Best Souvenirs to Buy

What do you think is the best souvenir to buy in:

St. Petersburg

Berlin

Tallin

Stockholm

Copenhagen

Amsterdam

Helsinki

Have fun with this post but give real answers. Thanks so much :D

PrincessLucy, here is my list:

St. Petersburg: matryoska doll, vodka, caviar, faberge eggs

Berlin: postcard with the stamp from Ost-West Belin in Potsdamerplatz

Tallin: Vana Tallinn licore

Stockholm: local red wooden horse, metal trays with local ornaments

Copenhagen: Royal Copenhagen porcelain, mermaid figure

Amsterdam: local wooden shoes, item related to sex from Red Lamps district

Helsinki: Finnish design items, Mummi

Thanks StPetersburgPort :)

We'll be in your great city in May... and so looking forward to it.

One of the big challenges for shopping in the Baltics can be cost. In such cities as Stockholm and Copenhagen, prices are high, including their soaring VAT or value added tax. About 25% hidden on the prices of most goods. We really liked Tallinn for good shopping values on linen, woolen goods, etc. See the pictures below. In St. Petersburg, there are a variety of prices depending on what you want in quality level, amount of hand-painting, etc. You might consider the gift shop at the Hermitage for some options to consider.

The really "good stuff" can cost more than the "mass" items targeted to the tourist crowds. In Stockholm, we got some nice wooden, painted trays that were interesting. Lots of options in the wonderful Baltics, Russia.

I found taking cruise and travel pictures are fun, plus much, much cheaper than shopping for souvenirs. It also keeps these memories "fresh" as you can re-live your experiences, share them with friends, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 60,049 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 57,071 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Appreciate those who have “tuned in” for these two posts. Don’t be shy and feel free to comment and/or ask any questions of interest.

Shopping is great in Tallinn. Here we are inside a nice linen shop near the City Hall.:

Tallinn street-shop vendor with various woolen items at her stall.:

On the streets in Saint Petersburg people sold old U.S.S.R. army hats with pins and metals. they are more than likley fake but still pretty cool. Also if you like cheap they sell postcards bundled in many places for 1$.

PrincessLucy, here is my list:

 

St. Petersburg: matryoska doll

Those are the nesting dolls, correct? Who would be some of the more popular Russian cultural figures that would appear on the dolls?

TLCOhio... our own photos are always our best souvenir. I make photo books online using www.blurb.com , they do a great job, good quality (they print your book for you).

Anyone buy cuckoo clocks in Berlin???

I have heard of the lovely woolen goods sold by local ladies in Tallinn.

I think that Terry's photo may be of such a vendor? Can someone provide a more specific location/directions to find this?

TLCOhio... our own photos are always our best souvenir. I make photo books online using www.blurb.com , they do a great job, good quality (they print your book for you).

 

Anyone buy cuckoo clocks in Berlin???

Cuckoo clocks are more native to southwestern Germany, although I'm sure you could find them in Berlin. Beer steins would be another good gift from anywhere in Germany though. :)

I have heard of the lovely woolen goods sold by local ladies in Tallinn. I think that Terry's photo may be of such a vendor? Can someone provide a more specific location/directions to find this?

PrincessLucy: TLCOhio... our own photos are always our best souvenir. I make photo books online using http://www.blurb.com ' date=' they do a great job, good quality (they print your book for you). [/quote']

 

Great tip from PrincessLucy. Will check out that website. Agree that those travel visuals are my wonderful souvenirs. Have lots of these visuals in both of my offices. My wife won't let me, however, have too many up in the rest of our home.

 

On the Tallinn woolen goods, this "Sweater Wall" is in an area right near the famous Viru Gate as you entered the lower walled area of this charming city. As I re-call, it is fairly immediately to the left as you walk in through these gates. There are a number of vendors here with a wide range of options to consider. Estonia is famous for its knitting, and you will find many hats, sweaters, jackets, mittens and scarves at this tourist-targeted area. This area became well-known as the place where ordinary women sold their knitted items from stalls. Don't know how much now is what they make and sell versus what they are just selling from other sources. We bought a number of things here for friends and family.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 60,214 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 57,302 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

What do you think is the best souvenir to buy in:

 

St. Petersburg

Berlin

Tallin

Stockholm

Copenhagen

Amsterdam

Helsinki

 

Have fun with this post but give real answers. Thanks so much :D

Lucy

I guess a lot of it depends on your tastes, your idea of souvenirs and, of course, cost.

