Homelands Cruise guided tour(s)

We plan to book a 2 day tour in St. Petersburg and noticed that the tour groups offer combined tour rates for other stops in Helsinki and Tallinn. Has anyone done the tours and if so should we consider tours for Helsinki and Tallinn as well?

We were thinking the exact same thing about Helsinki & Tallinn. The tour company we are using is TJ Tours for St. Petersburg and their prices are very reasonable for those 2 cities. I am wondering how the Viking included tours are? I wonder if it would be worth a few extra dollars to be on smaller tours that will likely see more.

We plan to book a 2 day tour in St. Petersburg and noticed that the tour groups offer combined tour rates for other stops in Helsinki and Tallinn. Has anyone done the tours and if so should we consider tours for Helsinki and Tallinn as well?

Some do. We used Alla In SP but not other ports. In following these threads it seems that while the ports are offered by several companies, they need a minimum to run those tours. Make sure to clarify the details.

We, too, used Alla in SP, but did not arrange other tours with them. Our 2-day St. Petersburg tour with Xiana was excellent. She had lived in Texas for a brief time, had excellent English, and figured out our group of 6 very quickly. I would expect similarly high standards in other cities.

We were thinking the exact same thing about Helsinki & Tallinn. The tour company we are using is TJ Tours for St. Petersburg and their prices are very reasonable for those 2 cities. I am wondering how the Viking included tours are? I wonder if it would be worth a few extra dollars to be on smaller tours that will likely see more.

We used TJ in St Pete. Excellent. First class. First in.

Viking's standard tour in Helsinki was meh at best. I'd consider private there.

Did optional Viking tour in Tallinn to Palmse manor and city walk. Really enjoyed it.

We did TJ in Tallinn in September. Only my sister and I signed up and they still did the tour for us. Very reasonable price and a very enthusiastic young tour guide. We wanted to do Berlin with them but there were only 4 of us signed up and the logistics they proposed were too daunting so we canceled and did the ship’s tour which wasn’t that great. Easy getting the refund for the Berlin trip even when canceling on short notice.

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We thoroughly enjoyed our 2-day Alla tour in St. Petersburg, but we did not use any outside tour groups for other ports on the Homeland cruise. Tallinn was a very interesting city and we had a terrific local guide for the free Viking tour. Don't miss the chocolate shop there (our guide allowed us some extra time to shop in the very busy store). Helsinki was not one of our favorite stops (we did the included tour). One of our favorite stops was Stockolm--do not mIss the Vasa museum (and it takes at least an hour to do it right)--most fascinating.

Oh, almost forgot--we did the optional Viking tour of Berlin and it was excellent (very comparable to Alla in Russia). It was a long day and fairly long train ride, but if you've never been to Berlin (like us), I highly recommend it.

We plan to book a 2 day tour in St. Petersburg and noticed that the tour groups offer combined tour rates for other stops in Helsinki and Tallinn. Has anyone done the tours and if so should we consider tours for Helsinki and Tallinn as well?

Tallinn is a wonderful city but check to see how many ships will be in port. On the day we were there it was very crowded with I think 4 other ships in port. We did the early excursion with the masses, then did HOHO to the far reaching area and came back to an old town that was very enjoyable due to the other ships leaving port around 4 pm and we were there until 9.

We did the 2 day Alla Tour in St Petersburg and it was fantastic! In Tallin the included Viking walking tour was fine and we wandered around aferward as well. Helsinki was kind of a waste of time with the Viking included tour. And then after our tour we walked the waterfront and went to go back to the ship and the shuttle was not running for a couple of hours at lunchtime. We were very underwhelmed in Helsinki. You may be better off with a private tour there.

We went to go back to the ship and the shuttle was not running for a couple of hours at lunchtime. We were very underwhelmed in Helsinki. You may be better off with a private tour there.

This happened to us in Helsinki as well and we were trying to get back to the ship, which is not docked close for the included excursion. We were not that impressed there but that may be due to planning. We couldn't get the early included so we went off on our own early and got back but the ship is really docked too far away to make that work well. Here, if planning something and then coming back to the ship, use their paid excursions. You cannot meet up with an excursion in town and the dock does not lend itself for this. You do need to have 45 min to an hour turn around time in order to be able to book both. Just found that out about the next cruise I'm doing with Viking.

