anyone use SPB tour in Stockholm, Germany, or Tallin?

[Taxman2001]

I've booked the St. Petersburg 2-day deluxe tour with SPB tours for our Celebrity Baltic cruise departing on June 2nd. I also see that SPB has tours in other Baltic cities. I am particularly interested in people's reviews of the SPB tours in Stockholm, Tallin, Berlin and Rostock/Warnemude. Any reviews of these tours would be most appreciated.

[RJ2002]

I've booked the St. Petersburg 2-day deluxe tour with SPB tours for our Celebrity Baltic cruise departing on June 2nd. I also see that SPB has tours in other Baltic cities. I am particularly interested in people's reviews of the SPB tours in Stockholm, Tallin, Berlin and Rostock/Warnemude. Any reviews of these tours would be most appreciated.

 

We went on SPB's Rostock/Schwerin tour because we had previously visited Berlin and did not desire to do it again in a one day marathon. However, if you have not seen Berlin and if you don't think you'll ever be back, I'd choose Berlin.

 

As for the Rostock/Schwerin tour, we enjoyed it very much. Be aware it is not a bus tour. You essentially are walking or taking trains/trams for the entire tour. Rostock was nice, but Schwerin was the highlight. A very beautiful town with a lovely palace on a lake.

 

The SPB rep will meet you at the ship and you walk to the Warnemunde train station, which is right next to the ship. You'll take a tram to Rostock, where you'll have a walk around and casual, stand-up lunch at a food stand (sausage and beer or other beverage). You then take a tram to the train station, and then transfer to a train to Schwerin. Once in Schwerin, it is about a 20 minute walk from the train station to the main area of town where the shops and palace are located. There is a lot of walking in this tour, but it is not fast paced and there are plenty of opportunities for sitting down in plazas or cafes for breaks.

 

For our cruise, we stopped in Warnemunde before St Petersburg. You can elect to defer your payment of the Warnemunde tour until you reach St Petersburg.

 

edit: Wanted to add that Tallinn is really a city that you can do on your own if desired. We had a guide book which contained a nice walking tour which we did ourselves. We also did Stockholm on our own, but you could elect to have an escorted tour as well.

Edited December 28, 2013 by RJ2002

[NantahalaCruiser]

I've booked the St. Petersburg 2-day deluxe tour with SPB tours for our Celebrity Baltic cruise departing on June 2nd. I also see that SPB has tours in other Baltic cities. I am particularly interested in people's reviews of the SPB tours in Stockholm, Tallin, Berlin and Rostock/Warnemude. Any reviews of these tours would be most appreciated.

 

We took the SPb walking tour in Tallinn last summer. As an add on to the SPb StP tour, it was inexpensive and well worth the cost. Our guide, Modlin (not sure of the spelling) was excellent - many interesting stories to tell - some quite humorous and some very emotional. Her father was sent to Siberia with her grandparents at the age of 3 or 4 and did not return until around 10 - she made no mention of what happened to the grandparents :(

[mirsown]

I've booked the St. Petersburg 2-day deluxe tour with SPB tours for our Celebrity Baltic cruise departing on June 2nd. I also see that SPB has tours in other Baltic cities. I am particularly interested in people's reviews of the SPB tours in Stockholm, Tallin, Berlin and Rostock/Warnemude. Any reviews of these tours would be most appreciated.

We used SPB tours last year for St Petersburg, Berlin and Stockholm. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience with them, especially St Petersburg and Berlin where we had fantastic guides.We saw and learned so much more than we had expected. Stockholm was not as well organized, but i think it was a fairly new venture for them, and we were still pleased that we had used there services.

[Kristen38]

I used SPB for all the cities but Stockholm and they were amazing. I loved having a guided tour of Tallinn because I knew so little about the city and Estonia that it was great to learn about it from a local. Trinn, my guide, was excellent. Same with Berlin, amazing guide and great tour. I like SPB because I found that they were very organized and even sent an email out with the recommened tip amounts for the drivers and the guide in local currency and American $ and which is preferred.

[Liz]

I chose SPB for a two day tour of St. Petersburg, the evening "vodka fun tour" and the day tour of Berlin. Three outstanding tours. The guides are both knowledgeable and friendly; not only did we learn about the culture and history, but also learned about growing up and living in the region. The Berlin tour was a bit different; our guide was Lee, who is an American living in Berlin. He is truly passionate about the city and its history. One of my most memorable moments was touching the Berlin Wall - what's left of it - encouraged by Lee. Several people used them in the other ports and were very satisfied with their tours, too. I highly recommend them.

Enjoy your cruise, but be prepared for an exhausting experience. There is so much to see in such a short period of time, you will be on the go the entire time - but it is worth it!

 

Liz