Cruise ports

We are stopping in Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen amongst other ports during our upcoming Baltic cruise.

We intend taking an organized tour in St. Petersburg & Germany.

Can any of the above be visited as independent travellers, as we are not always wanting to tour with groups, even small organized groups.

However, sometimes there are long distances to the towns from cruise ports.

We are stopping in Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen amongst other ports during our upcoming Baltic cruise.

 

We intend taking an organized tour in St. Petersburg & Germany.

 

Can any of the above be visited as independent travellers, as we are not always wanting to tour with groups, even small organized groups.

However, sometimes there are long distances to the towns from cruise ports.

Yes and IMO they are very easy DIY ports.

Yes, it is easy to do these ports on your own.

The key is to read up about each port.

Keith

Here is inspiration for DIY in Copenhagen

Link to Copenhagen sightseeing videos

[YOUTUBE]PGQ-j39Kwng[/YOUTUBE]

We did a Baltic cruise in July and visited all of the ports you listed on our own.

Tallinn can be reached by foot from the port.

Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen can be reached via public transportation (much cheaper than the transfers offered by the cruise line).

I HIGHLY recommend that you get a copy of the "Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports" guidebook at your local bookstore or library. It contains directions on how to reach the city from each port and it contains walking tours and highlights for each city. (Be sure to get the 2015 edition for the most up-to-date transportation directions for Copenhagen's Oceankaj. If you can't get that edition, read the thread on this forum by Danish Viking called "Wonderful Copenhagen". He provides this info.)

I can also recommend the Free Walking Tour Copenhagen and the Free Walking Tour Stockholm. They were both good overviews of the cities for people like us who generally eschew organized tours.

Search this board for the PDF walking tour of Tallin as well, you can print it out and have a great day in a very old city.

If you booked your Germany leg you must be doing Berlin. However, if you need a restful day in your intense itinerary I would suggest spending time in Rostock, Wismar or lovely little Warnemunde. You can walk off the ship in Warnemunde and you're almost right in town (5 minute easy walk through the train station).

We are stopping in Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen amongst other ports during our upcoming Baltic cruise.

 

We intend taking an organized tour in St. Petersburg & Germany.

 

Can any of the above be visited as independent travellers, as we are not always wanting to tour with groups, even small organized groups.

However, sometimes there are long distances to the towns from cruise ports.

If it's any interest or help, videos of those ports can be viewed from 'THE BALTICS' playlist link in my signature below. Other than St Petersburg they were all done on our own, but the Berlin ones were from a 'land holiday' All the best, Tony

Agree that all three can be done on your own. In Tallinn if you are planning to go to the old town, a tour guide might provide some explanation but you will be walking, probably on the same route as the DIY'ers. Both Stockholm and Copenhagen have HOHO companies. In Copenhagen we had no problem walking from the ship to Nyhaven by way of the Rosenberg Castle, took a canal boat ride and then back to the ship along the waterfront.

The ease of getting to Copenhagen will depend on where you ship docks. If you dock at Oceankaj, you will not be able to walk into town as Mskaufman did.

I second the poster who suggested you get a copy of Rick Steves book on Baltic cruise ports. It was invaluable. Most of the ports are easily doable on your own, and we find that avoiding the long bus lines and slow fellow passengers is much better. For example, the Tallin free walking tour leaves every day at noon from the Tourist Information booth. It is a perfect way to see the city. We've never gone wrong following Rick Steves advice on restaurants, either. The only city where you may have difficulty is in Stockholm, which didn't seem very tourist friendly. Our ship docked about an hour away from Stockholm and it was rather tedious to find out which bus to take to the city center. We ended up relying on Princess since they did not offer any other options.

I'll third the Rick Steves book. It has a lot of great info.

I felt like Stockholm was very easy to get around. We went back into town after a ship excursion and had no problems. It is a bit of a ride, but our ship (DCL) had free shuttles.

Yes, the port in Copenhagen for us was very far from the tourist part of town. The cruise departed from Copenhagen, though, so we stayed several days prior. It is a very easy town to get around once you get to the tourist areas. I'd also highly recommend the free walking tour that starts at city hall square.

We did a private food tour of Tallinn. It was wonderful and not expensive. I know that's not what you asked about, but it was WAY cheaper than any ship excursion, we learned so much about Estonia and it's history, and had a 5 course meal scattered around interesting parts of the city. We could not have done that on our own, or even known where/what to order when it came to food. We had several local traditional foods.

The only city where you may have difficulty is in Stockholm, which didn't seem very tourist friendly. Our ship docked about an hour away from Stockholm and it was rather tedious to find out which bus to take to the city center. We ended up relying on Princess since they did not offer any other options.