So that's 3 of us here that all agree that Viking's included Helsinki tour is underwhelming.

Agree that Viking's included upper town walking tour in Tallinn was decent.

Look into private tour alternatives or the latest optional $ tour in Finland from Viking.

Again, FYI the excellent TJ Tours company offers private tours in Finland.

I too did the included tour in Helsinki. I did not return to the ship, but stayed in town and visited the Uspenski & Helsinki Cathedrals on my own. I then walked down to the Market Square and took the ferry to Suomenlinna Island. I caught the Viking shuttle back to the ship after I returned from the island. I do recommend Suomenlinna Island if you have time.

Our original excursion in Tallinn was cancelled and I ended up going on the tour + chocolate factory. If you like chocolates & marzipan, I definitely recommend it! Had pizza in the main square for lunch (on my own).

Used Insider Tours for St. Petersburg. Did a customized 2 day tour for just my mom & I. We did a canal cruise as our "evening" entertainment--it was really at the end of day 1 and then back to the ship. We had the whole canal boat to ourselves!

Enjoy your trip!

I too did the included tour in Helsinki. I did not return to the ship, but stayed in town and visited the Uspenski & Helsinki Cathedrals on my own. I then walked down to the Market Square and took the ferry to Suomenlinna Island. I caught the Viking shuttle back to the ship after I returned from the island. I do recommend Suomenlinna Island if you have time.

 

Our original excursion in Tallinn was cancelled and I ended up going on the tour + chocolate factory. If you like chocolates & marzipan, I definitely recommend it! Had pizza in the main square for lunch (on my own).

 

Used Insider Tours for St. Petersburg. Did a customized 2 day tour for just my mom & I. We did a canal cruise as our "evening" entertainment--it was really at the end of day 1 and then back to the ship. We had the whole canal boat to ourselves!

 

Enjoy your trip!

In Helsinki, you did what I wanted to do but the early tour was booked. I tried to do it in reverse and that's where my problems started. i'm sure if I had your schedule it would have been a much better experience. We did go to the fortress and would have loved more time there.

I contacted TJ tours who we are using for St. Petersburg and sadly they will only arrange tours to Helsinki or Tallinn if a minimum of 10 people sign up. They said that is because tours from the Viking ships for these ports are rare. I totally understand this and I assume they have lost money on arranging tours with only 2 or more people. Based on the info I am seeing in this thread the included Taillinn tour with Viking is pretty good.

I contacted TJ tours who we are using for St. Petersburg and sadly they will only arrange tours to Helsinki or Tallinn if a minimum of 10 people sign up. They said that is because tours from the Viking ships for these ports are rare. I totally understand this and I assume they have lost money on arranging tours with only 2 or more people. Based on the info I am seeing in this thread the included Taillinn tour with Viking is pretty good.

I don't think they have lost money on these tours. I think there just has to be minimum to make it worth their while and if it isn't met, they just cancel the tour. Tallinn tour is fine but try later rather than earlier if you don't want to feel like you're on Maim Street at Disneyland during the fireworks presentation.

Trying to plan ahead for a spring 2019 sailing of Russia and the Baltic Sea, which has three days (two overnights) in St. Petersburg. We are in a Veranda cabin, so we have the latest of all sign-ups for excursions. We would likely be content with Viking optional excursions, as long as we are not shut out of all of our choices.

I have looked at Alla tours, which I know are popular on Cruise Critic. How far in advance would we need to sign up for an Alla tour? Can we wait until after our 60 day from departure booking of excursions with Viking to sign up for an Alla two day tour? I am debating whether to sign up early for an Alla tour as a back-up plan, since they advertise no cancellation fee as long as they are given a seven day written notice.

Any advice?

Skip Viking do the 2 day Alla. We loved it. Can't imagine why you'd want to spend lots more money and be in a much larger group. Alla was perfect.

Skip Viking do the 2 day Alla. We loved it. Can't imagine why you'd want to spend lots more money and be in a much larger group. Alla was perfect.

I haven't been able to see the prices for the Viking tours yet to compare. The Alla Grand Tour does look quite good, but I do have a couple reservations. The schedule looks very full for the two days. Was it exhausting?

