How are the ships tours?

We are booked on the Route of the Vikings 1 this summer. Many the places we will stop seem very small and we may have to take the ships tours verses doing our own thing. Can any tell me how many people tend to be on a ship's tours. Big busses with lots of people or modest size groups? Also if you have any advice on things not to miss in Iceland we would love to know.

We are booked on the Route of the Vikings 1 this summer. Many the places we will stop seem very small and we may have to take the ships tours verses doing our own thing. Can any tell me how many people tend to be on a ship's tours. Big busses with lots of people or modest size groups? Also if you have any advice on things not to miss in Iceland we would love to know.

Big buses but generally half full. So each group is likely to be around/up to 25 people. Depending on the tour, the group can be smaller.

When we take tours, we generally take Seabourn ones and have always found them to be very good.

Edit: Just had a look at your itinerary ........ depending what you want to do in each port ....... many of the Scottish ones are all places where you can do your own thing. Greenock is the gateway to Glasgow (where I grew up). Greenock itself is a bit of a dump but there is lots to do in Glasgow and no guide needed. You just need transport into the City. If you want to do something a bit different to just walking around town - all pretty small with the exception of Greenock and Oban - I would have a look on the internet for local guides.

Nobody actually lives on St. Kilda but there are probably some nice hikes. Take boots, dress in layers and take rain gear. You are, after all, in Scotland. Ullapool is pretty and also has some good hiking. Copinsay is good for birdwatching. Like Oban, Kirkwall and Lerwick (the w is silent) are good size towns though not quite as big.

A lot is going to depend on the weather.

Big buses but generally half full. So each group is likely to be around/up to 25 people. Depending on the tour, the group can be smaller.

 

When we take tours, we generally take Seabourn ones and have always found them to be very good.

 

Edit: Just had a look at your itinerary ........ depending what you want to do in each port ....... many of the Scottish ones are all places where you can do your own thing. Greenock is the gateway to Glasgow (where I grew up). Greenock itself is a bit of a dump but there is lots to do in Glasgow and no guide needed. You just need transport into the City. If you want to do something a bit different to just walking around town - all pretty small with the exception of Greenock and Oban - I would have a look on the internet for local guides.

 

Nobody actually lives on St. Kilda but there are probably some nice hikes. Take boots, dress in layers and take rain gear. You are, after all, in Scotland. Ullapool is pretty and also has some good hiking. Copinsay is good for birdwatching. Like Oban, Kirkwall and Lerwick (the w is silent) are good size towns though not quite as big.

 

A lot is going to depend on the weather.

Thank you so much Roxburgh! We are really looking forward to trying Seabourn, We do, many times, book a local guide but as you said some of these places are little. The only way we can land by zodiac on St. Kilda is by taking the ships tour, so we are going for it. I did not realize we will be near Glasgow, we need to look into that.

We are booked on the Route of the Vikings 1 this summer. Many the places we will stop seem very small and we may have to take the ships tours verses doing our own thing. Can any tell me how many people tend to be on a ship's tours. Big busses with lots of people or modest size groups? Also if you have any advice on things not to miss in Iceland we would love to know.

Iceland is wonderderful. At Akureyri, we hired Taxi 17 (IRRC), and asked them to take us to to the Krafla lava fields, the hydrothermal pools, and other neat stuff I can’t recall right now.

At Reykjavik, do the Golden Triangle. A tour of Thingvalllir (Sp) and the hydrothermal powerplant is neat.

Thank you so much Roxburgh! We are really looking forward to trying Seabourn, We do, many times, book a local guide but as you said some of these places are little. The only way we can land by zodiac on St. Kilda is by taking the ships tour, so we are going for it. I did not realize we will be near Glasgow, we need to look into that.

I had a look at the tours offered from Greenock. If you want to see Glasgow, then the tours won't do it for you. There is a lot to see in Glasgow. The cathedral, the necropolis, the Merchant City, the University, the Art Galleries, the Botanic Gardens, the flat I grew up in :D, etc.. It is also one of the most complete Victorian cities and the West End is worth seeing for the architecture if that interests you. Additionally, the shopping is very good. That would be one port where I would look into a private guide.

Of the offered tours, the Robert Burns and the Stirling Castle ones look about the best. For the others, you will have plenty of time to see a distillery in Oban and you don't need to buy a tour to do it. Loch Lomond is pretty if the weather is good. Unfortunately, you won't see the best of it but rather the bottom end of the loch on the west side which is the most commercial. The top of the loch and the east side around Ben Lomond is the nicest part.

