Has anyone taken a guided walking tour of Gamla Stan in Stockholm?

[gopackgo]

Hi,

 

We will be in Stockholm for 2 and a half days before our cruise in August. I would like to hook up with a guided walking tour of Gamla Stan. I know we can walk it ourselves but you learn so many interesting facts and see more nooks and crannies with a guide.

 

If anyone knows of a guide or a tour or where I can get info, please let me know. I have done searches and am not having any luck. Thanks alot!

 

Ginny

[Live the good life]

Ginny, we are booked with Maria Howard Lindberg of http://www.stockholmstories.se Tours provided are walking tour of Gamla Stan (including Royal Palace), visit of Fjallgatan in Sodermalm, City Hall, Vasa Museum, etc...She is very quickly responsive to e-mails and have been very informative and helpful...

 

Kim

[gopackgo]

Kim,

 

Thanks for the info on the walking tours. I have seen her site and it looks like a wonderful option. However, I can only walk for 2 hours, then I need to rest my weary feet, so I am thinking just a tour of Gamla Stan is all I can take at one time. I may contact her and inquire about that only, versus the full walking tour, which it sounds like you will be doing.

 

It sounds like a great day you have planned. Thanks again for the idea.

 

Ginny

[aztex]

Ginny,

 

We are also booked with Maria in Stockholm. I just wanted to add that she is very flexible and will work with you to put a program together that will meet your needs. She is excellent to work with.\

[gopackgo]

Gil and Kim,

 

I just emailed Maria at Stockholmstories. Thanks for the info!

 

Ginny

[Willsot]

That sounds great. Does anyone know of similar services in Copenhagen?

[Live the good life]

For Copenhagen, there is a professional licensed tour guide (Richard Carpen-who came from New York, but has been living in Copenhagen for years)...http://www.copenhagenwalks.com..We have booked a private tour with him for our July visit and will be happy to give review upon our return...

 

Kim

[cruisemom42]

For Copenhagen, there is a professional licensed tour guide (Richard Carpen-who came from New York, but has been living in Copenhagen for years)...www.copenhagenwalks.com..We have booked a private tour with him for our July visit and will be happy to give review upon our return...

 

We did his Tuesday a.m. walking tour and it was a terrific value. He is a great guide -- knows his stuff and makes it interesting. Even my 13 year-old son paid attention! He also gives out very good restaurant suggestions. We ate a lunch and a dinner at two places he suggested (places that are NOT geared to tourists but to locals), and they were both excellent with fair prices. (Keeping in mind that everything in Copenhagen is pricey!)

[Live the good life]

Hate to write a not too positive review but the majority of people who participated in our group did not feel the tour was that helpful (there were 12 of us). We originally plan to book the tour privately for our family for the full 5.5 hours in ports in Stockholm but decided that we would like to have some time alone (without a guide) and also to open the tour to other cruisers whom we have corresponded with over the past 9 months...The price per person for this 2 hour walking tour was 200 SEK (about $30.00 per person) and the price per person is the same independent of the number of persons on the tour. Most of the people in the group felt that the guide did not point out the buildings to us when we were walking past these monuments near the Royal palaces, bridges, etc...Some felt there were not enough narration on the history and architecture, and that there were no inside guides of monuments...We also missed part of the change of Guard. We felt that since the guide was an expert in town, she should have alerted us to be on time for this event...I felt bad because I opened up the tour to others and have disappointed them. I could have booked the tour with a licensed tour guide (a different touring company) for the same price per person for a 3 hour tour, but went with Stockholm Stories because Maria Howard Lindberg was very nice, extremely helpful, and responded super quickly to e-mails...The good thing about the tour was that Maria took us to the Ice Gallery in Old Town, where we had great fun! Also, she gave us good handouts on the Old Town architecture...

