Stockholm and Helsinki- any advice?

[oldmiller]

Hello

 

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on whethter it is best to book private excursions at these ports or do a DIY on it? Thank you

[MacThespian]

They're both easy to do on your own.

[TLCOhio]

Hello. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on whethter it is best to book private excursions at these ports or do a DIY on it? Thank you

 

As noted, both can be done fairly well on your own. In part, however, that choice depends on what all you want to see and do, your mobility, budget, personal travel style, etc. With a ship tour, it might make your logistics easier and/or give you a good "over-view" for both towns, show you some other sites and then allow you time to be in the central parts of both towns for your afternoon. For Stockholm, I would rate the Vasa Museum, Gamla Stan or “old town” area and the Royal Palace Change of the Guard next door as our top three highlights here. Below are some of my key photo highlights for both cities.

 

Helsinki does not have the centuries of Royal heritage and architecture that you will see in Copenhagen, St. Petersburg and Stockholm. Below are some of my visuals samples for what might be of most interest there. We also did a tour outside of town to the country home for the famed Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen at Hvittrask with its buildings made of natural stones and logs from the surrounding area. He was the father of the famed American architect who designed the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Dulles and JFK TWA terminals, CBS Black Rock building, etc. In Helsinki, our tour also passed the Saarinen designed train station, Olympic Stadium, used for the 1952 Olympic Games and the statue of the "Flying Finn", runner Paavo Nurmi, and visited the park with the stainless steel monument for composer Jean Sibelius, a patriot whose most famous orchestral piece was appropriately named Finlandia. The market area is a must-see for great "walking-around" sights and options.

 

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 66,225 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 60,286 views.

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

 

 

Here's the web location for the official tourism office in Helsinki.

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/In_English/Visitor/Helsinki/Tourist_Information.iw3

 

 

Helsinki’s Church of Rock, or Temppeliaukion Kirkko, is carved out of solid stone with a unique contemporary design.:

 

 

 

Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki’s traditional Orthodox Church is placed on a solid stone base overlooking the main market:

 

 

 

Helsinki’s main market is right on the water with lots of goods and foods for sale:

 

 

 

From the harbor in Stockholm, here is a view of the Royal Palace, the historic Saint Nicolaus Church, or as commonly known Storkyrkan. To the left in the picture is where the historic Gamia Stan area starts.:

 

 

 

At Stockholm’s Royal Palace, the changing of the guard was one of our highlights from visiting this historic capital in Sweden. Loved this part of our visit.:

 

 

 

At the Vasa Museum with this large salvaged ship from the 1600’s. This is their website: http://vasamuseet.se/en/ Taking almost two years (1626-1627) to build Vasa, carpenters, sawyers, smiths, ropelayers, sailmakers, painters, carvers, gun carriage makers and other specialists struggled to complete the navy’s great, new ship. The king, Gustav II Adolf, visited the shipyard to inspect the work. With a hull built of more than a thousand oak trees with 64 cannon, masts over 50 meters high and hundreds of painted and gilded sculptures, this was a spectacular ship. BUT, it was too heavy and sunk sailing out from the harbor.:

 

[hazeleyez3]

Royal Palace Change of the Guard next door as our top three highlights here.

 

At Stockholm’s Royal Palace, the changing of the guard was one of our highlights from visiting this historic capital in Sweden. Loved this part of our visit.:

 

 

 

Were you there for one of the "standard" changing of the guards, or for the one that includes a parade through the city?

[TLCOhio]

Were you there for one of the "standard" changing of the guards, or for the one that includes a parade through the city?

 

Honest answer is "not sure". Depends on the view/understanding of "standard" versus parade. We saw the changing of the guard, but most cool, in my view, was the 30+ member band that marched and performed at these ceremonies that we saw. We didn't see the start of these activities, but loved seeing this part, including the band. We saw them finish, the band members loading back on to their bus, etc. Great, interesting uniforms, etc.

 

Below are a couple more pictures of the band, 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 67,001 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 60,605 views.

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

 

 

While at the Stockholm’s Royal Palace, the changing of the guard involves this large band with their unique helmets:

 

 

 

[hazeleyez3]

Thanks.

 

What I meant by "Standard" was the one that happens every day of the year.

 

During the summer (late April - late August), The parade through the city (which includes the band), happens every day. During the Autumn and Winter months, the parade only occurs on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

 

I will be there on a Thursday in September. I have seen you rave about the changing of the guards so I was just curious if it was one that everyone would have a chance to see, or if it was one that was dependent on when you were in the city.

[TLCOhio]

Thanks. What I meant by "Standard" was the one that happens every day of the year. During the summer (late April - late August), The parade through the city (which includes the band), happens every day. During the Autumn and Winter months, the parade only occurs on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I will be there on a Thursday in September. I have seen you rave about the changing of the guards so I was just curious if it was one that everyone would have a chance to see, or if it was one that was dependent on when you were in the city.

 

We were in Stockholm in early August. Not sure about the marching through the street on the way to the Royal Palace. We were doing things earlier in the morning and got lucky in happening to be there when part of it was happening. Glad we saw it. You might check the website for the Stockholm tourism folks. There should be a way to e-mail and ask the. Their website is:

http://www.visit-stockholm.com

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[hazeleyez3]

We were in Stockholm in early August. Not sure about the marching through the street on the way to the Royal Palace. We were doing things earlier in the morning and got lucky in happening to be there when part of it was happening. Glad we saw it. You might check the website for the Stockholm tourism folks. There should be a way to e-mail and ask the. Their website is:

www.visit-stockholm.com

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

I'd already checked the Royal Guards webite to find out the schedule info for Sept. As I said, I was just curious which one you were referring to. :)