Of the other Scottish stops, they don't seem to offer an excursion from Oban to Mull and Iona which is a shame. The other Oban excursions are not great with the one to Inverary being about the best (it has a very good fish and chip shop). I would just wander around town with a visit to the distillery being well worthwhile.

In Kirkwall, the three offered tours all look interesting as do the Lerwick ones. For the other stops, it is all about the scenery, the hiking and the wildlife. I like the look of some of the Ventures tours. Just hope that the weather behaves. Do take waterproofs!

For the scenic cruising, the Firth of Clyde is very beautiful. You can sometimes see basking sharks off Arran. Also keep an eye out for the nuclear subs heading to/from their base on Gareloch.

This particular cruise is one that is on our bucket list so it was fun to look into your itinerary and tours a bit. Do hope my comments have helped.

Iceland is wonderderful. At Akureyri, we hired Taxi 17 (IRRC), and asked them to take us to to the Krafla lava fields, the hydrothermal pools, and other neat stuff I can’t recall right now.

 

At Reykjavik, do the Golden Triangle. A tour of Thingvalllir (Sp) and the hydrothermal powerplant is neat.

Notjaded love the "handle". Thank you. I have written down your taxi #etc. Did you happen to go to Vopnafjorour, Icland? The ship wants $349pp to visit Burstarfell Turf House Farm. This museum has a 5* rating but the cost of the tour seems high. Maybe this is way out of town?

I had a look at the tours offered from Greenock. If you want to see Glasgow, then the tours won't do it for you. There is a lot to see in Glasgow. The cathedral, the necropolis, the Merchant City, the University, the Art Galleries, the Botanic Gardens, the flat I grew up in :D, etc.. It is also one of the most complete Victorian cities and the West End is worth seeing for the architecture if that interests you. Additionally, the shopping is very good. That would be one port where I would look into a private guide.

 

Of the offered tours, the Robert Burns and the Stirling Castle ones look about the best. For the others, you will have plenty of time to see a distillery in Oban and you don't need to buy a tour to do it. Loch Lomond is pretty if the weather is good. Unfortunately, you won't see the best of it but rather the bottom end of the loch on the west side which is the most commercial. The top of the loch and the east side around Ben Lomond is the nicest part.

 

Of the other Scottish stops, they don't seem to offer an excursion from Oban to Mull and Iona which is a shame. The other Oban excursions are not great with the one to Inverary being about the best (it has a very good fish and chip shop). I would just wander around town with a visit to the distillery being well worthwhile.

 

In Kirkwall, the three offered tours all look interesting as do the Lerwick ones. For the other stops, it is all about the scenery, the hiking and the wildlife. I like the look of some of the Ventures tours. Just hope that the weather behaves. Do take waterproofs!

 

For the scenic cruising, the Firth of Clyde is very beautiful. You can sometimes see basking sharks off Arran. Also keep an eye out for the nuclear subs heading to/from their base on Gareloch.

 

This particular cruise is one that is on our bucket list so it was fun to look into your itinerary and tours a bit. Do hope my comments have helped.

I confess I do not see Greenock on our list of stops. Is this perhaps listed with another town? Or maybe I don't see the forest for the trees. Glasgow must be wonderful you are from there;) Ok, I just found another Itinerary and Greenock is on the British Isles and Iceland cruise, we are on the Route of the Vikings 1. At least I can keep in mind Glasgow for the "next trip" as my sister in-law likes to say.

I confess I do not see Greenock on our list of stops. Is this perhaps listed with another town? Or maybe I don't see the forest for the trees. Glasgow must be wonderful you are from there;) Ok, I just found another Itinerary and Greenock is on the British Isles and Iceland cruise, we are on the Route of the Vikings 1. At least I can keep in mind Glasgow for the "next trip" as my sister in-law likes to say.

My mistake. I was looking at the wrong itinerary. You go to Rothesay which is on the Isle of Bute just across from Greenock, Largs and Port Glasgow.

We were on the Faroe Islands in 2015, but docked in Klaksvik rather than Torshavn. The local tourist office put on a day trip which was very interesting. I don't remember the cost, but it was reasonable - less than US$50 each.

In Reykjavik we did the Golden Circle Tour with Iceland Guided Tours. Seven or eight hours on a mini bus, don't remember it as being full. US$85 each, buy your own lunch. Unfortunately it rained most of the day. My recollection is that passengers booked directly with the tour company. When one bus was full they started another.