Many people come to this site to ask about buying Amber in Tallinn. If you are interested in jewelry, and Amber in particular, this is the place to buy it and not in St Petersberg. Just be careful where you buy it. In Tallinn, they have several places where vendors set up shop and will sell anything to you, including amber. Not saying that what they have isn't fake, but I would tend to buy something like that from a reputable jewelry store, and CHARGE everything, so you may have some recourse if anything you buy isn't up to standards if you know what I mean.

In St Petersberg, we also bought several sets of nesting dolls. They can range from $10 a set (just a great souvenir if you need some small gifts for people back home) to many hundreds of dollars. The artwork and the number of dolls in the collection make some much more expensive than others.

In many ports, we like to find some small shops that sell some things that you might not find in other palces.

In Tallinn, we found this amazing store that had these great trivets with pix of Tallinn. We also found this very unusual candle that my DW loves.

As I said there are many places where vendors set up shop. they sell many gorgeous woolen wares. Very nice stuff if you want something like that.

In Stockholm, we again, look for the unusual, instead of common things. My DW found this shop that sold linen, and she bough several lacy calender towels, written in Swedish, they were very attractive and again, nice gifts (very easy to pack to take home).

Helsinki, you need to go the Market Square. This is the main area where they have booths, tents and all sorts of vendors selling all types of Finnish made wares. We bought several wonderful items here, including a few Finnish made wooden trivets, that you will only find in this area. again, you can find expensive to inexpensive items here, but no worry about being cheated. This place is famous for their stuff.

In Copenhagen, we found a wonderful shop along the Stroget (the pedestrian mall with all the major shops for you to wander about in) selling a huge selection of teas and such. We bought a few unusual selections along with a nice tea service. great price and we still use it once a week. (You can always buy a statue of the Little Mermaid, if you don't know what else to buy.:D:D:D)

Here are a few pics of some of the areas to shop

In Copenhagen, this is the area of the Stroget

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster303.jpg

Along the walls in Tallinn are many booths selling wonderful woolen wares

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe622.jpg

If you want, you can also buy real life Nesting dolls (LOL)

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe627.jpg

In St Petersberg, at EVERY place you go, there will be these street vendors selling everything and anything, from nesting dolls to Russian hats. They are much cheaper than any souvenir store they might take you to, and you can bargain with them for an even better price.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe662.jpg

In Helsinki, as I said, you need to spend some time in Market Square.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster1150.jpg

IN Stockholm, the4 place to buy stuff is in Gamla Stan, just a wealth of wonderful shops to shop or browse. We went off the 'beaten path' to find a lovely little shop to buy some wonderful items.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster1275.jpg

Cheers

Len

I take lots of photos and make a scrapbook of each holiday(vacation!) But I also love to collect souvenirs and one of my favourite places for this was the Baltics.

I collect Matryoska dolls and in St Petersburg there were thousands to choose from but were very expensive.On our cruise there was a talk the day before we arrived about how the dolls are made and how to spot fakes etc.Also the on board shop had a half price sale the day after we left St Petersburg!

We bought a hat from one of the knitwear stalls in Tallin which the lady assured us she had made herself.On the whole you can buy similar things much cheaper in Tallin than St Petersburg.

I also bought a wooden horse and a Pippi Longstocking doll in Stockholm,some amber jewellery in Helsinki,a Little Mermaid in Copenhagen along with lots more things I can't remember offhand!

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas. As I have been reading your posts, my list of who I have to bring home gifts for has grown!

btw...Giantfan13 - what time of year were you there? I am curious since I see people without jackets in your photos. We're going at the end of May and are assuming we will be cold (keeping in mind we are from So.Ca. and used to higher temps than you are!). ;) Merrill

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas. As I have been reading your posts, my list of who I have to bring home gifts for has grown!

 

btw...Giantfan13 - what time of year were you there? I am curious since I see people without jackets in your photos. We're going at the end of May and are assuming we will be cold (keeping in mind we are from So.Ca. and used to higher temps than you are!). ;) Merrill

Merrill

We were there mid to late August. there are several threads on this boards about the weather. If you can do a quick search you wll come up with several really good threads about the weather in the Baltics for all months. I have said several times, we had glorious weather, but you could definately feel the autumn chill coming in. In the AM we needed a light jacket, but that usually came off as the sun warmed the day. In the evenings you again, needed some sort of light weight jacket. That is OUR type of weather. We specifically picked that time of year because we wanted it a bit cooler. That said, I really don't think you will be 'cold'. If you are at all concerned, bring some sort of sweatshirt along. Dress in layers and you will be fine.

