Jump to content

Viking Homelands in August 2018 - Excursions


Travels Often
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi - Wondering if anyone has thoughts on the Viking Homelands Excursions (or even private ones)? We are going in August - Have already joined others in Roll Call to do a private 2 day tour in St. Petersburg and a private tour in Berlin as well. Saw the Flam Railway get VERY good ratings on another thread, and will do that, too. Wondering thoughts on Pulpit Rock in Stavanger? Copenhagen Excursions? Helsinki? Gdansk?

Any insights would be awesome. I also love things that are a bit 'off the beaten path' , so don't hold back

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely do Pulpit Rock on your own. It was cheaper and worked out great. We used https://www.norled.no/ Just be aware of the times of their tours. I know there was another company but the time didn't work out great for us. It started later and only allowed us a few minutes to get back to the ship for the all aboard. I just didn't feel comfortable cutting it that short. I can't remember the name of the other company but I know others here were able to use them because the timing is different coming from the other direction. Maybe someone can chime in here. We had plenty of time to tour Stavanger on our own after Pulpit Rock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whatever you do, book the jazz cruise round Copenhagen waterways.

We tended to bail out of the walking tours. Too much standing around for us. There's usually a shuttle bus with knowledgeable guides at each end who pointed us in the best directions for what we wanted to see. Importantly, at several locations they gave us much more accurate maps than the Viking ones we picked up on the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Enjoyed Flam tour.

Stavanger: Do pulpit Rock on your own. Private tour boats right next to your Viking ship. Save $. Check times.

Denmark: Roskilde Viking Ship Museum & Cathedral was a great tour.

Poland: Wife enjoyed Malbork Castle Tour

In Tallinn: Palmse Manor House & Upper Tour Walk

Took private TJ Tours in St Pete. Terrific. See so much more. Save $.

Stockholm: in retrospect it would be easy to do Vasa museum on your own. We did the $ Viking tour which included a very nice lunch and a boat ride across the bay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, Thank you for all the tremendously good advice! I will get online today and look at some of these options. Your input was soooo appreciated. With as little time in ports, I want to make good use of our time and this was right on! Thanks again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi - Wondering if anyone has thoughts on the Viking Homelands Excursions (or even private ones)? We are going in August - Have already joined others in Roll Call to do a private 2 day tour in St. Petersburg and a private tour in Berlin as well. Saw the Flam Railway get VERY good ratings on another thread, and will do that, too. Wondering thoughts on Pulpit Rock in Stavanger? Copenhagen Excursions? Helsinki? Gdansk?

Any insights would be awesome. I also love things that are a bit 'off the beaten path' , so don't hold back

 

we are on the August 25'th cruise out of Bergen. iIs that the cruise u r on?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely do Pulpit Rock on your own. It was cheaper and worked out great. We used https://www.norled.no/ Just be aware of the times of their tours. I know there was another company but the time didn't work out great for us. It started later and only allowed us a few minutes to get back to the ship for the all aboard. I just didn't feel comfortable cutting it that short. I can't remember the name of the other company but I know others here were able to use them because the timing is different coming from the other direction. Maybe someone can chime in here. We had plenty of time to tour Stavanger on our own after Pulpit Rock.

 

I was following jiminyC because out VH was just after hers :) so we booked Norled as well. It's large reputable company. They have nice clean boats, Tip: if the weather cooperates stay outside if you can. The only Cons and for some it's a big one, there is no place to seat upstairs. Other than that it was a perfect trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was following jiminyC because out VH was just after hers :) so we booked Norled as well. It's large reputable company. They have nice clean boats, Tip: if the weather cooperates stay outside if you can. The only Cons and for some it's a big one, there is no place to seat upstairs. Other than that it was a perfect trip.

 

Great tip about the no seating area upstairs!

 

 

It rained like crazy and was freezing when we visited Pulpit Rock but luckily we were well dressed for it and we were able to stay outside most of the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eiddfjord is beautiful. We did the Flam trip from there. I know, not the complete "Flam trip" as we didn't sail in the fjord, but, I wouldn't have missed the bus trip (!) with the tunnels, the waterfalls, the scenery. And, we had a great guide. This was one of the 3 Viking trips we purchased.

 

As for the included tours, we used them as a way to introduce the port (except Stockholm, where we stayed 4 days pre-cruise and St Petersburg where we had a private tour) and then we set out on our own to enjoy the town and the people. Our only bad walking tour - Copenhagen. The guide, um, awful. Members of our group dropped off and joined others or just wandered off on their own, as did we. Most ports are easy to navigate -- make sure you know the all aboard time and can find the shuttle pickup spot or be able to find your own way back to the ship. The Copenhagen jazz cruise was fun. In Bergen, if taking the Greig excursion (lovely music) you will cover most of the sights included in the panoramic tour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just returned a few days ago. Agree that the Flam tour with Viking was great, so don't miss that :)

The best included tour for us was the Copenhagen one because of the awesome guide we had. The worst was the Tallin walking tour because of a horrible guide. I think it is hit and miss depending on who you get.

My personal favourite was the Day in the Life of Vikings in Aalborg, but that might be because I am a Viking nut :) It included a visit to the Lindholm Hoje (viking graveyard with 100s of rock grave stone markers).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We enjoyed the included walking tour in Aalborg, and the train ride to Berlin was much better than we'd expected. Most of the places we'd visited before on previous cruises, and found some were not as nice as they once were, due to too many ships in port at the same time. If you're going to Stavanger, check how many other ships will be there - and if it's a lot, then I'd highly recommend taking a trip out of town, or staying onboard! There were ships with a total of 10,000 passengers in town when we were there last year!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We enjoyed the included walking tour in Aalborg, and the train ride to Berlin was much better than we'd expected. Most of the places we'd visited before on previous cruises, and found some were not as nice as they once were, due to too many ships in port at the same time. If you're going to Stavanger, check how many other ships will be there - and if it's a lot, then I'd highly recommend taking a trip out of town, or staying onboard! There were ships with a total of 10,000 passengers in town when we were there last year!

