Scandinavia cruise ports: Excursions versus Self-exploration

We just did a Baltic cruise and planned our own excursions (not through cruise line) in Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. We used Get Your Guide (It is a 3rd party consolidator but it was useful for our purposes) for many of the ports as well as Secret Food Tours. We also did research about each town (activities, restaurants, museums, etc.) and made reservations for any activities we knew we wanted to see. It was very easy to plan our own excursions in these ports.

Hello Girish

I did a Baltic Cruise in 2019 and visited most of the ports that you mentioned.

I pre cruised and then departed from Copenhagen going to Stockholm, Tallinn and Helsinki as well as St Petersburg which is currently not offered.

I chose shore excursions but feel you could do everything that i did and maybe more on your own.

Just some notes:

In Stockholm, you do want to visit the Vasa Museum as well as Old Town if you have enough time.

In Copenhagen, I loved Tivoli which is right in the middle of the city and New Carlsburg Museum, also in the center of the city.

I was surprised at how much I loved both Tallinn and Helsinki

Yes, you could almost certainly do all the ports on your own. It is all beautiful and very walkable.

In Copenhagen and Helsinki you need to know from NCL which dock they are using - Copenhagen has 3 and Helsinki 2. I would guess at Copenhagen it is the new cruise port which is the least accessible, but not impossibly so.
At Helsinki both ports are served by trams.
At Amsterdam you need to verify they mean Amsterdam, not the alternative of Ijmuiden. Ijmuiden is a bit of a nuisance needing a city bus ride of about an hour into the city.
But for NCL it saves fuel and use of the sea lock then pilotage along the canal, and payment of the Amsterdam city tax.
Nynashamn for Stockholm saves NCL fuel and time, but stops you seeing the archipelago. However there is a half hourly suburban train into Stockholm, taking around an hour.
At Gothenburg there are two ports- the outer one needing a 6 mile shuttle bus ride or the central Swedish-American line older port. I suspect NCL will use the former. So you need to verify.
Tallinn is fine

Hi all, thank you so much for all the good information. So I did some research and the below are my findings; please feel free to let me know if you have anything to add or correct. GetYourGuide seems to be a great resource.

1. Gothenburg: total of 8 hours at this port, I suspect it is about 20 minutes by tax/bus to the city center, debating between a 4 hour excursion offered by NCL exploring the quaint little west coast island towns or exploring the city center area on my own. Thoughts?
2. Stockholm: total of 10 hours; I definitely want to see the ABBA museum, Vasa museum and do a guided boat tour of the archipelagos (besides Skansen and Gamla Stan if I have time); any NCL excursion will not cover the ABBA museum but would include Vasa, Gamla Stan and also cover the archipelagos; about a 1 hour train ride each way (to the city center and back from the port) if I do this on my own. Do I need to book the tours or museums ahead of time if I do this by myself?
3. Tallin, Estonia: total of 10 hours; docks outside old town with 20 min ride into town by bus; will likely take a free NCL excursion into town with the Hop Off/On bus and come back by bus.
4. Helsinki: total of 8 hours at this port, 25 minute walk into town; will likely do on my own without NCL excursion; a walking tour, canal cruise and the Sibelius monument
5. Copenhagen: total of 10 hours at this port, 6 mile bus/taxi ride into town; definitely want to do Tivoli Gardens, Rosenborg Castle, a walking tour of the city and Christiania; possibly use a hop on/off bus if need be.
6. Amsterdam: I have been here before (albeit a long time ago); only 6: hours 45 minutes here with a 45 min ride into town from the port; may do a boat cruise and walk the streets.

Thank you,
Girish

So at Amsterdam you are docking at Ijmuiden.
Another possibility is to do the 30 minute ride from the Zwaanstraat stop to Haarlem every 10 minutes on Connexions bus #385.

At Copenhagen you are docking as expected at Oceankaj.

The City Sightseeing HoHo bus calls at all 3 terminals at Oceankaj.

There is also a free citybus #25 every 10 minutes from all terminals to the Orientkaj metro station on Line M4- 7 stops to Central Station or change at Osterport for Helsingor. The first bus is at 8am, the last one back at 1650

The

Stockholm: total of 10 hours; I definitely want to see the ABBA
museum, Vasa museum and do a guided boat tour of the archipelagos
(besides Skansen and Gamla Stan if I have time);

That is a very optimistic plan for the time you have available. Unless you only want to take a selfie at each place to have something to show on social media. You need to decide what the most important things are.

