Aorinka

The Catherine’s Palace was crowded indeed, but you can always carry a 3-year old on your shoulders. Or, one of the parents just stays in the park with the little one. We saw horses and carriages there so you may go for a ride in the park… or was it in a different park… not quite sure now. Ask your manager, she will know that.

That's right, we even saw infants at the Hermitage, no problem while you are not part of a group of 40 people.

Is It worth it to go to the Icebar? How far is it from the port? Is it best to book it in advance?

 

Any suggestions are appreciated!

It really depends on how long you are staying in Stockholm. I would say that a bar is a night time activity, so if you are only staying there one day with the cruise when do you go? Stockholm is a beautiful city where you could just walk and walk, not to speak of all the attractions you would like to visit. Ice bars similar to the one in Stockholm can be found in many other cities now. So I vote against going there on a one-day stay, but it is always very individual.

When we do a city with only 1 day, we like to do things slowly instead of running around and trying to see everything which is obviously impossible in Stockholm.

 

We were thinking of spending most of our 1 day on the island of Djurgården as there are many interesting sites there.

 

Does this make any sense?

 

DON

In my opinion, you will have a lovely walk in a beautiful sorrowing full of nature if you stay on Djurgarden island, but to get the feel the city of Stockholm one should have a stroll around Gamlastan too.

I have been reading about the rioting in Stockholm. We are traveling with small children on our baltics cruise. Is it safe? Are there areas to avoid? What can you recommend for children (6 and 7)?

Stockholm felt as the safest place on earth. The old city (Gamlastan) is traffic free, it's a walking area, so safe for children. Depends on how many hours you are spending in Stockholm and how children-oriented you would like your stay to be, but consider visiting Skansen http://www.skansen.se and Junibacken http://www.junibacken.se.

Hi, Kerry2travel. I would not say that this book prepared us for the whole trip, but it gave an encouraging introduction to our daughter waking her interest for the new place she was going to see.

We had a special family oriented tour with Best Guides in St. Petersburg last summer. The way of delivering the information was adapted to our daughter’s age (10yo). We didn't miss any of the must see places and had many things extra that were interesting for all of us. We were closer to real life, saw some yards and playgrounds, saw more of the inner life of the city than with the group tour I had done before. With an individual children oriented tour you have more freedom in making a stop/break when you need it and spending more time at the places that your daughter likes making it more enjoyable for all of you.

It never took us long getting a reply from Best Guides either. Looking back at my e-mails I just admire Kira (the manager), here patience and knowledge. I did give her a hard time I guess. I have an excuse though of taking a 10yo kid on the trip :)

or any other recommended private tour guides? This will be my second time in Stockholm, so there might be a chance to see more than the standard route with a guide...

It’s true that there are probably no people who would be able to compare several companies if they are lucky with their first choice. I am traveling with Best Guides for the second time this summer, now with my husband and daughter. My feeling with them is that they are small and cozy, they manage to preserve a very personal attitude to everybody who is traveling with them. I do not know if they are working with big groups at all, or if they are specializing in family-oriented and small group oriented tours, providing excellent, highest quality service.

I see. Thank you for your answers. My children are much younger: 3 and 5 y.o. I don’t give up the hope to hear some encouraging reviews from previous cruisers who went on a Baltic cruise with young children like mine.

Whitesand,

I was looking for children’s books to read prior to St. Petersburg tours and found a beautiful one http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Maiden-Helped-Santa-Claus/dp/0972502742/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334256160&sr=1-6 . A bit too childish for my 10yo girl, but seems just right for the age of your children. You may enjoy reading it with them though it's not quite Christmas time yet.

My daughter will be 10 at the time of the trip

excellent!

Thank you

take a change of clothes for your daughter.

Here is a video we took.

Thank you, taking a change of clothes is very good point.

People are wearing coats and jackets!

I’m coming to St. Petersburg for the second time the coming summer, now with my husband and daughter (she will be 10 at the time of the trip). I’d made a reservation with the Best Guides again for the “relaxed” 2 day package before I saw a special children oriented tour option on their website. I wrote to the company and they answered that these tours were available for my dates and that it would be just a little bit more expensive if I decided to replace an ordinary city drive with the children friendly “Secrets of St. Petersburg” and an ordinary Hermitage tour with the children friendly “Palace of Wonders”. Any way the cost sounds reasonable and the manager promised that the tour would be adapted to the age of my daughter.

My question is if anybody has tried children tours with the Best Guides? Are the tours really interesting for children? Is it worth the money and time when you have only 2 days in St. Petersburg?

Thank you in advance for your answers.