Gdansk Private Tours -- Stutthof Camp

[gamelady]

Has anyone found any private tour operators to this area other than www.toursinpoland.com. Appears they have a 10 hr tour and that's too long. I've seen it as a 5 hr excusion on other ships from lines we're not travelling on. Independent drivers would be ok also -- doesn't need to be a tour company.

[CaptainG]

We used toursinpoland.com in May and they created an itinerary that fit our schedule and needs. You should contact them and tell them what you want to see and how much time you have. I'm pretty sure they will come up with an itinerary that works for you.

[atlanta99]

You can do a private tour with toursinpoland to Stutthof, but your time will be tight if you are only in port for seven hours and you want to see anything else back in Gdansk. What you are seeing on their website is merely a maximum of "up to 10 hours"--so, if you had sufficient time in port or were not on a ship, you could take up to a 10 hour tour that would cover Stutthof and other things that you would like to see. They will tailor your trip to the time you have in port, however, and what you want to see.

 

We have booked them for our tour in August and they seem very responsive and have good reviews. We had talked with them about going to Stutthof ourselves but decided against it. We only have seven hours in port and Donna was willing and able to do a Stutthof tour for us if we wanted, but warned us that we would need to be very organized and would need to skip any extras like shopping or much walking in Gdansk.

[Choices]

Just recently returned from our Baltic cruise, and DID use toursinpoland as our guide. We got off the ship early, close to 8:00 A.M., and with one other couple were met by a lovely young guide who took us immediately to Stuthoff....about an hour trip. We were literally the first people to arrive at the camp, and had a very sobering but informative several hours there, including a film as well as the guided tour by our guide.

 

From there we went in to Gdansk, had a terrific walking tour, saw all the main sites, the 14th Century granary, buildings, dockside,waterways etc. for several more hours (this also included a brief authentic Polish lunch of golubchakas). From Gdansk we made our way to the seaside resort of Sopot, spent about 45 minutes there, saw the Grand Hotel, the beautiful beaches, the long pier, etc. Had a bit of time left over and saw several other naval sites, training areas, etc. We were back on the ship with about 30 minutes to spare, and in total spent about 7-8 hours doing the entire day.

 

At no time did we feel rushed...but we were organized and knew what we wanted to see and do in the time alloted, and asked our guide to tailor our time accordingly, which she did wonderfully.

 

My only regret, is that more people do not make the trip out to the Stuthoff Concentration Camp as a reminder of man's inhumanity to man, however I do understand that people are on vacation, cruising, and may not want to expose themselves to that type of experience while on holiday.

 

Hope this helps fill in some of the gaps....I believe you can see and do all that you wish, if you are motivated, organized, and flexible.

 

Enjoy

 

Choices

[gamelady]

Thanks for your responses. It was great to hear about your experiences and I'll use it to structure my time accordingly. I just confirmed with toursinpoland based on everything that you said. They sound like a very responsible group.

 

When I learned about the concentration camp I was disappointed that Princess didn't offer an excursion to the area. Other ships do. Although I myself am not Jewish, I feel it's an important part of history

that should never be forgotten, vacation or not.