Viking British Isles Cruise - Tips for others going on this cruise

[Krazy4Kruisin']

On 7/11/2022 at 4:34 PM, JerryInIL said:

For those booked on a future British Isles cruise, don’t forget to join the cruisecritic roll call for your specific cruise if you want to communicate with your cruise mates. Ours is August 7, 2023.

You're a couple days ahead of us. We leave from Bergen on Aug 9.

[Mrs Miggins]

On 8/6/2022 at 2:41 PM, wine-wine-wine said:

Great list! I would add Sir John Soane Museum. Amazing, eclectic collection by and in the home of the architect of St Paul’s. 

 I agree that the Sir John Soane Museum is a gem.  Many Londoners do not know about it.  Sir John Soane was a wonderful man, architect and collector and his house is filled with his diverse collection. He designed the original Bank of England, since demolished.

 

His house was designed and built by him and is kept as it was on his death in 1837.  Free entry.

 

However Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of the new St Paul's Cathedral which was completed in  1711.

[wine-wine-wine]

8 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

However Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of the new St Paul's Cathedral which was completed in  1711.

Ah thank you for the correction! Not sure how that got stuck in my head. 
 

DW and I have visited at least three times over the years. It is so packed with amazing items that it always seems new as it’s almost impossible to take it all in. 

[Geosez]

For those of you with a particular interest in the Tower, you might enjoy The Ravenmaster.  It’s an autobiography of one of the Yeoman Warders whose job was to take care of the ravens.  Great story.  Available on Kindle.

[SempreMare]

https://amateurtraveler.com/travel-to-london-england/

 

Timely episode from Chris Christensen's travel pod for those departing or arriving from London.

 

Interesting comment about his wife breaking down and crying in exhaustion while crossing under the River Thames in... (where was that...) Greenwich(?) because every single escalator / elevator they needed while traveling in London that day (with their child in a stroller) was broken.  

 

If you use Overcast, my fave iPhone podcast app, tap on this handy link: 
https://overcast.fm/+Ourp4IZ3g

[Twitchly]

20 hours ago, SempreMare said:

https://amateurtraveler.com/travel-to-london-england/

 

Timely episode from Chris Christensen's travel pod for those departing or arriving from London.

 

Interesting comment about his wife breaking down and crying in exhaustion while crossing under the River Thames in... (where was that...) Greenwich(?) because every single escalator / elevator they needed while traveling in London that day (with their child in a stroller) was broken.  

 

If you use Overcast, my fave iPhone podcast app, tap on this handy link: 
https://overcast.fm/+Ourp4IZ3g

As I mentioned over on our roll call, I love Hampstead Heath. Our current plan is to walk through the Heath on our way from Hampstead to Highgate cemetery, another favorite spot from my London visit long ago.  

[Ovener]

As former Londoners - just about to take our first Viking cruise - thought you might want to know about these less well known places to visit in case you had done all the rest…

 

Near Tower Bridge:

 

Dennis Severs’ House (Folgate Street). A recreation of an 18th/19th C London townhouse as though the family had just walked out. I think it needs to be pre-booked. Lots of narrow stairs and a full chamber pot in the bedroom - very authentic!

 

Wilton’s Music Hall. A semi-restored music hall from Victorian times, ten minutes’ (edgy) walk from Tower Bridge north side. Nicer if you approach via pedestrianised St Katherine Docks with its shops and cafes. Re-opened for theatre 20 years ago, you can visit the wonderful Mahogany Bar during the day. 

Bermondsey Street - South London street ten minutes from Tower Bridge (south side) with great boutiques, bars and restaurants and the fabulous White Cube gallery featuring changing displays of modern art. Slightly edgy, so ditch the Hawaiian shirts. The Watchtower over the cemetery at the end of the street (to stop grave robbers supplying bodies to the local hospital!) is now a nice cafe. 

 

The Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street - London’s highest public garden in a skyscraper overlooking the City and Thames - and it’s free! Forget the London Eye, but you do need to book online in advance. 
 

Piccadilly / St James (if doing the Conrad extension):

 

Both auction houses Sothebys and Christie’s are open to the public on viewing days and some of the ever-changing collections are quite remarkable and always well displayed. 

 

The Queen’s Gallery (next to Buckingham Palace) is relatively small but perfectly formed and showcases amazing art from the royal collection - currently focused on Japanese works of art. 
 

About two miles north east is Holland Park with its beautiful Japanese gardens - handy for the new Design Museum in the old Commonwealth Institute , and Japan House (with ever changing exhibitions) in Kensington to the South. Nearby is Lord Leighton’s House - reopening in October - a Victorian Artist’s oriental dream. To the North you’ll get to stroll through the film set houses of Notting Hill and walk down the Portobello Road market to the amazing interior design shops of Westbourne Grove. 
 