I understand that your ship didn't dock in Stockholm but in Nynäshamn, a small city south of Stockholm. Princess is the only cruise line that did so this summer, all other dock in Stockholm and we don't know yet if there will be ships docking in Nynäshamn next year.

In my mind docking in Nynäshamn and calling it Stockholm is cheating. Passengers miss the beatiful sail in to the city and being docked close to the main sightseeing areas.

Stockholm is best seen DIY.

I am going to provide a quick and ez answer. DW and I have long been independent travelers (we think "tour" is a 4 letter word) and have done all of those ports on our own (including St Petersburg). So the short answer is yes, it can be done. You do need to do some pre trip homework, and carefully consider your ability to do a lot of walking versus using public transit.

Hank

north-bound-

Next summer we will make our third attempt at cruising up to Stockholm. On our first cruise in 2010 there were problems on the ship that required missing Stockholm and going directly to Helsinki for repairs. In 2013 the prospect of high winds kept us from sailing up to Stockholm and back. The ship needed to get to Copenhagen by the next day as it was a "crew change over" day and personal had connections to make. We know this is true as we hear from crew members that this was the one time they could change to better cabins because people were leaving.

This summer will be the third time. Is three times the charm ;).

<<<Karen>>>

north-bound-

 

Next summer we will make our third attempt at cruising up to Stockholm. On our first cruise in 2010 there were problems on the ship that required missing Stockholm and going directly to Helsinki for repairs. In 2013 the prospect of high winds kept us from sailing up to Stockholm and back. The ship needed to get to Copenhagen by the next day as it was a "crew change over" day and personal had connections to make. We know this is true as we hear from crew members that this was the one time they could change to better cabins because people were leaving.

 

This summer will be the third time. Is three times the charm ;).

 

<<<Karen>>>

Oh, that has really been bad luck! Of course it is normal to miss a port now and then when you are cruising. Bad weather or technical problems onboard is something that happens now and then. But missing the sail in to Stockholm twice is really bad. I do hope you will have better luck now and that it will be a beautiful day so you can see the Stockholm archipelago at it's best.

Wishing you a great cruise this summer.

I understand that your ship didn't dock in Stockholm but in Nynäshamn, a small city south of Stockholm. Princess is the only cruise line that did so this summer, all other dock in Stockholm and we don't know yet if there will be ships docking in Nynäshamn next year.

 

In my mind docking in Nynäshamn and calling it Stockholm is cheating. Passengers miss the beatiful sail in to the city and being docked close to the main sightseeing areas.

 

Stockholm is best seen DIY.

On our NCL sailing last week we docked at Frihamnen, over an hour later than we were originally scheduled at Stadsgården. Our Alla Tours guides in St Petersburg had told us our Stockholm time was changed. Didn't discover until the night before Stockholm that the port and time had changed. We were originally planning to DIY Stockholm so I'm glad we changed to an organized tour a few days before the start of the cruise. Turns out there was a big bicycle event in Stockholm that day. So my recommendation would be to plan for different docks just in case. Stockholm was a shortish day and a bigger place than I expected so glad we went with a tour.

ljandgb - can you share the name of the tour company you used for the Food Tour in Estonia. I am interested in looking at that for our cruise next spring.

Thanks!!

We are stopping in Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen amongst other ports during our upcoming Baltic cruise. We intend taking an organized tour in St. Petersburg & Germany. Can any of the above be visited as independent travellers, as we are not always wanting to tour with groups, even small organized groups. However, sometimes there are long distances to the towns from cruise ports.

While the earlier posters are correct that you can do most of these other Baltics ports as DIY, your original question does reflect that there are some "logistical questions" to consider.

Two factors/examples to consider. First, both Stockholm and Copenhagen have such an amazing range of options and potentials to see and do. There is a little distance from where most of the larger ships dock to the heart of both historic and charming cities. How time do you take and/or waste doing it yourself on foot and/or DIY. Ship tour have their downsides, but they might make your "getting around" easier, quicker and/or simpler.

Second, as an example for Tallinn, we could have fairly easily walk from and back to the ship in reaching their very nice main square/shopping area. BUT, we did a ship's tour that took us up the big, big hill where many of their key church, historic buildings were located. That saved us some time and effort getting there, plus allowed for a guide from whom I asked a number of questions as we were walking, etc.

