitchen and tasting menus, and two stars in the 2026 Michelin Guide Estonia. Tables by the window look over the sea. Open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday, 18:00 to 23:00. Tell the restaurant about allergies at least 72 hours ahead.
- Lore Bistroo (Peetri 12): a Michelin Bib Gourmand bistro in the Kai building, serving comfort food and dishes to share. Children are welcome, with a children’s menu. Open Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 23:00 and Sunday 13:00 to 20:00.
- UMA (Peetri 12): an Asian restaurant from the founders of Lore, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 17:30 to 23:00.
Kalamaja: the wooden houses
Kalamaja (Estonian for “Fish House”) lies just south of Noblessner. For centuries it was the city’s fishing harbour, and after the railway to St Petersburg opened in 1870 factories brought thousands of workers to the district, who lived in the wooden houses that make Kalamaja distinctive today. The streets are quiet and residential.
Malmi street, Kalamaja. Photo: Sillerkiil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Kalamaja Museum (Kalamaja muuseum, Kotzebue 16): a community museum in a house built in 1932 to 1934 to a design by the architect Herbert Johanson. It won the Silletto Prize for community participation at the 2024 European Museum of the Year awards. Open Wednesday and Thursday 13:00 to 20:00 and Friday to Sunday 11:00 to 18:00. Tickets are €7 (€5 discount, €14 family) and free with the Tallinn Card.
- Kalamaja Cemetery Park (Kalamaja kalmistupark): the city’s oldest cemetery, used from the 15th or 16th century until 1964, when the Soviet authorities flattened it. It is now a public park, and the 1780 gate tower still stands.
Tours worth paying for
Hidden Tallinn Soviet walking tour
From €30 · 4.9 stars from 211 reviews · 2 hours
The Hidden Tallinn: Soviet Walking Tourad visits the former KGB headquarters, the Linnahall, Tallinn’s Central Market (the last Soviet-era market in the city) and the Viru Hotel. It is not suitable for children under 12 or wheelchair users, and in winter the route may finish in the Old Town because the Linnahall steps can be icy.
Old Town and Telliskivi walking tour
From €35 · 2 hours
The Tallinn: Old Town and Telliskivi Walking Tourad is a story-led walk through the Old Town and on to the Telliskivi creative district, a short distance from Kalamaja. It is not suitable for wheelchair users.
The seaside fortifications: Patarei and Linnahall
Walking east along Kalaranna takes you past two large monuments:
- Patarei Sea Fortress (Patarei merekindlus): built from 1830 to 1837 on the order of Tsar Nicholas I. It was a prison from 1919 until 2005, and for Estonians it is a symbol of Soviet and Nazi political terror. A museum of the crimes of communism is planned for its eastern part. You can see the outside from the shore path.
- Tallinn Linnahall (Sadama 1): a concrete civic complex completed in 1980 for the Olympic sailing regatta and designed by Raine Karp and Riina Altmäe. It steps down to the sea, and you can climb the outer stairs to the roof for views over Tallinn Bay. The steps can be icy in winter.
Getting to Noblessner and Kalamaja
- By bus 73: from the city centre to the Noblessneri stop. Stairs from the viaduct lead down into the quarter. Fares are on the public transport guide.
- By bus 3: to the Kungla stop, then about 100 metres along Tööstuse street and down Peetri street after the park.
- On foot or by bike: follow Kalaranna from the Old Town past Patarei and Seaplane Harbour.
- By car: there is paid parking in front of PROTO (15 minutes free with a parking disc).
Connecting sights nearby
- Seaplane Harbour (Lennusadam): the maritime museum next door, with the submarine Lembit and the icebreaker Suur Tõll.
- Telliskivi Creative City: a walk south through Kalamaja’s wooden streets.
- Tallinn craft beer and bars: craft beer bars, taprooms and pubs across Tallinn.
- Where to eat in Tallinn: from Kalamaja bakeries to fine dining by the sea.
Common questions
What is the Noblessner quarter in Tallinn?
Noblessner is a harbour quarter on Tallinn Bay in northern Kalamaja, next to Seaplane Harbour. It was founded in 1912 by Emanuel Nobel and Arthur Lessner as a submarine factory for the Russian Empire, and it built 12 submarines between 1913 and 1917. Its brick and limestone industrial halls now hold the PROTO Invention Factory, the Kai Art Center, the Põhjala brewery and tap room, a marina and several restaurants.
How do you get to Noblessner from central Tallinn?
Take bus 73 to the Noblessneri stop, or bus 3 to the Kungla stop and walk about 100 metres along Tööstuse street, then turn down Peetri street after the park. You can also walk along Kalaranna from the Old Town, past Patarei and Seaplane Harbour.
How much are tickets to PROTO Invention Factory?
An adult ticket (age 19 and over) is €16 from Tuesday to Friday and €20 at weekends. A ticket for ages 18 and under is €11, and a discount ticket for pensioners and people with special needs is €10. Children up to 6 and Tallinn Card holders go in free. The ticket covers all the activity exhibits and virtual reality experiences except the proto-scooter.
How do the Iglupark waterfront saunas work?
Iglupark, at Lennusadama 7 between Noblessner and Seaplane Harbour, rents private saunas for a minimum of two hours, daily 11:00 to 23:00, and sells tickets for a shared morning sauna daily 8:30 to 12:00. Book on iglupark.com. The Noblessner site is open until 31 December.
Can you tour the Põhjala craft brewery in Noblessner?
Yes. The tour of the brewery at Peetri 5 costs €20 per person and includes a tasting of three or four beers and a tour glass to take home. English tours run on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 18:00 and on Saturday and Sunday at 14:00. Book at least 24 hours ahead.