All these require good walking legs and stamina but are fun if you want something different!

[safeman]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:04 AM, Milehighgrandma said:

We just returned from our Viking British Isles Tour, sailing Bergen to London. This was our second ocean cruise with Viking. We really enjoy traveling with Viking. This time there were limited options when we went to book our excursions. (Things are a bit different since Covid and I understand). I just thought I would let people know of a few private tours we booked on our own. In Invergordon, I booked through Trip Advisor,  Avril's Tours (Amy) Dunrobin, Dornach, & Distillery. Amy did a great job of showing us extra places of interest. She was very knowledgeable about the area and made our day interesting. We also booked a tour with Boutique Tours from Holyhead. John was professional and knowledgeable, giving us information that was interesting, never boring.  He personalized the tour to include the Bodant Gardens. Bodant exceeded  what I had read about it. John took us on beautiful country roads away from the crowds to hidden gem with amazing scenery. I also had the best scone with jam and cream ever! We also went through castle ruins, drove into Snowdonia National Park, and saw beautiful waterfalls. We never worried about getting back to our ship. he had us back in time. The day we spent with Boutique Tours was the highlight of our cruise. If John is available, definitely book with him.

Our tour with Viking to the Giant's Causeway was also a good one. I hope this helps others when they are working on excursions.

Hi MilehighGrandma - Could you post the list of excursions with the pricing from your cruise? We are doing Bergen to London next year departing August 15. We can see the description of all of the excursions on the Viking website right now but there are no fees listed so we can't develop our budget. Many Thanks! Warren

[Twitchly]

25 minutes ago, safeman said:

Hi MilehighGrandma - Could you post the list of excursions with the pricing from your cruise? We are doing Bergen to London next year departing August 15. We can see the description of all of the excursions on the Viking website right now but there are no fees listed so we can't develop our budget. Many Thanks! Warren

Warren, I don’t know where to find a complete list to send you, but most run between $150-200. There are a few that run over that. 
 

Our BIE cruise is next month.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Twitchly

[safeman]

20 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

Warren, I don’t know where to find a complete list to send you, but most run between $150-200. There are a few that run over that. 
 

Our BIE cruise is next month.

Very cool Twitchly! Have a great time on your cruise. If you go to My Viking Journey and click Shore Excursions. You have to print each day off saving to PDF if you can. Or print and scan in. You should redact any personal information. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Moonlion]

2 hours ago, safeman said:

Hi MilehighGrandma - Could you post the list of excursions with the pricing from your cruise? We are doing Bergen to London next year departing August 15. We can see the description of all of the excursions on the Viking website right now but there are no fees listed so we can't develop our budget. Many Thanks! Warren

We're on the May 9, 2023 BIE cruise and would also love to have a list of Viking's excursion along with prices for budgeting purposes.

Thanks in advance!

Laura 

[Twitchly]

1 hour ago, safeman said:

Very cool Twitchly! Have a great time on your cruise. If you go to My Viking Journey and click Shore Excursions. You have to print each day off saving to PDF if you can. Or print and scan in. You should redact any personal information. Thanks in advance for your help!

There are about 90 excursions for this cruise. I’m afraid printing each one to a PDF and posting or emailing them isn’t feasible. 
 

Why don’t you try tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them for a list? I hear that has worked for others.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Twitchly

[safeman]

57 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

There are about 90 excursions for this cruise. I’m afraid printing each one to a PDF and posting or emailing them isn’t feasible. 
 

Why don’t you try tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them for a list? I hear that has worked for others.

I will do that Twitchly thanks so much!

[JerryInIL]

safeman, I started a roll call for the August 15th cruise on the Mars.  Feel free to join.

[Rusty Scupper]

Can anyone help with information on the Belfast call? 

Does the included Historic Belfast City tour give you the option of leaving the bus to stay in the city instead of returning to the port? If so, where in the city would it be? Also, where does the ship dock -- is it near anything? Thanks

[MICHE99]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:14 PM, Twitchly said:

There are about 90 excursions for this cruise. I’m afraid printing each one to a PDF and posting or emailing them isn’t feasible. 
 

Why don’t you try tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them for a list? I hear that has worked for others.

FYI. Thanks for the suggestion.  I emailed Viking to ask for a list of the excursions. They directed me to the itinerary on the website. I checked and there are lots of excursions listed. They may change and there are no prices but for my needs it is a start. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

London is one of my favorite cities. I highly recommend London Walks. No need to pre book. Just show up with cash at the meeting spot (usually a tube or train station). All the tours I’ve taken with them have been first rate. Last time in London we did the day trip to Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. It was fabulous.

