Pre-registration for the Open House Tartu guided tours that require booking opens on Saturday, 29 August at 10:00. This applies to four street tours and three building tours. Visitors interested in architecture and urban space can join the other 18 tours on 19 and 20 September without pre-registration, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Registration is available on the programme page, under the information for each relevant tour. Places on tours requiring pre-registration are limited. All Open House Tartu guided tours are free of charge.
As part of the 2026 festival’s side programme, experts in architecture, urban space, history and culture will lead four guided street tours. The tours look more broadly at how different parts of Tartu have developed and at the city’s history and cultural heritage. Unlike the building tours, each street tour takes place only once. They are held outdoors and last up to 90 minutes.
On Saturday, 19 September at 12:00, guide Kaspar Jassa will lead a cultural history tour of the streets of Karlova. At 14:00, guide Leele Välja will lead an architecture tour of Veski Street.
On Sunday, 20 September at 14:00, guide Ants Siim will lead a history walk of Puiestee Street. At 16:00, guide Egle Tamm will lead an architecture tour of Elva Street.
Pre-registration is also required for tours of the Supreme Court Building on Toome Hill and the former yeast factory quarter in Ülejõe. A total of 12 tours will take place at each location over 19 and 20 September, including two tours in English. As all visitors to the Supreme Court Building must pass through a security check, visitors are asked not to bring large bags.
The seventh tour requiring pre-registration is the small garage house on Filosoofi Street. Tours take place only on 19 September: three in Estonian and one in English. The guides are the architects and residents of the house, Liis Uustal and Egon Metusala.
Visitors can join all the other 18 building tours without pre-registration. Groups are formed at the meeting point on a first-come, first-served basis, so visitors are advised to arrive around 15 minutes before the tour begins.
Most of these tours are led by volunteers. At the Estonian National Museum, the National Archives and the University of Tartu Museum, staff members will introduce visitors to the buildings where they work and to spaces and stories that are not usually visible to the public.
Open House Tartu is made possible with the support of the City of Tartu, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Kvartal Centre, Tartu Centre for Creative Industries, Soho Hotel and Nudist, and with the help of around 90 volunteers.
Further information:
Marie Valgre
Producer, Open House Tartu
marie@arhitektuurikeskus.ee
+372 5340 5216
Kristel Ress
Communications Manager, Open House Tartu
kristel@openhousetartu.ee
+372 5666 3876
