Out-of-the-ordinary Baltic and Norwegian ports--What to Do?

[Bruin Steve]

We've done a few Northern Europe cruises over the years...So, we've been to the major ports several times each--Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Tallinn...We're fairly comfortable visiting these on our own if we don't have a tour.  But, this July/August, we're doing a couple of legs on Royal Caribbean's World Cruise...and there are a lot of smaller ports that will be new to us.  Here's our itinerary:

 

Fri., 26 July Southampton, England Departs  7:00 PM

Sat., 27 July Bruges/Zeebrugge, Belgium 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Sun., 28 July at sea

Mon., 29 July Skagen, Denmark  7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Tues., 30 July Warnemunde, Germany 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Wed., 31 July at sea

Thurs.,1 August Riga, Latvia 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Fri., 2 August Tallinn, Estonia 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Sat., 3 August Helsinki, Finland 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sun., 4 August Stockholm, Sweden Arrives  9:00 AM

Mon., 5 August Stockholm, Sweden Departs  6:00 PM

Tues., 6 August Visby, Sweden 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Wed., 7 August Klaipeda, Lithuania 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Thurs., 8 August Ronne, Denmark 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Fri., 9 August Kiel, Germany 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sat., 10 August Copenhagen, Denmark 6:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sun., 11 August Aarhus, Denmark 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Mon., 12 August Oslo, Norway 10:30 AM - 8:00 PM

Tues., 13 August Kristiansand, Norway 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Wed., 14 August Haugesund, Norway 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Thurs., 15 August Olden, Norway 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Fri., 16 August Alesund, Norway 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Sat., 17 August Bergen, Norway 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sun., 18 August At Sea

Mon., 19 August Amsterdam, Netherlands Arrives 6:00 AM

 

Now, the ports new to us are:

Skagen, Visby, Ronne, Kiel, Aarhus, Kristiansand and Haugesund.  We've been to Olden and Alesund before, but only once each and it's been a while.

We already have tours booked for Bruges, Warnemunde, Riga and Klaipeda.

 

Royal Caribbean's shorexes seem awfully expensive and, since they started selling the full World Cruise quite a while ago, many shorexes are already sold out.  Others, even though they keep running "sales", they haven't been discounting most of their shorexes.  The ones they do are like 5% off.

 

Usually, if we haven't been to a port before, we'll book some sort of tour...but $300-$400 for a 3 or 4 hour shorex seems excessive.

 

So, for the above list of new, unplanned ports, I'm wondering:

1)  For which of these ports does the ship dock close enough that you can just walk into town and visit easily on your own?

2)  Is there anything in these ports that we just should not miss?

3)  Are there any nearby towns worth finding transportation to that are worth the extra journey...better than staying in the port town?

4)  Any providers worth using either prearranged via internet...or do any just set up near the port and offer group tours?

 

Thanks.

 

Edited February 6 by Bruin Steve

[kaisatsu]

Visby and Aarhus are typically walkable.
 

I was underwhelmed by Kiel when I visited on the Color Ferry, but we didn’t have a full day (and it was late October so very cold and windy), so we may not have had the best circumstances.

 

Olden and Ålesund are covered extensively by posts on this forum, so you should find plenty of info with a simple search.

 

Haugesund and Kristiansand are a bit less exciting, so I’d recommend doing some research and potentially booking a tour if you find something of interest.

[milolii]

Skagen and Visby

 

Check out this site https://backroadplanet.com

 

At Skagen:  we  rented a taxi (DanTaxi) with another couple on the roll call.  We went to Grenen, Sand church and the sand dunes, then  dropped us in town,  There  was a port shuttle  which I think was €5, even though the ship said it was free.  It wasn’t. 
 

Visby: easy to walk on your own.  There is a Scottish guy who gives free tours  at 11am.  Google free tours Visby ( I can’t post the link here, I believe). Tip at the end. 
 

Haguesund: we rented a car with another couple, (they drove).  Try Viator to Langfoss Falls. This is worth getting out of town and is where we went. Viator and Get your Guide have a 24 cancellation polices so be aware of that. 

 

 

[Mrs.Dukes]

As others have mentioned, Visby is easy to do on your own. Nice little medieval town. Many interesting ruins of ancient churches. Had a nice drink and snack sitting in one of the town squares.

in Ronne (Bornholm), the town is a very short walk from the ship. It’s a pretty little town, but not much in it. We took a cruise line tour that took us around the island, which was really nice. We visited one of the interesting round churches, stopped at a beautiful beach, visited a fishing village, and stopped in another small town (sorry, don’t remember the name) where there were a lot of shops that did glass blowing, and a lot of small cafes. I don’t think it would be easy to do all that without a tour.

Enjoy your cruise, sounds like a lot of wonderful ports.

[Scottishclover]

In Bornholm get the public bus up to Hammershus Castle. It takes you through lots of lovely villages and countryside. Once there, you can look around the castle, do some walks along the cliffs and go to the visitor centre. 
 

For something different on Alesund, hike up Sukkertoppen. You get 360 degree views at the top of all the different islands. It’s stunning. Hike is easy/ moderate uphill hiking for around 50 mins. Just locals on the trail. It’s a nice half day activity.