 

However, this experience did not alter my view of Stockholm significantly. It is a beautiful "Venice of the North" with beautiful buildings and waterways...Also, at the end of the tour, our group did take a ferry to the Vasa Museum, made a photo stop at the Skansen, and back to the Old Town. Here, our family had lunch at the Grand Hotel (across from the Royal Palace), while the others went shopping. The view of the waterways was breathtaking from this restaurant. Fortunately, my opportunities of going back to Stockholm is pretty high (lots of medical conferences here), and so I will be able to do more inside visits of the Royal Palace, City Hall, and Skansen the next time around...Our stop this time was just too short, only from 10:00 a.m. to 05:30 p.m.!

 

Kim

[lkbside]

Hi Kim:

 

We are part of a group of six taking a tour with Maria of Stockholm Stories in two weeks (arranged by Ginny). We all just read your post about your experience with some concern.

 

Can you tell us what specifically you expected to see on your tour? Did she cover that? Do you feel that the size of the group had any impact on your experience? Any other comments would be helpful.

 

thanks,

Leslie

[Live the good life]

Hi Kim:

 

We are part of a group of six taking a tour with Maria of Stockholm Stories in two weeks (arranged by Ginny). We all just read your post about your experience with some concern.

 

Can you tell us what specifically you expected to see on your tour? Did she cover that? Do you feel that the size of the group had any impact on your experience? Any other comments would be helpful.

 

thanks,

Leslie

 

Leslie/Ginny,

 

About to leave for work now (back to reality) but will post one more post...

 

Maria appeared to be a nice person and has a good-natured look. I just don't know whether she had a bad day or did not like our group (which is surprising since our group of 12 were all experienced cruisers and really pleasant, funny people). Two people of our group left the group after 15 minutes of her guide. I sincerely hope she will do a better job for another group. I will be happy to see positive postings about her in the future, which reflects her willingness to change for the better and to accommodate customers. I think one just have to clearly state in the correspondences that one wishes her to point out historinal buildings along the way to the Old Town (we met up with her at the Opera House where the Celebrity shuttles dropped us off). One should also ask her whether she will be allowed to narrate inside the monuments. To be fair to Maria, a 2 hour walking tour might not allow enough time for many inside visits, but may be at least one? Note that the admission fee would not included in the price of the walking tour)... Also, make sure you arrive at the Royal Palace a quarter to noon to see the beginning of the Change of Guard...

 

The other alternative is www. crowntours.nu (a licensed tour guide). Price is 850 SEK per hour, minimum 3 hours (2550 SEK total). The admission fees and ferry rides would not be included (best to purchase a Stockholm card ahead of time on line). The price for this 3 hour walking tour would be equivalent to Stockholm stories's 2 hour walking tour if one has 13 people in the group...The price goes up per person if one prefers a smaller group. This walking tour also includes a visit to the VASA museum. Again, we were going to book this 3 hour private tour for just our family of 3, but were a little hesitant that the e-mails were not returned in a timely manner (turn around time for e-mails was about a week). On the other hand, we did receive follow up e-mails asking us for a final confirmation from them!

 

In addition, one can also book for licensed tour guides through the Tourist Visitor Bureau, or do the ship tour's "Royal Palace and Old Town" then do VASA on your own...

 

Good luck, and hope that if you decide to give Stockholm stories a chance, it might work out better this time. Stockholm is a very beautiful city!

 

Kim

[gopackgo]

Kim,

 

Sorry to read that your tour with Maria was not what you expected. I have her booked for 6 of us in 2 weeks. She was very nice to work with via emails so I am disappointed to hear your experience with her.

 

We have the 2 hour Gamla Stan tour booked with her. Is that what you had?

 

Had you contacted any other tour guides before her? If so, do you still have any of that information?

 

Thanks for posting your experience here.

 

Ginny

[gopackgo]

Kim,

 

I must have posted my question about the other tour guide at the same time that you posted your information! Thanks for the info. I will check out the crown tour website.