In my view, it all gets to what you want to see and do. And, how, what comfort, ease, etc.?? Some are happy with getting off of the ship, seeing a few of the basics. Others like to experience more, push to do a wider range of activities, etc. Below are some examples of what we saw at the top of the big hill in Tallinn that would have been harder to reach by the easiest DIY conventions.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 185,858 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

At the top of Tallinn’s Toompea hill, this shows part of the Estonia Parliament building in the historic Pink Baroque Palace and the old Pikk Hermann watchtower with their flag on top:

Here are outside and inside views of Tallinn’s Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built in the Orthodox style 1894–1900. This church crowns the hill of Toompea. The church has been meticulously restored since Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.:

Mosaics on the outside of Tallinn’s historic Orthodox church:

Inside of Tallinn’s historic St. Mary's Cathedral Lutheran church with parts of the building dating back to the 12th Century. The main church was built in the 14th Century:

Tallinn’s rooftops in this charming Estonia Capital from the Toompea/upper town with docked cruise ships shown in the more distant background:

 

We did a private food tour of Tallinn. It was wonderful and not expensive. I know that's not what you asked about, but it was WAY cheaper than any ship excursion, we learned so much about Estonia and it's history, and had a 5 course meal scattered around interesting parts of the city. We could not have done that on our own, or even known where/what to order when it came to food. We had several local traditional foods.

Yes, no doubts all Baltic ports except St. Petersburg and Warnemunder (tour to Berlin from Warnemuder) could be done on your own. After all even St. Petersburg and Berlin could be done on your own…. I’m not sure it’s the best way to explore Baltic :rolleyes:. Look. In July we did our second Baltic cruise. So we visited Tallinn the second time. On our first cruise we did Tallinn on our own. It wasn’t a problem – the Old City can be reached by foot. It took not more than 15 min. (Take in consideration that at that moment Nic was only 3 years old). We spend more than 2 hours walking along cozy streets and enjoying European architecture. It was very nice. We even tried a couple of local cafes and bought some souvenirs. This time we decided to get a foot tour of Tallinn. We planned to join a group just to save money and booked “Old Town” mini group tour with Best guides. It turned over that we were the only 3 people in the group – my DH, my daughter (the tour was free for her) and me. So we were lucky to get a private tour at the price of a group tour:) We had an excellent guide Julia Burnasheva. The tour was so exiting – a lot of interning details and funny stories! Feel the difference! I’ve never thought that Tallinn could be SO interesting!!! We all just fell in love with Tallinn.

Initially we also wanted to book a tour in Stockholm but it turned over to bee too expensive so we did it on our own and had no problems with it. It was a good experience. We like Stockholm but not as much as Tallinn….

Jess:)

I also vote for Rick Steves book. Even if you book a tour it will be useful to check the book. If you decide to do a port on your own it will be just invaluable! Good luck!

Jess :)

We did them on our own. We used the Hop on Hop off boats in Stockholm. The HoHO buses there were horrible and a waste of money. Just have your city map. Tallinn is walkable from the port. Helsinki, we took a bus from the port to the city. We managed to get around and even did Porvoo from there on our own. However, it is frustrating and easy to get lost. There were not as many English speaking people as in other ports so potential to get lost was higher. HOHO may be better there. We were there last year so info is current.

We did all the ports on our own except SBB where we booked Alla Tours. In Copenhagen we did the HHHO bus which stopped right outside the ship. In Stockholm we had an overnight stop, so bought a 24 hour public transport pass which was good value for money. You can use it on t he metro, buses, tr arms and ferries.

In Tallin we took a taxi to the top of Toompea Hill and walked down through the old town. We didn't visit Helsinki.

In Stockholm we had an overnight stop, so bought a 24 hour public transport pass which was good value for money. You can use it on t he metro, buses, tr arms and ferries.

We also use 24 hour public transport passes (115 SEK or about 12-13 euro). These passes are valid on the Djurgarden ferry. We used the ferry to go to the Gamlastan, it took not more than 15 min and was very enjoyable. The views of Stockholm’s islands were just breathtaking :eek:!

Jess :)

North-bound, I agree that Princess' Stockholm visit was a bit deceiving. We thought there would be a city shuttle at the dock after we tendered in. It was just the night before when we found out that you were really on your own in Nynashamn once you got off the tender. Several of us were at the excursions desk right before dinner trying to figure out how to get to Stockholm. Our only option was to take the $69/person Princess shuttle. I still don't know if there was another way. We did manage to walk right on into the Ice Bar and were the only people in it. We also saw the Vasa, had a nice lunch and saw the Gamla Stan for a bit, so I'm not complaining.

Our only option was to take the $69/person Princess shuttle. I still don't know if there was another way.

$69 for just a shuttle!!! It sounds ridicules! I’m sure if you check websites of several private companies you will find a tour you can join to for the same price or lower.

Jess :)