Trade Routes of the Middle Ages ???

[OnVacationNow]

 This will be our 2nd Viking ocean cruise (coming up in September 2020).  With the exception of Bruges, all of the ports will be new for us.  Would love to hear from anyone who’s done Trade Routes...what were your favorite excursions (included or not), recommendations, etc.?

[Mich3554]

We just got off of this trip last week.   We chose a lot of our excursions for personal reasons.   I think my favorite excursion was Monet’s garden and house in Giverney for France.  We have been to France and Paris several times and this was one place we had not yet seen.  Second favorite excursion was Stonehenge, as neither DH nor I had been here.    We did the Dale factory in Bergen....it was kind of meh, but the drive there was gorgeous.  We did Tapas and Fado in Porto, which was interesting.  In Amsterdam we did a canal cruise and Riiks museum.  I chose this solely because my dad’s favorite painting was Nightwatch, and I wanted to see the original.  Unfortunately, it was undergoing some work, so could not see it unobstructed.  Those were our only paid excursions.   The rest we did the included excursions.

 

 

 

 

[lackcreativity]

We did Trade Routes last fall, and in spite of not very good weather and some rough seas, we loved the trip. We were sad to miss Falmouth because of the our weather, but enjoyed every port we did visit. Some of our choices regarding excursions were based on the fact that we have visited Amsterdam, Paris, London, Granada,  and Barcelona previously. Your decisions may differ based on your wishes.

 

Bruges was our favorite, and our main reason for selecting this itinerary.  Malaga was a very pleasant surprise. We have seen the Alhambra in Granada, so we stayed in Malaga and did the included excursion. After the tour, we remained on our own to tour the Alcazaba and then take the shuttle bus Viking offers back to the ship. If you have never seen the Alhambra, I would make every effort to see it. I do caution that tickets are limited and Viking can only take so many guests, so you might wish to book a private tour rather than count on getting a spot on the Viking excirsion.

 

Our only optional excursions were to Bruges,  Honfleur, and Parc Guell in Barcelona. Our enthusiasm for the included excursion in Porto was dampened by nonstop rain (sorry, couldn't help myself) but we did like the city and would love to go back one day. The included excursion to the Naval Dockyards in Portsmouth was quite interesting, and getting to go on Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory was a whole new experience for us. The included excursion in Cartagena was a mixed bag. The first part of the tour to a distant beach town was not very interesting, but we had a good guide who was excellent for our tour of the Roman amphitheater as he was an archeologist who had worked on the excavation.  Since the ship docks within walking distance of those ruins, I might choose to just go there on my own if I could have a do over.

 

Deciding whether to take certain all day excursions like the ones to Paris and London depend on whether you think you might ever get there on another trip. If I had never been to those cities, I might have taken those long bus rides to get there. I think a little bit of Paris or London is still better than never getting there at all. 

 

Have fun making your plans, and enjoy your trip!

 

[AuntieWerewolf10]

We did the Trade Routes in April 2018. Another passenger wrote a detailed review.

 

[Cyber Kat]

14 hours ago, OnVacationNow said:

 This will be our 2nd Viking ocean cruise (coming up in September 2020).  With the exception of Bruges, all of the ports will be new for us.  Would love to hear from anyone who’s done Trade Routes...what were your favorite excursions (included or not), recommendations, etc.?

Are you on the September 15 sailing of the Viking Sky?  We doing this next year as well. I’m really looking forward to it. If you are on the Sky 9/24, come join our roll call. 
 

We have been to Amsterdam and Portsmouth. All the other ports are new for us. We will likely do something on our own in Amsterdam, as we are  comfortable getting around on the trams. I’m thinking of the Resistance Museum - we haven’t visited that one yet and we keep wanting to visit the Begijnhof gardens. We might do one of the day trips to Hoorne. 
 

In Portsmouth, my husband wants to go to the Victory again, but I want to do something different, so we’ll see. We have been to London and Stonehenge.  Between the 2 I’d recommend Stonehenge unless you don’t mind the long bus ride. 
 

On my wish list are the Alhambra and I’m really keeping my fingers crossed for Falmouth because I want to do Lands End. I think we will do Honfleur or Monet’s Garden in France. We are booked on the Swiss Alps to Paris in 2021. 
 

Are you doing any pre or post extensions. We are doing the Oslo one pre and the Madrid one post because of the trains 😁

 

[Krisval]

We did this cruise in April of this year. We, too, missed Falmouth due to very rough seas. 

 

We've been to Barcelona a few times, but went early to visit our favorites: Sagrada Familia and Sant Pau. We’d also been to Cartagena before and found it

to be interesting. This time we did the Cartagena Foundations tour and found it to be fascinating. In Granada we took the Spectacular Caves and walking tour- enjoyed each. We did the “Best of...” in Porto; have enjoyed the city in the past. Portsmouth- did the Panoramic London tour and enjoyed it, watched changing of the guard and such. Paris- we had a private Normandy tour. Bruges- we lined up a canal cruise that was beautiful. Amsterdam- the Keukenhof Gardens were in full bloom and we went on the tour there. We also did the included canal cruise. Bergen: Panoramic tour and Grieg’s House. Panoramic was nice (again, we’d been to Bergen a couple of times). Grieg house was good, though the tour seemed to drag at times. We had a very good piano performance, though it seemed to get a bit long. The setting is gorgeous.

 

Hope that helps.

