getting to Porvoo on your own...

[tartangal]

Has anyone visited the ancient city of Porvoo outside Helsinki on their own? I know several ships tours include it but wonder if it's easily accessible by train or other transportation. Is it worth seeing? Has anyone arranged with a local guide and driver to see sights outside of Helsinki? I understand that other than the port area iof Helsinki t's pretty much a big modern city with just a few historic attractions.

[livtocruz]

Hi,

You can get to Porvoo on a bus from the main bus station,which is about a 10 minute walk from the shuttle bus drop off, they go approx every 20 minutes, the trip takes 40 mins and the cost last year was 16.40 euros roundtrip, tickets can be bought from the driver, or at the ticket office in the bus station. It was a very easy trip, but more time consuming than taking the ships tour, we saw everything that we wanted to in Porvoo. The bus stops at Porvoo bus station which is in the new part of the town, so you have a short walk to get to the old part which is the more interesting. The tourist office there had brochures and maps in all languages, hope this helps.

[dbh62ark]

Livtocruz, I'd be very interested in hearing what you think of Porvoo. We were not enchanted with Helsinki on a previous trip and are looking for options on our return visit. (We intentionally booked a Baltics itinerary that did not include this port and then Celebrity changed our itinerary! So we're going back there after all.) I see very mixed reviews on Porvoo, so did you like it? If so, what did you like about it?

 

Thanks in advance for your help,

Donna

[tartangal]

Livtocruz, thanks very much for your helpful info. I, too, would like to know if you enjoyed Porvoo.

dbh62ark, where did you see the mixed reviews on Porvoo? Do you have a link?

Thanks. We are on the Constellation departing May 21 from Dover. How about you?

[dbh62ark]

Just mixed reviews on this board and some negative comments on a previous cruise from the shore ex passengers. We talked to probably a dozen passengers who had been that didn't care much for the excursion and a few that said it was pretty good and a few that said it was okay. I don't know what they were expecting from Porvoo that didn't meet expectations but one of the complaints I heard several times was that it was a long way to go (hour bus ride each way on shore ex) for a short stay of a little over an hour in the village. The passengers I talked to didn't express a strong dislike of Porvoo but expressed that they felt that their time might have been spent better elsewhere.

 

On the thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=48379&highlight=porvoo, dzcovery wrote, "Did Porvoo with Princess in June. Didn't think it was worth the time. In fact it was the biggest disappointment of our cruise." But olderpilot had a different opinion in the same thread: "I enjoyed the trip through the countryside and the guide's commentary as much as Porvoo. We booked our own tour online through http://www.helsinkiexpert.fi. It was certainly worth our time."

 

On the thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=34054&highlight=porvoo+bus, linh123 wrote, "In my opinion, not sure the trip to Porvoo is actually worth it. There is really nothing there." On the same thread, cannonball wrote, "We did the same tour that linh123 did and while we enjoyed Porvoo (it kind of reminded us of Old Salem, North Carolina) if we returned to Helsinki we would just tour the town on our own." Mrs Seabird wrote, "We really enjoyed Porvoo as well as seeing the countryside."

 

Since that's all I could find on CruiseCritic (not a lot of comments on this subject) and none of our traveling friends have been to Porvoo, I'm in the same position you're in with trying to decide about that option. So hopefully we'll hear more about this option so that we can decide.

 

I found some photos that you may have seen (one of the first listings on Google) at http://sandy-travels.com/porvoo.shtml.

 

I'm also sailing the Constellation but on August 27. I'm excited, so I imagine that you are VERY excited! I hope you have a wonderful trip and will post some information after you return. The passengers from my sailing are wondering about things such as whether or not Celebrity will run the free shuttles from the ship to city centers this year, will private tour passengers have issues getting off for tours in St. Petersburg (I feel okay about this and plan to get off but Celebrity is causing some concern with pre-cruise notices), and of course any other information you'd like to share on attractions, transportation, etc. We like going out independently, so we love to get tips from others who have gone before us.