 

Just a couple of questions about Maria's tour. Once you got to Gamla Stan on her tour, did she provide more narration about the buildings and history on Gamla Stan? We start our tour at the Royal Palace versus the Opera House. Was it mainly on the walk to Gamla Stan where she didn't talk much?

 

Also, I was assuming the tour would mainly be talking about the buildings, history, etc. as we walked along outside. I really didn't texpect many or any "inside" tours. In that case, was her "outside" narration good? Did she cover most of the major buidlings or monuments as you walked? Or did you mostly walk in silence? I am just trying to get a feel for how it went.

 

I normally really enjoy walking tours so I would not want to be too disappointed. Thanks again for any details you can provide about the tour.

 

Ginny

[Live the good life]

Ginny,

 

I empathize with your concern...All of us want to have a good experience at ports, since time for vacation and at ports is very valuable...That is why I often "overly research" pre-cruise to make sure I can request one of the best guides available from each private tour company (based on feedback from this board) to be our tourguide...

 

With regards to our tour in Stockholm, it was hard to pinpoint why 80% of our group felt not too happy at the end of the tour...Our tour started at the Opera house, which was across from the Royal Palace. This area is "the paronamic area" of Stockholm, and we felt that we should have been oriented to which major hallmarks were where...Some of us expected more history and architecture, and a "story telling" type of narration...She did not walk in silence, and was narrating, and was not unpleasant or anything...Perhaps a two hour walking tour was not enough...And we should/would have booked for a 3 hour tour if our ship embarkation time had not been changed from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The change of guard was at noon, so it made sense for us to end the tour at around that time...These same people were happy with their tours in St. Petersburg, Poland, Copenhagen, etc...

 

Anyway, 20% of the group felt the tour was acceptable, and that the information provided was interesting. Another person from this board (Aztec) booked a 5 hour private tour and was happy with the tour.

 

BTW, our group had some fun at the end of the tour. We took a ferry to Vasa from the Old Town, visited there, walked to Skansen (5 minutes walking distance), and took a bus back to Old Town afterwards...A taxi cab would have been a 5-7 minutes ride...We would have done City Hall (15 minutes walk from the Royal Palace/Opera House or a 3 minutes cab ride)...Cab rides would be an efficient way to cover more grounds on the very limited time in ports...

 

In summary, I think that as long as one's expectation is well-communicated to the tourguide and agreed upon, you will have a good tour in Stockholm!

 

Kim

[nyfeds]

Hi Kim,

 

My husband and I are part of the group touring with Ginny and Leslie and their husbands.

 

I thank you for your candor. We are all in agreement that we want the best possible experiences when visiting cities for such limited time. I am very much like you, in the respect that I research to find just the right fit to our touring needs. Touring with a qualified guide enlightens and enriches ones visit. Educated narrative brings to life the history and culture of a city. From what I gather from your post, you were left wanting. Under these circumstances, I, too, would have been disappointed. While you do need to spell out to a guide what it is you expect, as far as itinerary and the time allocated to accomplish that itinerary, I don't think you need to spell out that you want a thorough overview of what you are seeing and visiting. I believe that's a given when you are touring with a qualified guide. Otherwise, why go with a guide at all?

 

Did you ascertain if Maria is a licensed guide? At the time of booking, did you express to Maria your desire for historical and cultural commentary?

 

I sent an email to Orit at Crown Tours, last night and received a response from her this morning. Did you decide to not go with Crown Tours, solely due to the lack of a quick response?

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

[gopackgo]

Kim,

 

Thanks for your reply about your walking tour. It sounds like your group felt that Maria did not provide enough historical information about the area and the buildings, is that correct? I don't mean to bother you with too many detailed questions, but could you possibly be a little more specific as to what kind of information Maria did tell your group? Did it seem like she was not very knowledgeable about these things? (I realize it has been awhile since your tour and you can't remember everything after such a long trip!)

 

Again, I am only trying to find out more so I know what to expect.

 

Thanks for any specifics you can provide!