 

BTW be wary of any “free” tour in major cities. There is a scam run by an Eastern European gang where you end up paying. Some “friendly”  unlicensed tour guide will take a picture of everyone for “memories” but it’s really to get a count for the boss. Then they gets a mysterious phone call saying they’re in trouble with their boss, it’s been a mistake, can you please give them money for the tour. Sometimes “free” can be expensive.

Edited August 26, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[JerryInIL]

Does Viking ever offer pub crawls on this cruise, or would those be booked privately?

[CCWineLover]

18 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

London is one of my favorite cities. I highly recommend London Walks. No need to pre book. Just show up with cash at the meeting spot (usually a tube or train station). All the tours I’ve taken with them have been first rate. Last time in London we did the day trip to Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. It was fabulous.

 

I concur regarding London.  We were just there in July ahead of the Midnight Sun cruise.  Spent a week in unusually hot weather.   London Walks is fabulous!   We did prebook a day ahead and did several of them.  Hampstead and the Heath was likely one of the best we've ever taken.  London Walks has quite a number of very interesting specialized tours on every day of the week.

Another interesting visit, if you like gardens, is to Kew Gardens, just SW (near Wimbeldon) and on the tube line.  Absolutely beautiful place to wander about.

[Jim Avery]

6 hours ago, JerryInIL said:

Does Viking ever offer pub crawls on this cruise, or would those be booked privately?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi6g7THw-X5AhWHLUQIHS-eDvwQ_Bd6BAhbEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.londonpartypubcrawl.com%2F&usg=AOvVaw1rGIhMVHuC0X-6gDDh1fMd

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

I concur regarding London.  We were just there in July ahead of the Midnight Sun cruise.  Spent a week in unusually hot weather.   London Walks is fabulous!   We did prebook a day ahead and did several of them.  Hampstead and the Heath was likely one of the best we've ever taken.  London Walks has quite a number of very interesting specialized tours on every day of the week.

Another interesting visit, if you like gardens, is to Kew Gardens, just SW (near Wimbeldon) and on the tube line.  Absolutely beautiful place to wander about.

One of our favorite London Walks was the Changing of the Guard. Instead of standing with the throng of people outside the Buckingham Palace, we were taken via a side gate into St. James Park to witness the band and guard leaving their barracks, moved across to park to see the relieved regiment returning to their barracks. Then it was on to the Horse Guard where the guide led us into the small inner courtyard for an intimate viewing of the changing of the Horse Guard. We were about 15 feet away, up front, with only a few dozen people. It was amazing. I captured the entire ceremony on video.

Edited August 26, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[Twitchly]

15 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

London Walks is fabulous!   We did prebook a day ahead and did several of them.  Hampstead and the Heath was likely one of the best we've ever taken. 

What was it like?

 

London Walks doesn’t offer that one on the date we’ll be there, but our current plan is to combine Hampstead and the Heath with Highgate cemetery, on our own. Suggestions welcome!

[CCWineLover]

5 hours ago, Twitchly said:

What was it like?

 

London Walks doesn’t offer that one on the date we’ll be there, but our current plan is to combine Hampstead and the Heath with Highgate cemetery, on our own. Suggestions welcome!

Twichly - I would still do it on your own.  Take the tube to the historic Hampstead station.  One of, if the the deepest tube stations in London; used for bomb shelter in WWII. Marathoners train by running up the many many stairs (there are lifts as well!).  Hampstead is a really quaint, nice town in itself.  Lots of pubs and outdoor eateries.  We walked only the southern end of the Heath (which is larger than NYC Central Park), but didn't make it to Highgate Cemetery.  Would definitely do it!!

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

Twichly - I would still do it on your own.  Take the tube to the historic Hampstead station.  One of, if the the deepest tube stations in London; used for bomb shelter in WWII. Marathoners train by running up the many many stairs (there are lifts as well!).  Hampstead is a really quaint, nice town in itself.  Lots of pubs and outdoor eateries.  We walked only the southern end of the Heath (which is larger than NYC Central Park), but didn't make it to Highgate Cemetery.  Would definitely do it!!

 

For a unique historical WWII experience I recommend taking the tube to Uxbridge and visiting the Fighter Command Bunker used in the Battle of Britain. This is where Churchill first made the comment "Never have so few..." to which the commander suggested he should tell it to Parliament.

 

[JerryInIL]

How many guests are typically on the London Walks?