Tour Guides Wanted - Stockholm, Tallin, Helsinki

[cindivan]

We are a family of 5 that likes to do private tours, preferably walking not driving. So much of what I read is is that all three of these cities are easily walkable and can done on our own. Or the recommendations I can find are over 3 years old so I'm not confident that recommendation is still true.

 

However, our whole family enjoys the interaction with a local and learning more about the history and local culture than can not be gleaned as easily through DIY tours (Unless one does a lot of research, and I know my boys would much rather hear it from a local than their mom or wife ;) )

 

We like to do 2-4 hours private tour and then explore on our own for several hours with the advice of our tour guide and maybe some ideas we found on our own before we got there.

 

Does anyone have tour company suggestions for these cities?

 

Thanks so much!

[GradUT]

I can't recommend any private guides for these cities, but I can attest that they can easily be seen by walking on your own.

 

We used the excellent walking tours for those cities which are included in the Rick Steves guidebook, "Northern European Cruise Ports". They were comprehensive and lasted about 2-3 hours each. Because we were in Stockholm for 2 days, we also did a "Free Walking Tour" which was very good. There is also a "Free Walking Tour" in Tallinn if you prefer to have a guide (but we just walked on our own).

 

Stockholm: http://freetourstockholm.com/

Tallinn: http://www.traveller.ee/tour/tallinn-free-tour

 

IMO, the Rick Steves walking tours would be a good choice with kids because you could stop as long as you want at those sites that interest you and the kids and skip others that don't. And even if you do a guided tour, I would keep the Rick Steves walking tour handy to see things that your guide might not include. For example, our tablemates did a guided tour in Tallinn (not the free walking tour) and were sad to have missed something we saw by using Rick Steves -- the old KGB headquarters on Pikk Street which are now luxury apartments!

 

Also, check guidebooks and online Tourist Infomation for these cities for attractions not covered on tours. That's how I found out about the tours of the Bastion Tunnels in Tallinn. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do this tour, but it looked fascinating.

[Pet Nit Noy]

We are a family of 5 that likes to do private tours, preferably walking not driving....However, our whole family enjoys the interaction with a local and learning more about the history and local culture than can not be gleaned as easily through DIY tours (Unless one does a lot of research, and I know my boys would much rather hear it from a local than their mom or wife ;) )

 

I share your point of view. A knowledgeable guide adds a dimension to a port call that the best guide book cannot duplicate.

 

Does anyone have tour company suggestions for these cities? Thanks so much!

 

Not quite what you're asking about, but I have an enthusiastic recommendation you might want to consider. Food Tours.eu is a company that offers outstanding food walking tours in several Scandinavian cities. We took the one in Copenhagen are were really impressed. The guide did an excellent job of connecting the food with history, culture, and tradition. If the tour were only walking from place to place to do a tasting, I wouldn't mention this, but I learned as much about Danish history and culture on this tour as on many history-centered tours.

 

We had one teen/tween in our group and I was very impressed by the way the guide was respectful of this young lady's hesitancy. No shaming. No pleading.

 

The Stockholm tour lasts 4 hours and begins daily at 10:00 AM. (A private tour can be arranged with an individualized starting time.)

 

Both adult and children's prices. No idea about pricing for a private tour, but the web page about groups talks about meeting private groups at the cruise ship. There's also some mention of extending the food tour to include more historic/cultural sites. Unfortunately, the text specifically says "Copenhagen" but the email is for the Stockholm branch. I suspect someone just goofed when doing a copy and paste.

 

Here's the link: http://stockholm.foodtours.eu/product/the-nordic-food-walk/

[cindivan]

Thanks for the advice. I will ask my family if they would like the food tour. And I ordered the Rick steves book!

 

 

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[ljandgb]

We did a food walking tour of Tallinn that was wonderful. Our guide, Kurtu, was amazing and we really enjoyed not only her knowledge of Estonia but hearing about her life experiences growing up in Soviet controlled Estonia, then the liberation, hard times, and now economic stability but geopolitical uncertainty. (That's quite a sentence!) Bottom line, we would not have gotten any of that just following Rick Steve's book walking tour.

 

I'm not dissing Rick. I have his books too, but you can't beat local experiences.

 

http://www.foodsightseeing.ee

 

The food was quite good also, but I'd recommend avoiding the meat jelly, unless you're feeling really adventurous.

[ctnurse]

http://estonianexperience.com

 

We used them in all three ports and they were fantastic! I absolutely love Tallinn. It is such a wonderful city. :)