Tallinn/Helsinki first week of December

I have visited Tallinn twice and each time stayed in hotels that were wonderful--anything in the ring of the exquisitely charming Old Town walls will be especially desirable for ease of exploration, though there are several things worth seeing outside Old Town. I will also recommend looking into guided tours by EstAdventures--they do walking tours as well as small group day tours, I took 2 and got to see Haapsalu, Lahemaa falls, a monastery ruins and 2 manor houses and much more in outlying areas, I was there past the tourist season so one trip was just me and a couple, the other was me and the delightful owner of the company was my guide.

First trip I stayed at the Hotel Savoy, just at the edge inside Old Town. Second trip was May of 2019 and this time I chose the Von Stackelberg--and will stay there again-- which was the magnificent home of a baron and is just outside the walls, a 5 minute walk past Alexander Nevsky cathedral and a lovely park and you're in the old town. Also 5 minutes to the Museum of Occupation & Freedom, and in a different direction 5 minutes to the Balti Jaama Turg, a really interesting indoor marketplace of food, hand crafts and antiques vendors. Tallinn is known to have a great Christmas market which is in the town square, and for indoor activities I enjoyed visiting Kadriorg park and touring the palace and also the KUMU modern art museum--a short tram ride will get you there.

Coincidentally I'm booked to fly to Helsinki on December 4th and have ten days. I'm going to take the ferry across to Tallin and get an AirBnB apartment for five nights. The rest in Helsinki. Day trips possible from both bases. The Tallin Christmas Market won the best in Europe back in 2019 and the medieval Hanseatic League core looks fascinating and maybe magical during Christmas season, especially if there is snow. The average high then is 32F so I'll cross my fingers.