 

Ginny

[Live the good life]

Hi Kim,

 

My husband and I are part of the group touring with Ginny and Leslie and their husbands.

 

I thank you for your candor. We are all in agreement that we want the best possible experiences when visiting cities for such limited time. I am very much like you, in the respect that I research to find just the right fit to our touring needs. Touring with a qualified guide enlightens and enriches ones visit. Educated narrative brings to life the history and culture of a city. From what I gather from your post, you were left wanting. Under these circumstances, I, too, would have been disappointed. While you do need to spell out to a guide what it is you expect, as far as itinerary and the time allocated to accomplish that itinerary, I don't think you need to spell out that you want a thorough overview of what you are seeing and visiting. I believe that's a given when you are touring with a qualified guide. Otherwise, why go with a guide at all?

 

Did you ascertain if Maria is a licensed guide? At the time of booking, did you express to Maria your desire for historical and cultural commentary?

 

I sent an email to Orit at Crown Tours, last night and received a response from her this morning. Did you decide to not go with Crown Tours, solely due to the lack of a quick response?

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

 

nyfeds,

 

Very well-said...I assume it was a given! We went with this guide mostly because she was helpful in her e-mails; but after the tour, we were left wondering whether she was a licenced tour guide...We did talk to the other members of the group throughout the cruise; and they were very impressed with their guides in Poland, St. Petersburg, and Copenhagen...In other words, they were disappointed with their experience in Stockholm!

 

I personally had great admirations of my tourguides in St. Petersburg, Tallinn, and Gdanks after these tours. Ilya of Denrus was my favorite tourguide; he was a Ph.D. level person who showed great enthusiasm in sharing the history, culture, and architecture of Russia. Agnes of ToursinPoland was a school teacher during the school year...They were licensed tourguides who seemed to have connected with us; and our experience and view of the cities were enriched by our interactions with them.

 

BTW, I did pass on the web address of Crown Tours to a few other cruisers via e-mails; I did not use them in error because they were not quickly responsive to e-mails (a general indicator of reliability and care for the business)...I would contact them the next time we are in Stockholm...Glad they responded to you in a timely manner...

 

Kim

[aztex]

Ginny,

 

I thought I would make note of my response to you, made on another thread, in regard to Maria and her tour with our group. There is no right or wrong in a discussion like this as it is all based on subjective opinion and expectations met or unmet. This just represents another viewpoint.

 

Hi Ginny,

 

I had momentarily put the Baltics thread out of mind, focusing on South America, and just went over and reviewed things there before responding to you.

 

Maria is: well organized; has a fine knowledge of Stockholm's history and architecture; is very personable and adaptable to a group's need. The key, in my opinion, as noted by Kim, is to be very specific and up front about what you want from the tour; what you expect to receive and do. If you want to tour the interiors of certain buildings then my suggestion is to include that information in your up-front communication.

 

Her natural style is to be relaxed and not overly intense; to allow people to see and experience some of what is going on around them and to permit choices along the way. Her information is given in a conversational style and not as a lecture going from pre-determined point to point with lots of facts thrown out every five minutes. ( I often think of that movie - can't remember the name - where a guide keeps saying after each stop, "We're walking".)

 

Many groups probably say that they want an historical tour of, say Gamla Stan, and then, when they get on site, a schism occurs. Some want detailed history, some want time to shop and we need to be through in two or three hours. It isn't easy to meet the needs of a group with diverse backgrounds and interests, often never having met before, much less putting them into a tight time frame in a small area of the city with narrow streets inundated by several thousand people all on tours of various sizes. A small group can be engulfed by groups of hundreds and flexibility is necessary in Gamla Stan.

 

Our itinerary for the tour was changed several times due to schedule changes by Celebrity and my difficulty in not knowing exactly when we would be in Stockholm and how much time we would have. Our schedule went from an overnight stop to a shortened day so there were complications along the way. We were still having to adjust the itinerary on the day that we arrived in Stockholm because of this.