[Cienfuegos]

My wife and I did this trip two weeks ago.  Loved it.  Bergen, Malaga, Cartagena,, Portsmouth, and Porto were new to us.

 

Took the Amsterdam tram to the fish market, several blocks of fish, meat, leather goods, clothing vendors. Bought a selection of spices at a well stocked restaurant supply store along the way. Used the all-day tram ticket to hop on, hop off, walk a while in an interesting neighborhood, hop back on, etc. The various tram lines cross, so you can create your own itinerary.

 

Favorite was also Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. The guide, Sally, was excellent. Her day job is as private guide for both the cathedral and the historic site. Made the whole trip so interesting. Details about the movement of stones to the site.   The lunch, in a local pub, ran long, and ate into some of the Cathedral time. I would consider hiring her for a full day tour of the Cathedral and a peek at the Magna Carta.

 

Did the "scenic tour of Flanders" which I found fascinating. We've been to Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges several times, so we didn't see a need to visit them  with such a short window. The scenic tour was a bus ride through tiny villages, over small canals, and through dairy farm areas.  The guide was excellent, explaining the history behind what we were seeing. We drove around the edge of Bruges, and spent some time on the ground in Knoock (?). Seaside town on a windy, dreary, and occasionally rainy day.  Tourists were the only folks out and about.

 

Falmouth was cancelled due to high winds and adverse conditions.

 

Our Porto panorama guide was not up to Viking's usual high standards. Minimal commentary. Left us on the promenade on the river side, and said we were on our own.  Meet back here in a half hour.

 

In Le Havre, we took a taxi to the Malraux Museum of contemporary art, then walked uphill to the town center. Had lunch in a small cafe, than walked some more.  Caught up with the Viking shuttle at its meeting location, just off the Place de Ville. Many people took the Paris and Normandy bus tours.  These left early in the day, and returned around 7 pm.

 

[OnVacationNow]

We are on the Sept 15 sailing next year.  We are doing the 2 day pre extension (Oslo and Bergen rail) and staying an extra 2 days in Barcelona at the end.  Spent 2 days in Bruges on a pre extension of our Rhine Getaway River cruise in 2015.  Absolutely love that charming town, but this time we’re thinking of visiting Ghent.  We were late getting into Amsterdam to start our river cruise, so there are many things I’m hoping to see there this time around.  Spent time in London and Paris many years ago (saw Stonehenge when you could still walk right up and touch the rocks!), so based on what I’ve read so far, thinking maybe Winchester Cathedral and either Normandy or Monet Gardens.  Sounds like Falmouth is an often missed port.  I’m hoping the weather holds and we can take a private excursion to visit Port Issac (location of the Doc Martin tv series).  Every time I’ve watched that show I’ve wished I could see that place in person, ...so here’s my chance!  

[lackcreativity]

4 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

Falmouth was cancelled due to high winds and adverse conditions.

 

Our Porto panorama guide was not up to Viking's usual high standards. Minimal commentary. Left us on the promenade on the river side, and said we were on our own.  Meet back here in a half hour.

Sorry that your version of the Porto tour was unsatisfactory. It is a reminder that the guide really makes the tour, as your version doesn't sound much like ours at all. We did get time on our own at the river at the end, but had several stops with our guide along the way, and commentary during our drive.

 

I keep hearing other cruisers who also missed out on the stop in Falmouth, as we did. Has anyone here actually been to Falmouth on Trade Routes of the Middle Ages? I really wanted to see some of Cornwall. ( I know, first world problems.)

[AuntieWerewolf10]

Ron the April 2018 (see review above), we made all scheduled ports.

[geffric]

Me too..booked on Trade Routes September 15 2020..😎🥂  looking forward to it..

 

 

[Cyber Kat]

We are also doing Trade Routes 9/15/2020. Have you joined us in the roll call?  I’m really looking forward to this cruise - such a great itinerary! We are also doing the pre cruise in Oslo and the post cruise in Madrid. 

[Steve Q]

We did a Trade Routes in June 2018 and did not miss any ports. Our tour to Normandy was the highlight of our trip. Well worth the cost.

[OnVacationNow]

On 10/29/2019 at 5:03 AM, Cyber Kat said:

We are also doing Trade Routes 9/15/2020. Have you joined us in the roll call?  I’m really looking forward to this cruise - such a great itinerary! We are also doing the pre cruise in Oslo and the post cruise in Madrid. 

Haven’t joined the roll call yet...but we will!   

[Galley Slave]

We are looking at this cruise for 9/20/20.  It sounds like the weather can be less cooperative later in the fall.  How soon did you find out the port times?  If we want to plan independent excursions we need to know the arrival and departure times from each port.  

[lackcreativity]

2 minutes ago, Galley Slave said:

We are looking at this cruise for 9/20/20.  It sounds like the weather can be less cooperative later in the fall.  How soon did you find out the port times?  If we want to plan independent excursions we need to know the arrival and departure times from each port.  

When you get your invoice after the initial booking with the payment of deposit the port times are listed. I think that also happens if you just request a hold on a cabin. Viking will do a courtesy hold for 24 hours  ( I think that is the time frame) and send you a quote that has that information as well.

[Galley Slave]

20 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

When you get your invoice after the initial booking with the payment of deposit the port times are listed. I think that also happens if you just request a hold on a cabin. Viking will do a courtesy hold for 24 hours  ( I think that is the time frame) and send you a quote that has that information as well.

Thanks for the prompt reply!  Today is supposedly the last day to Book Now and Pay Later, not sure if Viking will extend that offer.