Imaginary Hostel
Budget Old Town dorms on Vene street with the city's cheapest bed-in-walls
Imaginary Hostel is an old building on Vene 33/35/37, the Russian Orthodox corner of Tallinn's Old Town and five minutes from Raekoja plats. Two and a half thousand reviews keep it honest: the rooms are old, the shared bathrooms are basic, but for €18 you get a bunk in a building from the 1600s, a shared kitchen, and a lounge full of travelers from twenty countries. 7.6 for a reason.
Imaginary Hostel is the classic old-school backpacker stop: a worn medieval building, worn bunks, a shared kitchen that's seen a thousand spaghetti nights, and €18 dorm beds a two-minute walk from Town Hall Square. The address spans three old buildings at Vene 33/35/37, on the eastern edge of the Old Town near the Russian Orthodox churches and Katariina passage.
The rooms are unapologetically basic — wooden bunks, curtains between beds, shared hallway bathrooms with mixed quality depending on which floor you land on. The trade is square meters and location: you get a large lounge with proper sofas and a study area where digital nomads camp on rainy days, a shared kitchen with enough burners that you never wait, and a central Old Town address that no modern hostel can match for under €25.
Social life is self-directed. There's no organized bar crawl from here, but Monks Bunk's crawl picks up anyone along Lai on Mon/Wed/Fri and the Hell Hunt craft beer bar is a four-minute walk. Winter quiets the crowd down to a Finnish and Estonian core; summer fills every bed with the Interrail wave. 2758 reviews tells you it keeps showing up on travelers' checklists for a reason, and the reason is the number on the invoice.
- 01€18 dorm bed, three minutes from Raekoja plats
- 021600s medieval building with genuine character
- 03Large lounge and study area, actual furniture
- 04Backpacker pedigree on 2758 reviews
- 1.5 min walk to Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats)
- Cheapest dorm beds in the Old Town at €18
- Large shared lounge and study area with board games
- 2758 reviews — volume speaks to its backpacker-circuit status
“Old but comfortable. You know what you're paying for — a central Old Town bunk for under twenty euros. The lounge was the best bit, full of interrail travelers and backgammon boards every evening.”
“Excellent location in the heart of Old Town in Tallinn. Most of the staff are very friendly and helpful. Building is old and shows its age, but the location is unbeatable for the price.”
“I stayed in a single room and it's very clean. The location is perfect. I walked to Town Hall Square in three minutes for morning coffee and the ferry port in ten minutes on departure day.”
- Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats)3 min walk
- Katariina käik passage1 min walk
- Alexander Nevsky Cathedral5 min walk
- Viru Gate and tram stop4 min walk
- Port of Tallinn10 min walk
- Toompea observation deck9 min walk
