Seven Seas Grandeur - Northern Europe & Baltic

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 5 sea days over 10 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Stockholm

   SwedenDepart

   Built across 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, and reached through a two to three hour approach past thousands of skerries that is worth being on deck for. The old town, Gamla Stan, is a tight grid of ochre buildings on its own island; everything modern happens on Norrmalm and Södermalm around it.

   • The Vasa Museum and its salvaged 1628 warship, raised almost whole
   • Gamla Stan and the Royal Palace guard change
   • Skansen open-air museum on Djurgården
   • Stockholm City Hall, where the Nobel banquet is held

   Getting ashore

   Stadsgården berths are a 15-20 minute walk to Gamla Stan; Frihamnen is about 4 km out and needs a shuttle or bus, and a few very large ships use Nynäshamn, an hour south by coach or train.

   Best months

   May-Sep

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Helsinki

   FinlandPort

   A capital of pale neoclassical squares and hard modernist churches, laid out on a granite peninsula. It is smaller and calmer than Stockholm and easy to see in a day. The Market Square at the head of the South Harbour is the natural starting point, with ferries to the island fortress leaving from the same quay.

   • Suomenlinna sea fortress, a 15-minute public ferry from Market Square
   • Temppeliaukio, the church blasted out of solid rock
   • Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral's white steps
   • Design District shops and the Oodi central library

   Getting ashore

   Katajanokka and Olympia berths are a 15-20 minute walk to Market Square; Hernesaari and West Harbour are 3-4 km out and served by shuttle or tram.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug

4. Day 4

   Tallinn

   EstoniaPort

   The best-preserved walled town in the Baltic, and compact enough to do properly in a day. The lower town of merchant houses sits inside its ring wall and towers; above it, on the Toompea limestone bluff, are the cathedral, parliament and two viewing terraces looking over the red roofs to your ship. Outside the walls Tallinn is a working tech city, which is a jolt.

   • Town Hall Square and the 15th-century Raeapteek pharmacy
   • Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the Kohtuotsa viewing platform on Toompea
   • The Seaplane Harbour maritime museum in its concrete hangars
   • Kadriorg Park and Peter the Great's baroque palace

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside at the Old City Harbour; the Old Town gate at Viru is a flat 15-20 minute walk, and most lines run a shuttle for the first stretch through the port.

   Best months

   May-Sep

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6

   Riga

   LatviaPort

   The largest of the three Baltic capitals and the least tidied up, which is part of the appeal. The medieval core around the Daugava is small; the real surprise is the Art Nouveau district north of it, several hundred facades of screaming faces and stylised figures, much of it by Mikhail Eisenstein. The Central Market operates out of five reused Zeppelin hangars.

   • Alberta iela and the Art Nouveau facades of the Quiet Centre
   • House of the Blackheads and Town Hall Square
   • Riga Central Market in its Zeppelin hangars
   • St Peter's Church spire lift for the rooftop view

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside on the Daugava at the passenger terminal on Eksporta iela, a 10-15 minute walk upriver to the Old Town.

   Best months

   May-Sep

7. Day 7

   Gdansk (Gdynia)

   PolandPort

   Ships berth at Gdynia, a purpose-built interwar port city, but the destination is Gdańsk half an hour south. Gdańsk's Royal Way and the tall gabled houses along the Motława look medieval and are largely postwar reconstruction - the city was 90 percent destroyed in 1945. The Second World War began at Westerplatte, at the mouth of its harbour.

   • Długi Targ, the Neptune Fountain and St Mary's Church in Gdańsk
   • The European Solidarity Centre at the Gdańsk shipyard gate
   • Malbork, the largest brick castle in the world, about an hour away
   • Sopot's pier and seafront, between the two cities

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside in Gdynia at the Francuskie or Kościuszko Square quays, walkable into Gdynia itself; Gdańsk is 25 km away, about 35-45 minutes by coach or on the SKM commuter train.

   Best months

   May-Sep

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Copenhagen

    DenmarkArrive

    Denmark's capital works as both a Baltic turnaround port and a day call, and which berth you get changes the day completely. The city is flat, cycle-mad and easy to cover on foot once you reach it: harbour swimming pools, the pastel warehouse fronts of Nyhavn, and a royal quarter at Amalienborg where the guard still changes at noon.

    • Nyhavn canal and a harbour boat tour from its head
    • Tivoli Gardens, opposite Central Station
    • Rosenborg Castle and the crown jewels
    • Christiansborg's tower, free and the best rooftop view in the city

    Getting ashore

    Most large ships dock at Oceankaj, about 6 km north of the centre and needing a shuttle or bus (roughly 20-25 minutes); smaller ships use Langelinie, a 10-minute walk from the Little Mermaid and 25 minutes from Nyhavn.

    Best months

    May-Sep