[edinburgher]

On 2/6/2024 at 10:31 PM, Bruin Steve said:

and there are a lot of smaller ports that will be new to us. 

We were underwhelmed by Kristiansand and only walked around this fairly nondescript town for a time, although the waterfront area was better than the town itself.  Once you research Kristiansand, if you think it would underwhelm you also, consider a tour here.

 

Loved our day in Visby.  Pretty little town perfect for walkabout and a few interesting sights.

[love2crews.]

Visby is a hidden gem.  Not many tour providers there, though.  We used Consu with Your Gotland Tours and we had a wonderful day. 

 

I can't help with the other ports, but if you're looking for a guide in Visby, Consu is the way to go. 🙂

[John Bull]

Haugesund.

The cruise port.is on an island just a river's width from the main town, accessed by a bridge. The town centre (street named Strandgata) is about a 15-minute walk. Busy street of shops, bars etc. and a few yards up from a parallel waterfront which makes an interesting block.

We took a ho-ho from the cruise port - the rest of the town is uninteresting, so the ho-ho was a waste of time and effectively an expensive way of avoiding that 15 minute walk.

The town centre for a lazy day, or research what's to see or do beyond the town.

 

Olden (or like us you may be tendered from a mooring off Loen, 4 miles from Olden)

The obvious excursion is to Briksdal glacier (Briksdalspreen). Tours, buses etc to where the road runs out at Briksdalsbre, about 14 miles from Olden. There appeared to be just one suitably-timed public bus for the return to Olden - a long walk if the bus is full !!! We also struggled to research how difficult the hike from the road to the glacier viewpoint or even quite where that viewpoint was, so we gave up on the idea.

When we arrived at Loen we took an on-spec chance on an inexpensive tour which involved a short bus ride (also operates from Olden) to the landing stage at the bottom of Lovatnet Lake (Googlemaps name, just to confuse tourists also called Loen Lake and Lodalen Lake) where we met the folk who'd started in Olden and had a lovely boat ride the full length of the lake, followed by a short van ride from the lake to the viewpoint for Kjenndalsbreen glacier. Then included waffles & coffee (& rest-room) at a little restaurant before the boat back. Runs back-and-forth all-day approx hourly with the different parts knitting together, we did it on-spec but best to pre-book. We recommend it. https://www.oldencruise.com/loen-lake-and-kjenndal-glacier/

At Loen is the Loen Skylift, a very long & steep cablecar ride with panoramic views

 

Alesund. We re-booked a day-long bus tour (available on-spec. at the pier if seats available, but our bus was full) up to the Trollsteigen.  Scenic ride with interesting stops, highlight was the narrow switchback Trollsteigen pass & waterfall. Well-organised, leaves from the pier, excellent drive, excellent guide. Can be booked with or without a meal, we chose to do our own thing - delish filled baguettes and local strawberries - yes strawberries this far north, and the best we've ever eaten. The are has a reputation for its strawberries. Bus seats aren't allocated, sit on the right side (same as the door) for the best views. We recommend it.   https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/tour/alesund-from-fjords-to-trolls/

 

JB 🙂

[edinburgher]

On 2/6/2024 at 10:31 PM, Bruin Steve said:

Bruges, Warnemunde

No tour is actually need for Warnemunde unless you want to travel quite a distance away to a sight which appeals to you personally. At Warnemunde ships dock next to the small train station which  you only need walk through,  cross the little bridge and you are there.

 

Warnemunde is actually the seaside suburb of Rostock, and many passengers will choose to visit the historic centre of Rostock in the morning and stroll pretty little Warnemunde in the afternoon. Past threads about Warnemunde can be found here:

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=warnemunde&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116

 

 

Without coming across as rude, with such a large number of ports on your itinerary, if you do not already know how to,  I suggest that you learn how to use the quick and easy search tool  as you can bring up past threads in seconds and choose which to read for information and suggestions.

 

Go to the correct georgraphc forum,which  in your case will be mostly the N Europe and Baltic Sea forum  Do not go to an individual thread, simply stay on the main forum. In the empty SEARCH BOX under your username, input the name of each of your ports in turn. The dropdown next to the empty section should read "this forum",  then hit the little spy glass. Within seconds, all past threads containing that name will appear ready for you to choose which to read.

 

And with as many ports as you have, there is no way that anyone could retain that amount of info in their heads, so I  suggest you have a document for each as you can "copy/paste" and add information as you go along, deleting what you do not need at the end, whilst keeping what you do need. I would also suggest that to avoid confusion,  as you have so many, you only research one port at a time, only moving on to the next once you have finished the one before.

 

And for each, also look for images and info on the usual websites, ie, local Tourist Information websites, Tripadvisor, YouTube, Frommer's, Fodors, Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, and any others which appear when you search "( name of port town) Tourist Information" to help you decide which options in each location appeal to you personally.

 

There is also a very extensive "pinned" thread at the top of the forum which has an enormous amount of content about the  Norwegian Fjords and that would also be a good research source.Again, you can use the search tool within that one thread.

 

By self researching, you can plan each port call to suit your own interests and save $$$$ at the same time. On such a busy itinerary you can probably save $$$$!😁

 

Despite the amount of planning homework you will need to do, it reads like an amazing itinerary 😀

Edited April 7 by edinburgher