 

:) Donna

[livtocruz]

Sorry for the delay in answering. I really wasn't that impressed with Porvoo and like others thought that it was a long journey for very little. It's a quaint little place but with not really alot to see, and if the weather is not good then I would think it could be pretty miserable. All in all I would rather stay in Helsinki itself, or even may be go to Seurasaari, about 10 minutes from the center, if it is a nice day, slightly more to look at there and not so far to go.Or a boat ride over to Suomenlinna is another option.

[dbh62ark]

Thank you very much for the information and for your candor. That helps a lot in making a decision on this option.

 

Happy travels to you,

Donna

[tartangal]

Donna,

 

Thank you so much for your detailed responses on Porvoo. I missed those postings on the subject. Fodor's Scandinavia makes it sound worthwhile, and says half the fun is getting there if you can take the train. Sounds like it's a steam train if I remember correctly, though it's possible the steam train might be only a sightseeing trip out of Porvoo rather than to Porvoo from Helsinki. It says the excursion train only starts running in June....

[dbh62ark]

I was curious about the steam train too but hadn't found much information on that option. One reference I've seen is in the shore excursions for Helsinki, and the steam train is listed in the tour description. I had checked on this a little because my husband loves trains. I'm trying to figure out a way for him to ride the Molli narrow gauge steam train in the village of Bad Doberan while we are docked in Rostock, Germany and yet not spend the whole day doing that!

 

From looking at the Porvoo comments on http://www.virtualtourist.com, it looks like there is a steam train museum in Porvoo. If you click around on http://www.steamrail.fi/, you can find instructions on renting a steam train. My best guess is that the cruise line's shore excursion contractor has rented a steam train for the passengers to ride as part of the excursion. Is that your understanding? I saw the Fodors reference to check the Porvoo city tourist office for train details, but I haven't done that yet. I also saw that the trains don't run very often.

 

When we were in Alaska, we rode the Alaska railway in the Alaska rail cars and also rode in a Princess cruise line car for some segments. The Princess cruise line car was attached to the Alaska railway engine and cars, and Holland had some cars for Holland passengers too. Since Celebrity is renting a steam train while we are there for the day, I wonder if there might be other cars hooked to the engine that non-shore ex passengers could ride if that makes sense.

 

The boat rides from Helsinki to Porvoo sound nice, and my book says that the boats run much more frequently.

 

If I run into any additional information on the steam train from Helsinki to Porvoo, I'll let you know. We'll definitely be checking into some options for Helsinki because we don't have a firm plan for that port yet.

 

Donna

[tartangal]

Donna, you have great information-thanks again so much. I'm sure you are right about the steam train. I don't have much time for alot of further research as we leave Saturday for our first leg of the trip( from Hawaii) to catch the ship on the 21st. I thought we could check at the tourist office in Helsinki. I hadn't run across a reference to boat rides to Porvoo and certainly will consider that. I'll let you know how it went when I return.

[tartangal]

Donna,

I just found this mention of the steam train on the virtual tourist forum thanks to your link.

by Scandic

"It' easy to reach Porvoo if you are in Helsinki. : A good half an hour’s drive takes you from downtown Helsinki to Porvoo, situated on the E 18 highway. Regular bus traffic between the capital and Porvoo is an easy and fast travelling option. Check out the timetables from http://www.matkahuolto.fi or http://www.expresbus.com But in the summer time you can even try museum train. There is still railwyas between helsinki nd Porvoo, altough there haven't been any train traffic in last 60 yers. But in the summer time you can go to porvoo with this wonderful museum train called Lättähattu. And if you want, you can travel back to Helsinki by boat.

[dbh62ark]

Thanks for that information on Porvoo. If I run into anything else before you leave, I'll post it.

 

Oh, it sounds like you live in Hawaii, so you'll need to explain how a Hawaii resident picked the name "Tartangal" when you return. :) I haven't been to Hawaii in several years, and I guess it's a no-brainer to say that we loved it! It also sounds like you have a nice stay planned prior to your cruise.

 

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

:)

Donna