16eur - Fat Margaret's
Backpacker classic opposite Fat Margaret's Tower with rentable sauna and pool
16eur - Fat Margaret's is Tallinn's veteran backpacker hostel with 4736 reviews under its belt, named after the 16th-century cannon tower it sits next to on Põhja puiestee. €16 dorm beds, a proper shared kitchen, a rentable sauna and small plunge pool, and a five-minute walk to both Raekoja plats and the ferry harbour. Straddles the Old Town wall and the Kalamaja creative quarter.
16eur - Fat Margaret's is the hostel every Tallinn backpacker has heard of, and after 4736 reviews that reputation has settled into something predictable: a €16 dorm bed at the edge of the Old Town walls, a big shared kitchen, rentable sauna sessions, and a crowd heavy on Interrail travelers from May to September. The building sits on Põhja puiestee directly opposite Paks Margareeta (Fat Margaret's Tower), a stocky 16th-century cannon bastion that gives the hostel its name.
Dorms are large — eight to twelve beds depending on the room — with curtains between bunks, in-dorm lockers, and shared hallway bathrooms. The shared kitchen runs a non-stop morning-to-evening rhythm: somebody is always boiling pasta and someone else is labeling a Rimi grocery bag. The lobby doubles as a lounge where the pre-pub-crawl crowd gathers. Board games live in a drawer behind reception.
The stand-out is the on-site sauna. Unlike Ring SPA, here you rent the sauna room in 90-minute blocks so it's genuinely private — bring a group of six, bring beers, and have a proper Estonian night without the tourist version. Small plunge pool for the contrast. Location-wise you're three minutes from the Kalamaja Telliskivi-bound direction and five minutes from Raekoja plats in the other, meaning you can literally split your days between hipster breweries and medieval cobblestones without a tram.
- 01€16 bed with a rentable sauna attached — a combination nobody else in Tallinn offers
- 02Straddles the Old Town wall and the Kalamaja creative quarter
- 034736 reviews of backpacker pedigree
- 04Five minutes to both Raekoja plats and the ferry port
- Rentable on-site sauna and small plunge pool
- €16 dorm beds, 5 min from Raekoja plats
- 5 min walk to the Helsinki ferry terminals
- Backpacker pedigree — 4736 Booking reviews
“Good location, nice style of the room. The dorm had proper curtains between bunks and the lockers were big enough for a 60L backpack. Staff let me into the sauna with three mates for an evening, it was memorable.”
“Location, cleaning, temperature — all nine out of ten. Fat Margaret's Tower is literally at the door and the ferry port is five minutes. The shared kitchen was busy but the morning crowd is friendly.”
“Close to the port. Spacious dorm. The sauna is what makes it — did a session with five other guests on a Friday night, then walked fifteen seconds to the Rotermann bars. Old building but a classic backpacker stop.”
- Fat Margaret's Tower (Paks Margareeta)30 sec walk
- Raekoja plats (Town Hall Square)5 min walk
- Ferry terminals A & D5 min walk
- Telliskivi Creative City8 min walk
- Kalamaja wooden house district5 min walk
- Rotermann Quarter7 min walk
