Viking Saturn - Viking Homelands

Where this cruise calls, day by day

14 ports and 1 sea day over 14 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

   Stockholm

   SwedenPort

   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

3. Day 3

   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

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5

   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

6. Day 6

   Bornholm (Rønne)

   DenmarkPort

   A Danish island in the Baltic closer to Sweden and Poland than to Copenhagen, with a granite spine, sandy south coast and a strong smoked-herring tradition. Rønne, the main town, is where ships tie up. The island's oddity is its four round churches, built in the 12th century as both places of worship and fortresses.

   • Hammershus, the largest medieval fortress ruin in northern Europe
   • Østerlars round church, the biggest of the four
   • The smokehouses at Gudhjem and Svaneke
   • Dueodde's white sand beach on the southern tip

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside in Rønne harbour, a 5-10 minute walk into the town; anything else on the island is 20-45 minutes away by coach.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug

7. Day 7

   Berlin (Warnemünde)

   GermanyPort

   This is a sea call, not a river one. The terminal sits on the quay at Warnemünde, a Baltic resort with a lighthouse, a channel of fishing cutters selling herring rolls, and a wide sand beach ten minutes from the gangway. Berlin, which is why most people book it, is roughly three hours away each way by train or coach - a very long day for a capital.

   • Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island and the East Side Gallery on the Berlin excursion
   • Warnemünde's Alter Strom quay, lighthouse and Teepott
   • The brick Gothic centre of Rostock, twenty minutes away by S-Bahn
   • The Baltic beach and beach-chair rental, straight off the ship

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth at the Warnemünde cruise terminal on the quay; the resort is a walk, Berlin is a chartered train or coach.

   Best months

   May-Sep

8. Day 8

   Copenhagen

   DenmarkPort

   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

9. Day 9

   Aalborg

   DenmarkPort

   A north Jutland city on the Limfjord, historically industrial and now best known for its long bar street and its Viking archaeology. The cruise berth is unusually central - ships tie up on the waterfront promenade with the cathedral a few blocks inland. Utzon, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, was from here and designed the centre by the quay.

   • Lindholm Høje, a Viking and Iron Age burial ground of nearly 700 stone-set graves
   • The Utzon Center on the waterfront
   • Budolfi Cathedral and the half-timbered Jens Bang's House
   • Jomfru Ane Gade, the city's dense strip of bars and restaurants

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside on the Limfjord waterfront right in the centre - the old town is a five-minute walk.

   Best months

   May-Sep

10. Day 10

    Oslo

    NorwayPort

    A fjord-head capital that has rebuilt its whole waterfront in the last twenty years - the angular Opera House you can walk up, the Munch museum tower, and the Deichman library all sit within sight of the cruise berths. Older Oslo is uphill and inland. Note that the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy is closed for reconstruction, so ask before booking anything that promises it.

    • Vigeland Sculpture Park's 200-odd granite and bronze figures
    • The Fram Museum at Bygdøy, built around Nansen's polar ship
    • Walking the roof of the Oslo Opera House
    • Holmenkollen ski jump and its viewing deck above the city

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at Akershus (Vippetangen) or Revierkaia, both a 5-15 minute walk to Akershus Fortress and Aker Brygge; larger ships sometimes use Filipstad, about 25 minutes on foot.

    Best months

    May-Sep

11. Day 11

    Oslo

    NorwayPort

    A fjord-head capital that has rebuilt its whole waterfront in the last twenty years - the angular Opera House you can walk up, the Munch museum tower, and the Deichman library all sit within sight of the cruise berths. Older Oslo is uphill and inland. Note that the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy is closed for reconstruction, so ask before booking anything that promises it.

    • Vigeland Sculpture Park's 200-odd granite and bronze figures
    • The Fram Museum at Bygdøy, built around Nansen's polar ship
    • Walking the roof of the Oslo Opera House
    • Holmenkollen ski jump and its viewing deck above the city

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at Akershus (Vippetangen) or Revierkaia, both a 5-15 minute walk to Akershus Fortress and Aker Brygge; larger ships sometimes use Filipstad, about 25 minutes on foot.

    Best months

    May-Sep

12. Day 12

    Stavanger

    NorwayPort
    Stavanger port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
13. Day 13

    Eidfjord

    NorwayPort

    A village of a few hundred at the inner end of the Eidfjord arm of Hardangerfjord, with mountains rising straight from the quay. It exists on the cruise circuit because of what is up the valley behind it: the Måbødalen gorge and Vøringsfossen, a 182 m waterfall now crossed by a steel step-bridge over the ravine.

    • Vøringsfossen waterfall and the footbridge across the gorge
    • The Hardangervidda Nature Centre at Øvre Eidfjord
    • Måbødalen valley and the old zigzag road
    • Kjeåsen mountain farm, perched 530 m above the fjord

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at the village quay and you walk straight off; everything beyond the village needs a coach or taxi, with Vøringsfossen about 30 minutes away.

    Best months

    May-Sep

14. Day 14

    Bergen

    NorwayPort

    The usual start or finish of a Norwegian fjord itinerary, wedged between seven mountains and a deep harbour. Rain is the default - locals hand out umbrellas without comment. The draw is Bryggen, the row of leaning wooden Hanseatic trading houses on the north side of the Vågen inlet, and the funicular that climbs straight out of the old town to a mountain plateau.

    • Bryggen wharf and the alleys behind its facades
    • Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen, 8 minutes from the centre
    • The fish market at the head of Vågen
    • Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's lakeside villa and composing hut

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at Skolten, a 10-minute walk from Bryggen, or at Dokken/Jekteviken further south, which is 25-30 minutes on foot and usually shuttled.

    Best months

    May-Sep

15. Day 15

    Bergen

    NorwayArrive

    The usual start or finish of a Norwegian fjord itinerary, wedged between seven mountains and a deep harbour. Rain is the default - locals hand out umbrellas without comment. The draw is Bryggen, the row of leaning wooden Hanseatic trading houses on the north side of the Vågen inlet, and the funicular that climbs straight out of the old town to a mountain plateau.

    • Bryggen wharf and the alleys behind its facades
    • Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen, 8 minutes from the centre
    • The fish market at the head of Vågen
    • Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's lakeside villa and composing hut

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at Skolten, a 10-minute walk from Bryggen, or at Dokken/Jekteviken further south, which is 25-30 minutes on foot and usually shuttled.

    Best months

    May-Sep