Again, look for the threads about the weather and you will get a good inc-ling as to what to expect. May tends to be a cool month also, but like anywhere else, what Mother Nature has in store for us is any one's guess. :D:D:D:D:D

Cheers

Len

Those are the nesting dolls, correct? Who would be some of the more popular Russian cultural figures that would appear on the dolls?

You certainly can get all the Russian leaders of the 20th century through Putin, but you also can get the most recent American presidents. The variety is astonishing!

Quasar1011, yes these are nesting dolls.

The most typical dolls are without any portraits, however if it is necessary, you will find lots of portraits on these dolls: from Putin or Russian football-players to Barack Obama.

Nesting dolls are sold in Tallinn and Helsinki as well, however, they are overpriced there

Hint: in Europe you might qualify for Tax free tourist TAX REFUND. Always ask about this option in the souvenir shops, if you buy smth expensive (f.e. in Finland you will be able to get VAT back for all the purchases over 40EUR)

Lucy

 

I guess a lot of it depends on your tastes, your idea of souvenirs and, of course, cost.

 

Many people come to this site to ask about buying Amber in Tallinn. If you are interested in jewelry, and Amber in particular, this is the place to buy it and not in St Petersberg. Just be careful where you buy it. In Tallinn, they have several places where vendors set up shop and will sell anything to you, including amber. Not saying that what they have isn't fake, but I would tend to buy something like that from a reputable jewelry store, and CHARGE everything, so you may have some recourse if anything you buy isn't up to standards if you know what I mean.

 

In St Petersberg, we also bought several sets of nesting dolls. They can range from $10 a set (just a great souvenir if you need some small gifts for people back home) to many hundreds of dollars. The artwork and the number of dolls in the collection make some much more expensive than others.

 

In many ports, we like to find some small shops that sell some things that you might not find in other palces.

In Tallinn, we found this amazing store that had these great trivets with pix of Tallinn. We also found this very unusual candle that my DW loves.

As I said there are many places where vendors set up shop. they sell many gorgeous woolen wares. Very nice stuff if you want something like that.

 

In Stockholm, we again, look for the unusual, instead of common things. My DW found this shop that sold linen, and she bough several lacy calender towels, written in Swedish, they were very attractive and again, nice gifts (very easy to pack to take home).

 

Helsinki, you need to go the Market Square. This is the main area where they have booths, tents and all sorts of vendors selling all types of Finnish made wares. We bought several wonderful items here, including a few Finnish made wooden trivets, that you will only find in this area. again, you can find expensive to inexpensive items here, but no worry about being cheated. This place is famous for their stuff.

 

In Copenhagen, we found a wonderful shop along the Stroget (the pedestrian mall with all the major shops for you to wander about in) selling a huge selection of teas and such. We bought a few unusual selections along with a nice tea service. great price and we still use it once a week. (You can always buy a statue of the Little Mermaid, if you don't know what else to buy.:D:D:D)

 

Here are a few pics of some of the areas to shop

 

In Copenhagen, this is the area of the Stroget

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster303.jpg

 

Along the walls in Tallinn are many booths selling wonderful woolen wares

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe622.jpg

 

If you want, you can also buy real life Nesting dolls (LOL)

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe627.jpg

 

In St Petersberg, at EVERY place you go, there will be these street vendors selling everything and anything, from nesting dolls to Russian hats. They are much cheaper than any souvenir store they might take you to, and you can bargain with them for an even better price.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe662.jpg

 

In Helsinki, as I said, you need to spend some time in Market Square.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster1150.jpg

 

IN Stockholm, the4 place to buy stuff is in Gamla Stan, just a wealth of wonderful shops to shop or browse. We went off the 'beaten path' to find a lovely little shop to buy some wonderful items.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster1275.jpg

 

Cheers

 

Len

Great suggestions, as always!

What forms of payment were accepted at these various ports, or by the smaller vendors?

We are not big collectors of momentos, but I see some great ideas for the grandkids.

I am curious since I see people without jackets in your photos. We're going at the end of May and are assuming we will be cold (keeping in mind we are from So.Ca. and used to higher temps than you are!). ;) Merrill

Hi, Merrill from Southern California. Below is a little summary with specific weather history for each of the three major ports. Prepare for and plan on some "layering". The only thing certain is change, including cooler in the early am's and late evenings, etc. Warming up during the day. On the exact dates you be visiting, that info can be obtained by going to this below website, plugging in the location name and then going to the lower area for an earlier date to what happened there last year on that date, past averages, etc. Check out:

http://www.wunderground.com

Here are a few weather averages for these three key cities in the Baltics:

Copenhagen: High/low averages,

May: 59/45 °F

June: 67/52 °F

July: 69/55 °F

August: 69/54 °F

September: 62/50 °F

St. Petersburg:

May: 59/42 °F

June: 67/52 °F

July: 71/56 °F

August: 66/54 °F

Stockholm:

May: 60/43 °F

June: 69/52 °F

July: 71/56 °F

August: 69/55 °F

September: 59/48 °F

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 61,624 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 57,553 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Great suggestions, as always!