Thanks for the tips on Stockholm and Copenhagen! A few quick questions:
1. In Stockholm, if I skip Gamla Stan and Skansen, is Vasa, the ABBA museum and the archipelago tour doable within the 10 hours that would include the 1-hour train ride in either direction?
2. For Copenhagen, it seems like there are convenient connections from the cruise terminal to central station where Tivoli is and from where Christiania, Rosenborg Castle and the remainder of the city is walkable. What is in Helsingor? I had no plans to go there and it seems an hour away. Also, is there really a need for Hop On/Off bus in Copenhagen?
3. Seems like Haarlem is about a 20-min train ride from Amsterdam with fewer crowds but similar vibes. Given the limited amount of time, is it worth the trip? Is it considered more interesting than Amsterdam if I had to choose? The last time I was in Amsterdam was in 2006.
Thanks again,
Girish

Helsingor is at the narrowest part of the Oresund strait and has a maritime museum. It is best known for its castle- Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Also an important ferry route to Helsingborg in Sweden.
The castle interests many people, so worth mentioning. You never know what people want to see.

HoHo's give a good introduction to a city. I've done the Copenhagen one when berthed at Langalinie closer in to the city (probably my 4th or 5th time there, my 2nd cruise visit) and quite enjoyed it, but if it's not for you that's fine.
Many people do them on first visits to somewhere, but I'm a contrarion.

I'm hoping @Badger will answer on Stockholm, it's a city I've tended to flash through on my way to somewhere else

As for Amsterdam- Haarlem/Amsterdam is a personal choice. I've been to Amsterdam so often I feel I've done it now, but you may feel differently. Apparently the cruise shuttle bus is 15 Euro return, buy in the Ijmuiden terminal.

Once I even went up especially from Paris to Amsterdam on the then sleeper train just to go to a concert at the Tuschinski theatre. A pretty special theatre, but not on the normal tourist trail.

1. In Stockholm, if I skip Gamla Stan and Skansen, is Vasa, the ABBA museum and the archipelago tour doable within the 10 hours that would include the 1-hour train ride in either direction?

Maybe? A bit at least. When is the trip? When do you have to be back in Nynäshamn? Assuming you have 7 hours in Stockholm it is almost doable. Although you won't be able to see the archipelago (and you certainly won't have time to see both), but you can get a small glimpse of it. My suggestion would be a visit to Fjäderholmarna, the islands closest to central Stockholm that still give you an "archipelago feel". It takes around 30 minutes to reach them from Slussen. There are a couple of restaurants there and a small museum, so it's a good place for lunch. But you probably want to visit them first or last in order to reduce travel time. And seeing Gamla stan is hard to avoid.

Hi, thanks for the thoughtful insights. Yes, the Norwegian Star docks at Stockholm on Oct 03, 2025 (7am arrival and 5pm departure); the best that NCL offers is a 6-hour excursion covering Vasa, the city center, Skansen and the island of Djurgarden - seems a shame to not use an extra 2 hours at least in sightseeing if I were do it on my own. Can I buy boat tour tickets to Fjäderholmarna or any other island after I get there? If I budget 1.5-2 hours each for the ABBA museum, VASA museum and the boat tour, that leaves me about an hour to walk through Gamla Stan. If I am compressed for time, I will skip one of the museums.

With about 10 hours in Copenhagen, I will decide on the need for the Hop On/Off bus after I get there (will likely skip Helsingor this time). And I think I will stick to just Amsterdam in lieu of Harlem given the limited amount of time.

Thanks again for the great suggestions.
Girish

Looking into this at Stockholm/Nynashamn you should be able to buy a 24 hour ticket for 180 Swedish Kr for the train ride there and back, all land transport in Stockholm, and commuter ferries 80, 82 and 84.-https://sl.se/en/fares-and-tickets/visitor-tickets/travelcards

System Map- https://images.ctfassets.net/9t2ujbulz1j7/KPuTvfWiEovOdFcO8q2kQ/a8b193190989514e4efa2b1a452f13f7/sl-spartrafik__1_.png

Timetables (in Swedish)- https://sl.linjetidtabeller.se/

For Fjäderholmarna (or other islands) yes buy tickets at the quay- https://xn--btklubbarnasdag-hlb.se/bat-fjaderholmarna-tidtabell/

Unfortunately @Badger is currently taking a break from the forum, but I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you so much @isn31c. Excellent suggestions!