 

Our group of eight spent five hours with Maria which included Gamla Stan, the Vasa Museum, a ferry ride and lunch at the Grand Hotel. After the tour, Maria spent additional time on her own with four of our tour members helping them shop and find stores of interest. She met us at the pier with two taxies as we had pre-arranged. Two of our tour members would have liked more historical information than was given while four found the balance of information and sites to be excellent. As already noted above, on reflection, I think she did an excellent job given the situation and that her information was accurate.

 

It could be that her intention is clearly shown in the name of the business, "Stockholm Stories". To summarize all this into a recommendation:

1. be specific with what your group wants and don't get sidetracked by all the temptations in Gamla Stan during the tour.
   
2. if your group wants a detailed history of Gamla Stan with information on key structures, state that in advance - especially if you have only two hours.
   
3. Maria's style is conversational as she is with a small group and she will answer questions, provide additional information as needed and respond to a group's need. Don't hesitate to make suggestions or focus on topics of interest during the tour - a conversation is a two way process.
   
4. Anyone wanting a highly structured tour with a guide leading and doing all the talking at varioius points would be happier with someone else, in my opinion. This style is more in keeping with a museum or house tour such as normally found on large traditional guided tours where time and control is important.
   

I don't know if this has been of any help to you or not. It is just my opinion and provides you with some information as to why I thought the tour was excellent. Kim's review and comments are equally valid and I would just emphasize the need to clearly communicate your wants with Maria in advance and to not expect a traditional tour, as defined above.

 

[Al_Frescoe]

In summary, I think that as long as one's expectation is well-communicated to the tourguide and agreed upon, you will have a good tour in Stockholm!

Kim

 

I have wrestled with this since I saw it this morning, and of course there are always two sides to a story. It is a shame that Maria can’t defend herself in this public forum due to CC regulations (CC HOST: please inform me if I am wrong on this) but I feel that something needs to be said.

 

 

It is the above quote that says it all. I ask you this Kim, were you clear and did you “well-communicate” your group’s expectations to Maria? Did you not change your plans over and over and over? From 5 ½ hours for three people to a two hour walk for twelve? That’s a bit of a stretch, no? I’m especially interested in what happened near the end when the final 2 hour plan was agreed upon? Did you make promises to your group that Maria was expected to keep without allowing her in the loop? Perhaps this information would provide helpful insight so that she could learn from this experience. She reads these boards, and really, really does try to please. I can tell you this for a fact, her reading that 80% of people on one of her tours were not happy saddens her, especially since this was not addressed until now and not to her personally. By the way, these are my own personal opinions (yes, I am biased, but my opinions are valid just the same).

 

 

Regarding the so-called “licensed guide” issue - Maria is not a licensed guide and has never claimed to be. She has chosen other forms of education in Swedish history, and I can assure you she knows her stuff. Of course, I am biased, as I mentioned earlier.

 

 

I have been around the online world for many years, and I know this thread has the potential of becoming volatile – a locked thread is the last thing I want. I would like to make this a valuable message for future cruisers considering their options when in port. The cruise lines allow us (yes, I am a cruiser too, and so is Maria) so little time in port, just think of the realities of the situation and form your expectations accordingly.

 

 

Skål from Stockholm

 

 

Al

[Live the good life]

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[Live the good life]

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[Live the good life]

The only thing I wish to add to this unpleasant subject matter is that because I originally recommended Stockholm Stories on this message board based on the helpful and quick responses, I feel obligated to other cruisers to post my actual experience in Stockholm. I still have a feeling Maria is a good-natured person, and tried to be nice in my write-up despite our disappointment, questionning whether it was our too high of an expectation.

