Cruising History in the Baltic

Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Friday, July 30 2010

Copenhagen's flowered building

One of the best ways to flee America’s dog days of summer, while expanding your worldly knowledge, is to take a cruise to the Baltic countries. Many cruise companies operate American-style ships serving a variety of food (including hamburgers, French fries, and ice cream all day), entertainment, and even U.S. electrical connections.

While many American families with children choose Caribbean cruises, an option is exotic cruises at ports throughout the world. Baltic cruises are advantageous because passengers can visit many cities in different countries in a short amount of time, without many days at sea.

One of the more popular cruises begins in Copenhagen, Denmark, a city that can be toured by walking, canal-boating, or, of course, hopping on a tour bus. The capital city certainly is compact enough to walk on the cobblestone streets separating its colorful gingerbread houses. Its pedestrian walkways lined by cafés and stores lead to the legendary Tivoli Gardens, where children of all ages can enjoy the carousels, roller-coasters, and concerts. As soon as you get a little tired, you can easily find a café, serving some extraordinary local beers, around one corner or another.

Still, the canal boat tours offer a soothing option for seeing the Church of Our Savior’s unique tower with an outside spiral staircase leading to the top of the green pinnacle, or the tower of the Børsen, the world’s oldest active stock exchange, or the Christianborg Palace, currently the seat of the Danish Parliament. Unfortunately, one of Copenhagen’s most well-known symbols, Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid,” is away this summer.

Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg

For Americans, Copenhagen is totally manageable. English is spoken widely, and, although most places take credit cards, Euros and U.S. dollars are accepted, in addition to the Danish krone.

Stockholm, Sweden, is a particular attraction this year as U.S. bookworms voraciously consume the trilogy of novels starting with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, written by the late Stieg Larsson. Quickly it becomes a challenging game to find the streets on the Stockholm map – in long, unfamiliar Swedish words – where fictional characters Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander live and work.

For non-readers as well, Stockholm is a unique city of extraordinary beauty. This is another Scandinavian city that can be toured on your own. Walk along its narrow medieval Old Town streets, then use a credit card to purchase a $30 ticket (180 Swedish krone) for the Hop-On, Hop-Off Boat. Not only does this option allow you to visit the various sites at your own speed or interest, but discount tickets for some of the attractions are included.