Northern European excursions

[tiadeerin]

I'm planning to book a cruise on Jewel of The Seas going to the ports of:

Copenhagen
Stockholm
Oslo
Helsinki
Tallinn
St. Petersburg

Does any one have any suggestion for excursions in these cities? I'm especially interested to know if a day trip to Moscow is worth the cost. Also, I've been reading descriptions of excursions on RCCL's web site & the references to walking & climbing steps. Walking long distances on cobblestone is absolutely no problem for me, but I do have problems with almost unending steep steps. A few steps in any one location is fine, but for instance, I had real problems getting to the top of Mt. St. Michael and the steps leading to the entry point of the toboggan rides in Funchal. No problems anywhere else I've ever been. Trying to compare what I've experienced, I also read RCCL's description on Pompeii which is described as having steep inclines to the area. In my opinion, it wasn't steep.

I'll really appreciate any information anyone has to offer.

 

[BruinSteve]

Nothing to worry about with steps...
We still laugh about the older woman on our Baltic cruise who started ranting and raving about the danged steps in the Hermitage...there is ONLY one flight of stairs on the tour as the entirety of the toured part of the museum is on two levels...and she was only on "step three" when she went off!!!

A tour of Tallinn requires a lot of walking on cobblestones, some uphills and some stairs...but nothing is really that strenguous or outrageous...My parents are going on the Constellation in June...and I'm recommending they do this tour...and they're 80 and 77, both having had heart surgery in the past several years...and my father having suffered a mild stroke a year and a half ago...and I'm fairly confident they can handle it...(It is a little steeper in parts than Pompeii--but the tours creep along slowly--an alternative is to buy Rick Steve's "Scandinavia" book--which has a detailed walking tour in it--and go at your own pace...

In those other ports, here are my recommendations:

Copenhagen: (We did this on our own) Do a Canal boat trip...and visit the Rosenborg Palace...If you have an "overnight" here, visit Tivoli at night...Walk the Stroget and visit Nyhavn for a lunch or a beer...

Stockholm: Do not miss the Wasa Museum--it's a 17th century naval flagship sunk on its maiden voyage and recovered about 40 or 50 years ago in strikingly perfect condition from the sea bottom...Unbelievable!!!

Oslo: The "Sculpture Park" is worthwhile...All tours seem to take you to the Ski Jump...We were not impressed with the "open air museum"

Helsinki: We took the shuttle bus in and arranged our own bus tour...There is a kiosk on the Esplinade that sells these...Highlights of Helsinki are the churches: Lutheran, Russian and the "Rock Church"

St. Petersburg: The jewel of the itinerary...Do NOT miss the Hermitage, but get a morning tour to beat the crowds...Also, do not miss the Peterhof...We also visited the Yusopov Palace and enjoyed it...and, of course, the Ballet at night...You never have enough time to see everything here...

Good luck...

 

[tiadeerin]

BruinSteve,

Thanks so much for the info. You really make me feel a lot better about the steps, too. I wonder if RCCL didn't slightly slightly exaggerate their description of steps just to warn people like the the lady who was ranting about "step three". I'm only 65 so I should be just fine.