Copenhagen: Canal Tours (open boat or glass top)

[Boo's Mom]

Have you done a canal tour in Copenhagen?

 

There are open top boats and glass top boats?

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages to either.

 

Did you go for one hour? Was one hour enough time?

Would you do 1.5 hour if it was available.

 

Did you doa tour in the evening (dark)...was it chilly? (July)

 

Thanks for all of your comments.

[Artemis]

Hi, again, yes, we did a canal boat tour, the boat was part open top, part covered top, we took the ride during the day. We were there in July--I see you will be visiting in July, too, and that you're also a Texan. I will say that the evening temps are quite a lot cooler than what we are used to, so for our tastes, we felt a night ride would be unpleasantly cool. I can't think of any disadvantage to an open top except you are exposed to the elements--but most boats are like the one we boarded with part closed top, as well, so in case of shower or unpleasant wind/coolness, you could retreat.

 

As for length, that's really dependent on what you want to see??? Check out the online maps of the standard tour routes. I can't recall your kids' exact ages, but it's certainly not an exciting ride, so if you anticipate a boredom factor with sightseeing by boat, then you might select a shorter route that covers the places you most want to see.

[Boo's Mom]

Hi, again, yes, we did a canal boat tour, the boat was part open top, part covered top, we took the ride during the day. We were there in July--I see you will be visiting in July, too, and that you're also a Texan. I will say that the evening temps are quite a lot cooler than what we are used to, so for our tastes, we felt a night ride would be unpleasantly cool. I can't think of any disadvantage to an open top except you are exposed to the elements--but most boats are like the one we boarded with part closed top, as well, so in case of shower or unpleasant wind/coolness, you could retreat.

 

As for length, that's really dependent on what you want to see??? Check out the online maps of the standard tour routes. I can't recall your kids' exact ages, but it's certainly not an exciting ride, so if you anticipate a boredom factor with sightseeing by boat, then you might select a shorter route that covers the places you most want to see.

 

Thanks, Artemis !

Did you take a ship's excursion? Or..on your own.

 

My kids are 10 & 13.

They are troopers. ;)

[Artemis]

Boo's Mom, I'm glad you posted back. I had forgotten to mention that for the evening, you'd probably want to consider Tivoli Gardens with the kids. The Tivoli website is fabulous & if the summer calendar is not up now, it will be before you go, so you can check in advance what special events, musical performances, etc. will be going on during your visit. If you think that is something your family will enjoy, allow the entire evening/night as there is a lot to do, and we found the park fairly crowded the July night we visited, both with tourists and a lot of locals, especially well-dressed couples of middle age and older who had come out to enjoy dinner al fresco with live music.

 

The only organized tour we took the entire trip was with Denrus in SPb, but we travel a lot & mostly independently, so we're not the best gauge. On the other hand, I rate the Scandanavian capitals as among the easiest of all foreign cities for visitors from North America to visit on their own. These cities are very modern, clean, attractive, feature terrific public transportation and abundant signage, and, most helpful of all, the vast majority of locals you'll meet over the course of a single tourist's day will speak English. For those reasons, I think travelers of all experience levels can confidently tour these Baltic ports independently *provided they do their homework* just as you are doing. I know you realize this, but for the benefit of others who read this post and may not realize it, I will finish my thought by saying, many people don't realize you can check out the usual Frommer's, Fodor's, Rough Guides, etc. from your local library. What a deal! I think hitting the books first, then supplementing with the online versions of those books, the official tourist sites for the various cities and major attractions & coming here to Cruise Critic, is the best way to plan a day that is custom-fit to the traveler's needs and interests and turns out to be a day the planner can be proud of putting together on his/her own!

 

Boo's Mom, Copenhagen is delightful, but definitely the most expensive of the bunch--especially for we families of 4. Plan accordingly!

[swdke]

Have you done a canal tour in Copenhagen?

 

There are open top boats and glass top boats?

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages to either.

 

Did you go for one hour? Was one hour enough time?

Would you do 1.5 hour if it was available.

 

Did you doa tour in the evening (dark)...was it chilly? (July)

 

Thanks for all of your comments.

 

I've taken the canal tours several times. I used to live in Copenhagen, and I've been back several times. My last time was when I took the Star for the Baltic Cruise last July. The tour company I am most familiar with is the one in Nyhavn harbor, where the harbor "dead ends", near the big anchor. However, they didn't accept credit cards so for this past trip, I took the canal boat at Gammel Strand. I think it's the same tour company, but the one at Gammel Strand accepted credit cards. I think our boat had open seats in the front, back, and inside seats in the center, but I am not sure all boats are this way. Unless it's raining, you definately want to be outside, and if it is raining, why bother.

 

Copenhagen is a lovely city, my favorite. If you have any particular questions about Copenhagen, I'd be glad to try and answer. Also, last summer I wrote a posting titled Wonderful Copenhagen. Look it up, it has tons of great information.

 

Have fun in Wonderful Copenhagen!

[dileep]

We took an open boat with narration from the Nyhavn Canal at 10 am in late May 2005 and loved it! It gives you a very perspective of the city from a boat. The boats are not very tall because they have to go under a few low bridges.

 

We needed local currency (50Kr per person) for the ticket, but there was an ATM machine close by in the King's New Square, and exchange bureaus at the entrance of the pedestrian street with good rates.