 

With regards to whether the expectations were clearly communicated, all of us had communicated via e-mails pre-cruise, and were clear on the plan. We also all had the website of Stockholm stories with a description of the tour. I felt badly about the situation because they not only did they communicate their disappointment, they did not want to give any tip on top of the 2000 SEK for 2 hours, which was unusual for all of us (I also share other private tours with some of them). I am glad Gil enjoyed his day in Stockholm, it is not often we travel to the Baltics...

[Al_Frescoe]

The only thing I wish to add to this unpleasant subject matter is that because I originally recommended Stockholm Stories on this message board based on the helpful and quick responses, I feel obligated to other cruisers to post my actual experience in Stockholm. I still have a feeling Maria is a good-natured person, and tried to be nice in my write-up despite our disappointment, questionning whether it was our too high of an expectation.

 

With regards to whether the expectations were clearly communicated, all of us had communicated via e-mails pre-cruise, and were clear on the plan. We also all had the website of Stockholm stories with a description of the tour. I felt badly about the situation because they not only did they communicate their disappointment, they did not want to give any tip on top of the 2000 SEK for 2 hours, which was unusual for all of us (I also share other private tours with some of them). I am glad Gil enjoyed his day in Stockholm, it is not often we travel to the Baltics...

 

Perhaps you communicated with your group, but did you fail to communicate with your guide? Below is a cut and paste from the Stockholm Stories website regarding the 2 hour tour.

 

 

 

<SNIP>

 

OLD TOWN DELIGHTS - Private walk in Gamla Stan

 

Duration: 2 hrs

 

There's a lot more to Gamla Stan (the Old Town) than the Royal Palace and the busy shopping streets. Take a stroll off the beaten track down quiet meandering alleys to discover the real medieval side of this charming part of Stockholm. You will also learn about the Friars, perhaps meet some royal ghosts as well as the public executioner. This is where Stockholm began, and it thrives to this day.

 

<SNIP>

 

I doubt any of your group could say that any of the above was not delivered. No, your tour went through many hours of planning by Maria from the initial 5+ hours for your small family to you finally just agreeing to a 2 hour walk with your much larger group. You had many items on your wish list and then all of a sudden you found yourself on a 2 hour jaunt through the old town. Perhaps that is where your expectations fell short? You can do a lot more in 5 hours, wouldn’t you agree? Did you forget that Maria did escort your group through the Royal Armory? I believe you did, because you stated in another post that, and I quote: “To be fair to Maria, a 2 hour walking tour might not allow enough time for many inside visits, but may be at least one?” How could you forget going through the armory? If you are going to post information as fact you might want to have the facts straight.

 

 

 

The changing of the guard lasts the better part of an hour. Did you really want to spend almost half of the 2 hour period watching the ceremony? If so, and I don’t know why you would want to hire a guide during that period, then you should have clearly communicated that fact and Maria would have made sure you found a place in the crowd to see the start of the ceremony.

 

 

 

Really no point in continuing this. Hope you have better luck in your future travels.

 

 

 

Skål

[nyfeds]

Thanks to Aztex and Al for balancing the discussion on this thread, which will enable us to make educated decisions.

[jakzak]

My family (4) also toured Stockholm with Kim and her family and another 5 people. It is true that prior to the cruise all information regarding what we wanted to see was communicated to Maria. In my opinion too much time was spent looking at courtyards and papers Maria kept in a file and not enough time on the actual sights of what is a very beautiful city.

 

I found Maria to be a very nice person and very informative but unfortunatley was not able to live up to the expectations we had going into the tour. The fact that 2 of our tour left after only 20 minutes speaks for itself.

 

As Kim stated, our group consisted of experieced travelers. Travelers that booked private tours in all the countries we visited. With the exception of Oslo (1 Family) I do not think anyone booked any ship tours. With that said I feel we have the knowledge to describe our experiences and advice others what to lookout for in the future.

 

Should you book with Maria? I have no problem saying yes, just make sure all your I's are dotted and all your T's are crossed and you will have a very enjoyable time.

 

Remember is all else fails, stop at a local cafe and have a drink for me.

 

 

Alan