 

Yikes! We generally travel in April or October to try to avoid the peak season crowds and the summer heat. Our Russia and the Baltic Sea cruise next year in late April may be risky in terms of weather, but I hope the crowds will be more manageable. A stop in Santorini on the Viking Star in April of 2017 as the only ship in port is among the very best of our wonderful travel experiences.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yikes! We generally travel in April or October to try to avoid the peak season crowds and the summer heat. Our Russia and the Baltic Sea cruise next year in late April may be risky in terms of weather, but I hope the crowds will be more manageable. A stop in Santorini on the Viking Star in April of 2017 as the only ship in port is among the very best of our wonderful travel experiences.

 

Yes we were there in the second half of May - so perhaps you will be luckier. Fingers crossed for you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whatever you do, book the jazz cruise round Copenhagen waterways.

We tended to bail out of the walking tours. Too much standing around for us. There's usually a shuttle bus with knowledgeable guides at each end who pointed us in the best directions for what we wanted to see. Importantly, at several locations they gave us much more accurate maps than the Viking ones we picked up on the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

 

I would "second" this recommendation! I am assuming that Nippy Sweetie is referring to the one that he (was?) offered by Viking. We booked it on a whim and had a great time. There was a three piece "band" and lots of champagne and some tasty snacks as well! We cruised the waterways in and around Copenhagen and got a peek at some parts of the city that are off the "beaten track" ... It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi - I have gone to norled to book our trip to Pulpit Rock while we are in Stavanger, but I am having a hard time figuring out which schedule or boat to take, and while I sent an email, no one has responded to this. Can anyone recommend which schedule or boat to take? Or if I need to do something different to get this information? Many thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would "second" this recommendation! I am assuming that Nippy Sweetie is referring to the one that he (was?) offered by Viking. We booked it on a whim and had a great time. There was a three piece "band" and lots of champagne and some tasty snacks as well! We cruised the waterways in and around Copenhagen and got a peek at some parts of the city that are off the "beaten track" ... It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience!

 

Sounds lovely. Was this the evening jazz cruise? Was the boat open or enclosed? Thanks for information

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds lovely. Was this the evening jazz cruise? Was the boat open or enclosed? Thanks for information

For us, mid-May, it was an early evening cruise in an open canal boat, and we returned about 30 minutes before port departure. People along the shore danced to the music. It was a fun evening and we saw a different part of Copenhagen. At one bridge, we wondered if we could creep under it -- you could reach out & touch it. For our cruise, there were 2 booking times & we selected the latest which wasn't really that late except for we early diners. If you dine late -- 7:30 or later -- you are fine. I remember thinking our time was earlier than first posted in the excursions list -- probably changes depending on your cruise departure time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this is posted elsewhere, but I can't find it. On the train trip to Berlin, at which station does the train arrive and from which does it leave? Is there still a bus tour included in the included tour? I read that at one point there was an hour ride around the city after the train ride. Thanks for your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this is posted elsewhere, but I can't find it. On the train trip to Berlin, at which station does the train arrive and from which does it leave? Is there still a bus tour included in the included tour? I read that at one point there was an hour ride around the city after the train ride. Thanks for your help.

This might be the thread your were looking for:-

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2409432&highlight=ostbahnhof&page=2

Reply #27 on the thread show the names of the two stations that were used when we did the trip last year, but I suppose it might vary, as the OP had arrived and departed from Ostbahnhof.

We did a one hour bus tour on arrival which gave a very good overview of the city, and then were dropped outside the Hilton Hotel in the centre - this was the meeting place for the return journey, with a Viking representative there all day in case you needed help or information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you book the Pulpit Rock cruise ahead of time? Hoping to do the cruise only if weather cooperates so would prefer to wait until we dock.

What would you advise?

We did book with Norled ahead of time, and did not have to pay until we got there. There was a good crowd on board but I think you probably could’ve walked up and gotten tickets. The boat left at 12:15 pm, and I’d advise getting there by 11:45 to ensure a spot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We booked TJs tours for Berlin ( minibus picked up at port) and their 2 day St Petersburg tour both excellent, check in roll call and if you get a group they give you a discount. Did the jazz boat in Copenhagen at last minute and it was fun. Also booked the Pulpit Rock cruise on our own at the port, was cheaper than Viking and our boat was ahead of the Viking tour so we knew we would get back before the ship left. Every other place we did the Viking included tour and had some free time. We got to Bergen 3 days before cruise and enjoyed that city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi - I have gone to norled to book our trip to Pulpit Rock while we are in Stavanger, but I am having a hard time figuring out which schedule or boat to take, and while I sent an email, no one has responded to this. Can anyone recommend which schedule or boat to take? Or if I need to do something different to get this information? Many thanks!

 

We are on the Aug 11th VH sailing on the Star. We we booked the 12 noon Rodne Pulpit Rock cruise on our own. It was roughly $60 pp. Much much cheaper than with Viking. I just followed prompts online and rec'd a .pdf and printed voucher. We chose this sailing time since we were getting into Stavanger at 10am and if we were late arriving it would give us some buffer time. We didn't want the 2pm since it would cut it a little close to make it for departure. This will also allow us to do the latest afternoon included walking tour with Viking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...