Sailing in and out of Baltic Ports

We will be sailing the Baltic Sea next year and I have read that sailing into some of the ports, especially Stockholm, is incredibly beautiful. How much time should we allow for the best viewing coming in and out of these ports? We will be going to Stockholm, Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki. Thanks!!

Hi, & welcome to Cruise Critic,

To sail through the archipelago of islands to Stockholm you need to be on a ship which docks in the city itself - Stadsgarden and Frihamnen are the two main berths in the city.

If your ship berths in Nynashamn, that port is on the coast (about an hour's travel from Stockholm) and the ship doesn't have that wonderful sail-in.:(

So check the port named on your ship's itinerary.

If you are scheduled to berth in the city it is still possible that you might at the last minute have to switch to Nynashamn if the weather is against you - fog, currents, etc.:(

The sail-in through the archipelago is around 5 hours - to take it all in means being up and about at daft o'clock in the morning. Dinner is likely to interrupt your sail-out.

About 45 minutes out from St Petersburg your ship sails through the narrow gap in the flood causeway which crosses the Gulf of Finland, right alongside the little island of Kotlin and its town of Kronshtadt (various spellings).

Kronstadt was the home of the Russian Baltic fleet, and there are the hulks of scrapped cold war submarines & other vessels, plus 19th century fortifications and fort-islands, all close to your ship.

The Russian navy was instrumental in the Russian revolution of 1917, and in 1921 the sailors rebelled against the Bolshevics. The Bolsheviks attacked across the ice and drove the sailors out.

Fascinating history, check it out.

(the battleship Aurora, which signalled the start of the revolution is berthed on the River Neva, not far from Peter & Paul fortress - ask your tour guide if you'll be passing it)

You'll be passing Kronschtadt at daft o'clock in the morning, but with light summer evenings your best chance is sailing out - about 45 (?) mins after leaving St Petersburg

JB :)

We are scheduled to go Stadsgarden, so we will hopefully have that great sail in! We have already decided we will most likely order room service the night of Stockholm so we can enjoy as much of the view as possible. We will also be going in the summer, so there should be a lot of extra light. I had not read about the sail in to St. Petersburg at all, so that is great too! Thank you so much for the time in your thorough response!

Snarfbunny, which ship are you going to sail?

We are scheduled to go Stadsgarden, so we will hopefully have that great sail in! We have already decided we will most likely order room service the night of Stockholm so we can enjoy as much of the view as possible.

Good thinkin' :)

Mebbe not such good thinkin' if you have an inside cabin :D

Super itinerary, have a great cruise

JB :)

I was on the deck at 4 am. (roughly) , dumb luck because I can't sleep on a cruise for some reason. I knew the sail in was something to see and had my camera with me as the pilot boat left the station and approached the ship. I also tried to see as much as possible on the way out. I can tell you that the sail in is much , much better then the way out. The sun is to your back and the light is magnificent as you sail thru the narrow slits. It is especially cool if a ship is in front of you because you can see the awesome navigation of the pilot captain and then your ship follow the same course. I is unbelievable how they maneuver this ship through those passages! You sail into the sun on the way out and the sun is still high in the sky. I am not an expert photographer so someone with experience may be able to deal with the light conditions. The sail in made my photos look like they were taken by someone who knew what they were doing. get up early , you will be glad you did. I did see that lock in SP but was too late that was also an incredible site . I wish i read this before I went on my trip. well maybe a reason to go back!

Stockholm - check your time of arrival and count back at least 5 hours and make the effort to get up and grab your camera as it is something not to miss. We gave up on the sail out as evening dinner/activities get in the way.

We will be sailing the Baltic Sea next year and I have read that sailing into some of the ports, especially Stockholm, is incredibly beautiful. How much time should we allow for the best viewing coming in and out of these ports? We will be going to Stockholm, Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki. Thanks!!

You can check this page for info when your ship will pick up the pilot.

https://eservices.sjofartsverket.se/lotsinfopublic/lotsning_frames.asp

Select Stockholm/Svartklubbem LS in the left list. Then select date (only shows the nearest week forward).

Do try and be on deck for the entire sail in. Too many people stay on their balconies and miss the whole experience of the Archipelago sailing. Get to as high a deck as you can and either forward or all the way in the back and sit and have some hot cocoa and enjoy it all.

No one really has mentioned any of the other ports you asked about and mostly for good reason, there is really nothing special about sailing in or out of most of the other ports, depending on what you might consider a good experience. Sleep in those days. :D:D:D:D

Cheers

Len

If memory serves, the sail out of Stockholm and to Helsinki - (depending on which way you're going of course) - was very nice and worth being out on deck for. Our sail into SPB was quite cloudy and foggy, so I can't speak to that one.

If your itinerary shows 6 or 7 hours in Stockholm, you are very likely to be going through the archipelago.

If your itinerary shows 10-12 hours, you are more likely to be docking at Nynashamn.

The port schedule for 2019 doesn't seem to be available yet and as others have said, weather or other conditions can cause a change of plan.

We enjoyed the sail out through the archipelago last year and were careful to select a cruise with the archipelago again next year.

The Regal Princess has some cruises with the archipelago and others without.

Jim

For Helsinki the entrance to the South harbour / Hernesaari is straight in without any archipelago. All bigger cruise ships (over 800 feet) will go to West harbour.

Smaller cruise ships going to the South Harbour / Katajanokka will pass a narrow straight close to the Suomenlinna fortress some 20-25 minutes before docking.

The scenery in Stockholm is very beautiful 2 hours before you arrive to port

3 hours ago, duck60d said:

The scenery in Stockholm is very beautiful 2 hours before you arrive to port

I'd say about 5-6 hours before arriving to port (if your ship berths in central Stockholm).

It depends on what you are truly looking to see. To me, seeing the land grow bigger as I enter port is beautiful, so I like to start early. If you are truly just looking at the sail in, a couple hours is good. If you want to see everything, I'd start about 4 hours or so before you get to port. The sail in is beautiful in most of these ports, and you certainly don't want to miss it. 

4 hours ago, angie7911922 said:

It depends on what you are truly looking to see. To me, seeing the land grow bigger as I enter port is beautiful, so I like to start early. If you are truly just looking at the sail in, a couple hours is good. If you want to see everything, I'd start about 4 hours or so before you get to port. The sail in is beautiful in most of these ports, and you certainly don't want to miss it. 

The archipelago starts at Tjärven/Söderarm (which is where the pilots come on-board) and from
there it's about 5-6 hours into Stockholm.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tjarven/@59.7234809,18.8244599,10.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x46f5496333bfdbbd:0xb271c877e4e852b8!8m2!3d59.8!4d19.3666668

We went out the same way we went in so there was a 2nd chance.