Splendid Scandinavia

Suggestion for Tallin--take a taxi to the upper town, then it is mostly DOWNHILL walking back toward the ship! :D

DenRus was great when we used them in St Petersburg 3 years ago. Excellent guide for 2 days with nine passengers in a mini bus. We seemed to get in to places avoiding queues too.

DOJO466 & Paulchili are spot on,IMO, with their advice. We did most of the ports DIY and used Alla (wonderful Julia) for STP. DIY= walk on our own without a guide.

I'd also use O for transport into Brugge; we had problems getting cabs at the port. Maybe it was a one-time thing but it wasn't pretty! Then do Brugge DIY.

We didn't do Moscow (do they still offer that?) or Berlin but would do that with O as well. We took the train to Rostock but returned by small port ship...very cute!

Even the VASA is easy to get to DIY (we used city bus) but go early, go early, etc. It didn't take us long to do it and then we got out of there just as the buses and cabs pulled up!!!

Frommers.com has wonderful DIY walking tours with matching maps and Fodors has some good info as well as Rick Steves. We use Frommers.com for all of our DIYs.

Also check out HOHO (hop on hop off) buses...they are a great way to see cities around the world.

It is a great itinerary. Do your research and you 2 will have a great time. Get a mileage device (FITBIT) so you can brag to each other about how many steps you've done which then turns into glassES of wine or multiple desserts!!! Or both!!!

DOJO466 & Paulchili are spot on,IMO, with their advice. We did most of the ports DIY and used Alla (wonderful Julia) for STP. DIY= walk on our own without a guide. I'd also use O for transport into Brugge; we had problems getting cabs at the port. Maybe it was a one-time thing but it wasn't pretty! Then do Brugge DIY.

 

We didn't do Moscow (do they still offer that?) or Berlin but would do that with O as well. We took the train to Rostock but returned by small port ship...very cute!

 

Even the VASA is easy to get to DIY (we used city bus) but go early, go early, etc. It didn't take us long to do it and then we got out of there just as the buses and cabs pulled up!!!

 

Frommers.com has wonderful DIY walking tours with matching maps and Fodors has some good info as well as Rick Steves. We use Frommers.com for all of our DIYs.

 

Also check out HOHO (hop on hop off) buses...they are a great way to see cities around the world.

 

It is a great itinerary. Do your research and you 2 will have a great time. Get a mileage device (FITBIT) so you can brag to each other about how many steps you've done which then turns into glassES of wine or multiple desserts!!! Or both!!!

Very good information. Agree with most of it. Alla very good. Brugge we found taxi at port and then had him come back for us at the end of the day. Good post. :):):)

You have to do your homework on this - Google is your friend.

Individual entrance and tickets are tricky as I recall - best done though your agent there (Alla, SPB tours, etc) - they will know the ropes.

BTW - The exhibit in SF was several years ago :)

We went to the Faberge Museum in September. We were on our own in SPB and walked in on a Sunday afternoon. We had no problem getting tickets and it turned out to be my favorite museum there. Part of the reason was the lack of crowds when compared to the Hermitage and Peterhof. Beside the actual Farberge eggs, this museum has an incredible collection of Russian icons and artifacts from the era of the Tsars.

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DenRus was great when we used them in St Petersburg 3 years ago. Excellent guide for 2 days with nine passengers in a mini bus. We seemed to get in to places avoiding queues too.

thanks for the info!!

DOJO466 & Paulchili are spot on,IMO, with their advice. We did most of the ports DIY and used Alla (wonderful Julia) for STP. DIY= walk on our own without a guide.

 

I'd also use O for transport into Brugge; we had problems getting cabs at the port. Maybe it was a one-time thing but it wasn't pretty! Then do Brugge DIY.

 

We didn't do Moscow (do they still offer that?) or Berlin but would do that with O as well. We took the train to Rostock but returned by small port ship...very cute!

 

Even the VASA is easy to get to DIY (we used city bus) but go early, go early, etc. It didn't take us long to do it and then we got out of there just as the buses and cabs pulled up!!!

 

Frommers.com has wonderful DIY walking tours with matching maps and Fodors has some good info as well as Rick Steves. We use Frommers.com for all of our DIYs.

 

Also check out HOHO (hop on hop off) buses...they are a great way to see cities around the world.

 

It is a great itinerary. Do your research and you 2 will have a great time. Get a mileage device (FITBIT) so you can brag to each other about how many steps you've done which then turns into glassES of wine or multiple desserts!!! Or both!!!

thank you!!

brugge and moscow arent on our itinerary.

we are doing the baltic bliss aug 2018.

london, oslo, copenhagen, berlin, visby, tallinn, st. p, helsinki, and stockholm.

we used rick steves' info a lot for the last cruise, ill check out the frommers website.

thanks!

Most of the private guides in SPB all have the express line for their clients

They are not going to waste your time & theirs by making you stand in line for an hour or more ;)