My other concern is that the Alla tours include a rather short stop at the Hermitage, either 2.5 or 3 hours. The Viking excursion to the Hermitage is 4.5 hours (with travel time I assume), and that extra time is important to us. However, that doesn't help us if that excursion is all sold out by the time we can sign up.

I haven't been able to see the prices for the Viking tours yet to compare. The Alla Grand Tour does look quite good, but I do have a couple reservations. The schedule looks very full for the two days. Was it exhausting?

 

My other concern is that the Alla tours include a rather short stop at the Hermitage, either 2.5 or 3 hours. The Viking excursion to the Hermitage is 4.5 hours (with travel time I assume), and that extra time is important to us. However, that doesn't help us if that excursion is all sold out by the time we can sign up.

"Exhausting" is relative. You are busy but how many other times are you going to be in SP? If you're thinking about doing Alla, out those feelers out now as they do not get the group together. So you have to let people know about the options. I knew no one on the cruise before we sailed but we were able to get a group of 12 together for our cruise. Since you have 2 nights in SP you might be able to do Vikings tour to the hermitage on day 3. You will probably have some overlap but that gives you 2 viewings of those areas and extra time lets you broaden your vision of the museum. I started tour sign up about a year before we sailed so OP would have time to consider all options and decide.

As far as I know Alla does get groups together. They will put you on a bus with others who aren't in a set group. We chose to be a private tour of 6 with a guide and driver as we wanted a small group. It was a little more than the other groups. With Viking you will have to factor in transportation to and from the ship if you book separate segments.

"Exhausting" is relative. You are busy but how many other times are you going to be in SP? If you're thinking about doing Alla, out those feelers out now as they do not get the group together. So you have to let people know about the options. I knew no one on the cruise before we sailed but we were able to get a group of 12 together for our cruise. Since you have 2 nights in SP you might be able to do Vikings tour to the hermitage on day 3. You will probably have some overlap but that gives you 2 viewings of those areas and extra time lets you broaden your vision of the museum. I started tour sign up about a year before we sailed so OP would have time to consider all options and decide.

I haven't researched Alla fully, but I thought they said that they will run the tour if there is only one person. Is that the difference between the group tour and the private tour? Is the private tour less expensive, but you need to fill the group? I have over 15 months, but I need to do more research.

Thanks for your input, and the idea of a two day Alla with a supplemental Viking to the Hermitage on day three would be great, if we can get that worked out.

I’m wondering about excursions in Helsinki. Our anniversary falls on the day we are in Helsinki, and we would like to do something special. There are two excursions to Porvoo I am interested in, one with lunch at Malmgard Castle and one with lunch at Haikko Manor. Has anyone done either of these? Any input would be appreciated.

Just to throw another name into the mix - we used SPB Tours in SP a few years ago (2012, doesn't time fly!). They were great. IIRC there were 12 of us on a minibus (10 from NY and us 2 Brits) and we all got on great for the 2 days of the tour. They did it in the reverse of the ships tours so we did the furthest sights on the first day (Palace etc.) and the ones closest to the ship on the second (Hermitage etc.) Yes it was a very busy couple of days but we were never rushed.

We also used SPB for a tour of Berlin which was equally as good and well organised.

I would have no hesitation recommending SPB

We used Alla in St Petersburg and it was an excellent tour. We had a small group of 6. We all were sad that we didn't book them in other ports. We tried while we were there but they couldn't arrange it in such a short time.

We also used Alla for our 2 -day St Petersburg excursion last August and would highly recommend them. It is never too early to contact them for information and/or reservations as you can cancel if necessary. I contacted them to see if we could get a better price if we were able to put our own group together and then posted the information on our Viking Roll Call on Cruise Critic. We were able to form our own group of other Viking passengers from our Roll Call and received a reduced rate. I think you may also receive a discount for booking one of their tours early. Just call and ask.

Also, keep in mind that at least with Alla, we waited in no lines. At the Hermitage we were allowed early entry before they actually opened and walked past a very long line outside and went right in. I do not know if you would get this on the Viking tour. So even if the time allowed may seem shorter, none of it will be spent waiting in long lines.

This was our experience from August, 2017, however, I realize it can vary from tour to tour.

Try to find last years postings for Viking Homelands as the information provided from past passengers on this itinerary is absolutely invaluable. I know it made our planning go so much smoother being able to do that.

Have fun planning. It is a wonderful cruise!