Baltic Capitals

My girlfriend and I are going on a cruise to the Baltic capitals in a few weeks and when possible we prefer to DIY. For those of you that have been to Helsinki, Tallinn and Copenhagen when on a cruise how easy was it to DIY from the ship in each city? We enjoy meeting the locals (and fellow cruisers) and conversing with them which is easier without having to listen to a guide. We don't need to have a tour of more churches.

If you look over on the Northern Europe board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

you will see many discussions on the topic. All are pretty easy to DIY.

All three are very easy to D.I.Y. with a little study on this site . Tallinn is an easy walk to the old town .I assume you will be going to S.P.B. also there you must use a excursion ,there are many good private ones on this site.

All three are easy, as are most Baltic ports, but you may need transport from ship to city.

Helsinki - a bit too far to walk to town. There'll be a ship's shuttle (payable), or taxis, perhaps local buses, and the ho-ho bus calls at the port.

Aim for the Market Place - near there are Senate Square & cathedral, boats to the fortified island of Suomenlinna, and the circular tram route which takes you thro the Winter Olympic Park and within walking distance of the Sibelius monument in Sibeliuspark and the Temppeliauion Church (Rock Church)

Tallin - the nearest part of the old town is a gate in the town wall by a squat tower with the unflattering name of Fat Margaret, a pleasant 20 minute walk on level ground. From there its a further 10 minutes to the main part, with its bars & stalls. Behind there the ground rises steeply to a further part of old town & the city wall.

If the walk doesn't appeal take ship's payable shuttle to the main part. Or better, take a van or taxi to the highest part of old town, with views beyond. Walking down is so much easier than walking up ;).

There are ho-hos in Tallinn, buy I'm doubtful of their value because they're not allowed in the narrow little streets of old town and the rest of the city seems a bit bleak & boring.

Copenhagen depends very much where you port.

If on Langelinie (& perhaps a little further out in Nordhavn) its a very pleasant 30 minute waterfront walk past the little mermaid, past the low star-shaped defensive castle, past Amelienborg Palace (Castle) to the bar-lined little harbour of Nyhavn for a well-earned beer.

The main centre is just beyond.

At the pier there's ho-ho buses, regular buses, taxis, probably ship's shuttles, possibly ho-ho boats - but do make the effort to walk at least one way.

But a lot of ships now berth at a newish cruise terminal a little way out of town. That certainly needs transport, don't know the options but there'll be several.

Copenhagen isn't as compact as many cities, but you should find no difficulty strolling from sight to sight.

Unless you intend to visit Berlin from Warnemunde, St Petersburg is the only Baltic port that needs a tour, either ship's tour or one pre-booked with an accredited local tour operator.

Despite cruise lines' literature both options provide visa-free tours

Check out threads on the subject on the forum kindly linked by Bruce.

JB :)

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports. It is written for people like you, who want to DIY. Tells you how to do it from gangway to gangway, what it should cost, etc. EM

Hi,

We're on RCL for the Baltic. Have been before and did our own thing. Walk off the ship. Somestimes we buy tickets for hop on hop off busses. it depends. Tallnn is quite delightful and very easy to walk about.

Enjoy.

Dianne

Victoria BC

My girlfriend and I are going on a cruise to the Baltic capitals in a few weeks and when possible we prefer to DIY. For those of you that have been to Helsinki, Tallinn and Copenhagen when on a cruise how easy was it to DIY from the ship in each city? We enjoy meeting the locals (and fellow cruisers) and conversing with them which is easier without having to listen to a guide. We don't need to have a tour of more churches.

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports. It is written for people like you, who want to DIY. Tells you how to do it from gangway to gangway, what it should cost, etc. EM

+1

Rick's directions for Helsinki made it easy for us to take public transport, right from the cruise port.

In Tallinn, in addition to the Old Town, we took public transport to see the Song Festival Grounds (a few miles away). This site was featured in the documentary The Singing Revolution, which we found very interesting.

We had bit more trouble in Copenhagen because the cruise port was under construction and we literally couldn't figure out how to walk out in the early morning. But that was a couple of years ago and it should be better now.

Don't miss Old Town in Tallinn, it's fantastic! There's a church with a TALL clocktower with a wonderful view.

All three are very easy to D.I.Y. with a little study on this site . Tallinn is an easy walk to the old town .I assume you will be going to S.P.B. also there you must use a excursion ,there are many good private ones on this site.

Yes we are touring with groups in both SPB and Berlin

Don't miss Old Town in Tallinn, it's fantastic! There's a church with a TALL clocktower with a wonderful view.

When I was a young-in I had a German Shepard named Kim

My girlfriend and I are going on a cruise to the Baltic capitals in a few weeks and when possible we prefer to DIY. For those of you that have been to Helsinki, Tallinn and Copenhagen when on a cruise how easy was it to DIY from the ship in each city? We enjoy meeting the locals (and fellow cruisers) and conversing with them which is easier without having to listen to a guide. We don't need to have a tour of more churches.

As others have said it is fairly easy. One thing I suggest is that you do a budget of what you will spend and get the local curreny before you reach the port.

I did the a baltic cruise a few years ago and it was easy to find information in English on local public transportation on the internet. Know the routes/sites and print the maps before you leave.

When I was a young-in I had a German Shepard named Kim

:)

get the local curreny before you reach the port.

In Sweden most places accept VISA or Mastercard so no need for Swedish Crowns IMO. A lot of places accept Euro, even if the exchange rate might not be the best it normally doesn't matter that much. Just a heads up, American Express are NOT accepted everywhere.

When we have been in Helsinki and Tallinn we have used our VISA-card.

C openhagen is easy on your own. very walasble l city. I'vehad many visits there and love it Charming.

:)

 

 

 

In Sweden most places accept VISA or Mastercard so no need for Swedish Crowns IMO. A lot of places accept Euro, even if the exchange rate might not be the best it normally doesn't matter that much.

True if you like to use your credit card in other countries and it is chip and pin.

True if you like to use your credit card in other countries and it is chip and pin.

Being a bit negative there, Sonic.;)

Cards without a PIN, even cards without a chip, are accepted by cashiers in Europe (though its worth double-checking before buying), and by some self-service machines

The difficulty is that they don't work in most self-service machines. So, for instance, in most cases if you want to buy a train ticket you have to use the ticket office rather than a machine.

Not a lot different to me using my Brit. chip-and-pin card in a lot of US gas stations - if the pump needs a zip-code I'm stymied & have to present my card in the office before drawing gas.

And your card is safer in Europe, card fraud is a great deal lower than in the US. Only had a card used fraudulently once - that was one of those US gas stations. Ever since then my card doesn't leave my sight in the US - I pay cash or move on to the next gas station. And since my card has a PIN, in Europe it's very much more secure & there's no need for it to go out of my sight.

JB :)

True if you like to use your credit card in other countries and it is chip and pin.

Well I use my card in Sweden almost every day and I have NEVER had a problem..... :p

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports. It is written for people like you, who want to DIY. Tells you how to do it from gangway to gangway, what it should cost, etc. EM

Agree with this 110%

We used Rick Steve's book for both our Baltic and Med cruises.