This is where the cruise starts. It's a very pretty city. Compact and easy to walk around. Lots of historic stuff, and plenty of canals. Reminded us a little of Amsterdam. The locals are extremely friendly and polite. Easy going, with excellent English. Of all the cities we went to, we probably liked the Danes the most. We flew into Copenhagen 3 days before the cruise. That's too long. The city is small, and can easily be covered in 1½ days. Big note -- it is expensive. As you will find out, this is not the place to do your shopping. It's the place to look at.
Stockholm
You get here on Day 3, (as day 2 is at sea.) It has been mentioned elsewhere by people reviewing the cruise that this will be your most frustrating port of call. Why? Because you are not being dropped off in the heart of the city. You anchor at Nynashamn, which is 1 hour from the city. By the time the ship has dropped anchor, dropped the tenders, ferried you ashore you have already lost 1 hour. You then take a train into Stockholm which takes another hour. By this time it's 9 o'clock. You have to leave by 2:50pm or you'll miss the ship. Just over 5 hours in Stockholm is a crime, as it's one of the highlights of the trip. Beautiful city, so much to see, and so little time. Whilst we were there, HAL Westerdam was in town. And I mean in town. They docked right in the centre, not like us at Nynashamn. Praise to HAL for that.
All the above being mentioned, you will really only have time for 2 things in Stockholm - 1/ The Vasa museum - an excellent place that is built around a huge galleon that was hauled up from the ocean bed 2/ A walk round the historic area, called Gamlastan. Very scenic, and gorgeous little boutiques
Helsinki
For us, this was a disappointment. Less pretty than Stockholm or Copenhagen. You will struggle to find something to do here. There is a nice harbor front, where you can watch the boats go by. Some of these take you to the outlying islands. We took a boat to the zoo. Nice trip across the harbor. Shame about the zoo.
St. Petersburg
This is the longest port of call. You get 2 full days. You'll need it, as St Petersburg is a large city, way too big for you to walk. The attractions are very spread out, and you'll need transport. Added to which the Russian authorities don't want you just walking anywhere. The ship offers tours. We elected to get a visa in advance and use a private tour company. For us, this worked out great. For $340 per head, this was just a little bit more than the ship's tour. However, ours was just the 2 of us, in a Mercedes Benz. No coach loads of people to wait for. With army style precision, we were able to get around, and see the sights for as long or as little as we liked. On day 1 we say all the normal sights in town, and on day 2 we went out to Catherine's Palace and Peterfhof. The guide spoke great English, and was exceedingly knowledgeable.
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