Ship's Transport in Baltics???

[mfabz]

We are travelling on the Century in August and have private tours set up for Berlin & St. Petersburg. We are planning to navigate Stockholm, Helsinki, Talinn and Copenhagen on our own.

 

For anyone who has experienced Celebrity's transport where did it leave you -- near downtown? Convenient to hop on/hop off bus or canal boat??? Near major attraction??

 

Finally, was using the transport absolutely necessary or could you have managed on your own?

 

Thanks so much for your input.

[mkbruce]

We are travelling on the Century in August and have private tours set up for Berlin & St. Petersburg. We are planning to navigate Stockholm, Helsinki, Talinn and Copenhagen on our own.

 

For anyone who has experienced Celebrity's transport where did it leave you -- near downtown? Convenient to hop on/hop off bus or canal boat??? Near major attraction??

 

Finally, was using the transport absolutely necessary or could you have managed on your own?

 

Thanks so much for your input.

 

I believe that the drop point in Stockholm is at the Opera house, which is convenient to Old Town and the sightseeing Hop-On-Hop-Off boats that can take you to the Vasa Museum. Depending on which sailing you are on, you may not need a shuttle at all in Stockholm. The 8/5/09 and 8/29/2009 visits by the Century dock at Stadsgarden 167, which is within walking distance of Old Town and has a HOHO boat stop right at the cruise dock. The 8/17 visit dock at Frihamnen 638, which needs a shuttle (or public bus service) to get to the interesting parts of town.

 

In Helsinki, the shuttle will drop you at one end of the Esplanadi shopping area. Walking down the Esplanadi will get you to the open air market, Helsinki Cathedral and the Uspenski Cathedral, as well as ferries to Suomenlinna fortress. The Rock Church is also within walking distance (but a bit of a hike). You will want to take the shuttle here since the cruise dock is in a commercial port.

 

In Tallin, you don't need a shuttle - you can simply walk off the ship and into town. Go through the city gate closest to the cruise dock and follow one of the main streets up the hill to the old walled city. Be sure to get a view of the ship from the top of the city walls - makes for a great picture.

 

In Copenhagen, Century will most likely dock at Langeline pier. From there you can walk towards town along the waterfront, passing the Little Mermaid (underwhelming, but you pass it onl the way) and Amelienborg palace before ending up at Nyham and the start of the pedestrian-only Stroget shopping district. At Nyhamn, you can also catch the sightseeing boats - which can conveniently take you back to the cruise terminal. Also worth seeing are Tivoli gardens (at the far end of Stroget) and the Rosenborg castle (a few blocks from Nyhamn).

 

I can highly recommend Rick Steve's Scandinavia for excellent walking tours of Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallin and Copenhagen. His maps and recommendations as to what is worth seeing are worth the price of the book.