Akeyuri was a gem!! We rented a car for the day and did our own tour of Godafoss, Lake Myvatn, Krafla Lava Fields and then drove to Husavik. About 345 km in total. The roads were very quiet. It was sunny and warm. The car rental cost (Thrifty) was Euros 78. They picked us up at the wharf and dropped us back after we returned the car - which was after official closing time. Very easy to plan using Google Maps. I also downloaded an Iceland map onto my hand held GPS.

Our first Seabourn cruise coming up in May.

We were on the Faroe Islands in 2015, but docked in Klaksvik rather than Torshavn. The local tourist office put on a day trip which was very interesting. I don't remember the cost, but it was reasonable - less than US$50 each.

 

In Reykjavik we did the Golden Circle Tour with Iceland Guided Tours. Seven or eight hours on a mini bus, don't remember it as being full. US$85 each, buy your own lunch. Unfortunately it rained most of the day. My recollection is that passengers booked directly with the tour company. When one bus was full they started another.

 

Akeyuri was a gem!! We rented a car for the day and did our own tour of Godafoss, Lake Myvatn, Krafla Lava Fields and then drove to Husavik. About 345 km in total. The roads were very quiet. It was sunny and warm. The car rental cost (Thrifty) was Euros 78. They picked us up at the wharf and dropped us back after we returned the car - which was after official closing time. Very easy to plan using Google Maps. I also downloaded an Iceland map onto my hand held GPS.

 

Our first Seabourn cruise coming up in May.

Thank you, we will work on that, great advice. We are excited about the trip but, need to some rain gear from what I read! We are from AZ so the cool weather will be interesting since we now have thin blood :cool:. I will probably hit the bath tub on Seabourn, for a warm bubble bath after tours!

There is a Columbia outlet at Anthem where you can probably get the rain gear.

And there if you are looking for inexpensive rain pants go to the Big Five in Peoria. We bought ours at the one in Tucson a few years ago for a hiking trip to New Zealand and have used them on both our Antarctica and Alaska cruises as well. Turned out to be a very good investment, As to rain jacket here is where I think quality matters. You want a vented jacket (breathable so you don’t trap moisture which will make you feel colder) with an attached hood and zip pockets.

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You do need rain gear and the key is to layer your clothing.

In places like Iceland good to have waterproof jacket, fleece underneath (if needed) and even waterproof pants and walking (low cut hiking) shoes.

And the weather can change in minutes and go from sunny to overcast to rain and wind.

But it's all good.

Beautiful areas of the world to see.

Keith

And there if you are looking for inexpensive rain pants go to the Big Five in Peoria. We bought ours at the one in Tucson a few years ago for a hiking trip to New Zealand and have used them on both our Antarctica and Alaska cruises as well. Turned out to be a very good investment, As to rain jacket here is where I think quality matters. You want a vented jacket (breathable so you don’t trap moisture which will make you feel colder) with an attached hood and zip pockets.

 

 

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Thank you, we will get out the plastic and shopping we will go!

We were on the Faroe Islands in 2015, but docked in Klaksvik rather than Torshavn. The local tourist office put on a day trip which was very interesting. I don't remember the cost, but it was reasonable - less than US$50 each.

 

In Reykjavik we did the Golden Circle Tour with Iceland Guided Tours. Seven or eight hours on a mini bus, don't remember it as being full. US$85 each, buy your own lunch. Unfortunately it rained most of the day. My recollection is that passengers booked directly with the tour company. When one bus was full they started another.

 

Akeyuri was a gem!! We rented a car for the day and did our own tour of Godafoss, Lake Myvatn, Krafla Lava Fields and then drove to Husavik. About 345 km in total. The roads were very quiet. It was sunny and warm. The car rental cost (Thrifty) was Euros 78. They picked us up at the wharf and dropped us back after we returned the car - which was after official closing time. Very easy to plan using Google Maps. I also downloaded an Iceland map onto my hand held GPS.

 

Our first Seabourn cruise coming up in May.

Thank you, we will look into a car rental, there will be 4 of us, great way to tour for the day.

My mistake. I was looking at the wrong itinerary. You go to Rothesay which is on the Isle of Bute just across from Greenock, Largs and Port Glasgow.

I still appreciate your help and you have me wanting to see your home town, as I said next trip!