Pal­jas­saare Penin­su­la is the best place for bird­watch­ing in Tallinn: 223 species of birds have been spot­ted here, 85 of which are pro­tect­ed. For decades, Pal­jas­saare was a mil­i­tary zone closed to the pub­lic, but in 2005 it was trans­formed into a nature reserve. Recre­ation­al facil­i­ties include a sandy beach, great for sum­mer recre­ation, Kata­ri­na Embank­ment, a pier that extends 300 metres into the sea, offer­ing a great view of the city sky­line, and two bird­watch­ing tow­ers.

There are sev­er­al obser­va­tion tow­ers for bird­watch­ers (binoc­u­lars are a good idea), and the grounds are full of wild straw­ber­ries and rasp­ber­ries. The most notable thing about the reserve is the remains of mil­i­tary archi­tec­ture from the 19th and 20th cen­turies. Remains, because much has been lost, and after the base was closed, none of the build­ings were restored. The area includes for­mer bar­racks, tow­ers, miner’s ware­hous­es and min­ing tracks.