What forms of payment were accepted at these various ports, or by the smaller vendors?

We are not big collectors of momentos, but I see some great ideas for the grandkids.

I have said this in several posts, if we were able to charge it, we did so. We charged everything and anything, form a $2 item to a $100 tour. You get the best rate of exchange with a charge and we earned some extra points to boot :D:D:D:D

We did exchange some money before we left. We had Euros, Krona, Kroners and Pounds. Except for the pound because we stayed a week in London, we only had to hit an ATM once, for s few extra Euros. You could use Euros for everything, and dollars also, but the rate of exchange would be horrible and we felt we wanted to use the local currency, being in those countries.

If you decide to charge, as we did, get a card like the capital One card which does NOT charge any foreign transaction fee. Most card charge up to 3% extra on foreign charges. Also, many say an AMEX card is not desirable in some palces so stick with a Visa or MC.

In St Petersberg, we shopped at one of those cart type vendors (my DW saw a music thing she wanted and it was 1/3 ther price that was on the ship). We offered US Dollars, and after a brief bargaining exchange, we got it and we got back US dollars as change. Good deal all around.

Cheers

Len

I have said this in several posts, if we were able to charge it, we did so. We charged everything and anything, form a $2 item to a $100 tour. You get the best rate of exchange with a charge and we earned some extra points to boot. Cheers. Len[/size][/font]

Agree with Len on the ability to charge a wide, wide range of items and needs. That's why we got by in the Baltics with only our credit card, some euros.

For Len, we will be watching to see how many posts you will be doing between 6-10 pm Sunday night. Will you be most loyal to these CC Boards and cruisers in need . . . or some football team??

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 61,624 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Terry

Sorry cruisers, but some things take precedence.

I moderate a Giants message board and I am on that just about every day. I think that place will be very quiet Sunday night also.

Good Luck to all the Pats fans, You will need it. (LOL)

Cheers

Len

Terry. Sorry cruisers, but some things take precedence. I moderate a Giants message board and I am on that just about every day. I think that place will be very quiet Sunday night also. Good Luck to all the Pats fans, You will need it. (LOL)

Cheers. Len

Priorities are PRIORITIES!!! We understand skipping your CC board needs and duties to the cruisers on Sunday. There are two Ohio State players (TE Jake Ballard & OL Jim Cordle) for the Giants plus linebacker Chase Blackburn from Central Ohio. Have mixed interests! Former OSU and NFL Giants star Pepper Johnson coaches the D line for the Pats.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 61,624 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

What do you think is the best souvenir to buy in:

 

St. Petersburg

Berlin

Tallin

Stockholm

Copenhagen

Amsterdam

Helsinki

 

Have fun with this post but give real answers. Thanks so much :D

I took a land vacation to Bavaria last year, and fell in love with stores owned by Kathe Wolfahrt. I believe she just opened one in Berlin.

I think she is primarily known for her Christmas decorations; however, there were also hand carved beer steins, cuckoo clocks, nutcrackers, etc. She was able to ship everything to us so we didn't need to worry about packing.

I took a land vacation to Bavaria last year, and fell in love with stores owned by Kathe Wolfahrt. I believe she just opened one in Berlin. I think she is primarily known for her Christmas decorations; however, there were also hand carved beer steins, cuckoo clocks, nutcrackers, etc. She was able to ship everything to us so we didn't need to worry about packing.

YES!!! We super loved Kathe Wohlfahrt when we visited her main/flagship store in scenic Rothenburg ob der Tauber, along the famed Romantic Road of central Germany. This family business was started near Stuttgart, later moving the family and business to Rothenburg. This location has become world famous and is called "Weihnachtsdorf”, the Christmas Village. As my two pictures below, it has a wonderful atmosphere filled with the joyful experiences of Christmas.

She has a detailed website at: http://www.wohlfahrt.com

And they do web sales. They have a total of ten locations, including Berlin, Bruges, the Alsace region of France.

THANKS! Enjoy your visit in Berlin! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 63,133 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

In ultra-historic and spectacularly charming Rothenburg, here are two views for the Kathe Wohlfahrt flagship star with its unique truck outside, plus just one inside view with a small sampling of their unique merchandise. Very interesting store that is "fun" all year around!:

I so hope we can get to her shop in Berlin in June. Her store look awesome