Baltic Bliss

Countries bordering the Baltic Sea Region offer varied shopping venues. Many of the town and city shopping areas, for example, are for pedestrians only, and shoppers may browse at their leisure while strolling along wide streets free of traffic. Other cities offer shopping within well-preserved medieval walls and along charming cobblestone streets in the old sections of town. Continue Reading »

Spend a leisurely morning strolling the markets in many Baltic Sea destinations. Cruise passengers can hardly miss Helsinki’s famous Kauppatori, the Market Square, selling almost everything from fresh fish to handicrafts. The Old Market Hall next to the Market Square is worth a visit as well. The Old Market Hall offers historic charm and a wide assortment of fresh fish and special foods, including canned bear meat! Continue Reading »

Deeply rooted in regional folklore and tradition, amber is mined in Lithuania. Only ten minutes by foot from where cruise ships dock along the Danes river brings cruise passengers to the heart of Klaipeda’s Old Town, where visitors will find a great variety of amber jewelry.

Also, in neighboring Latvia, look for amber in Riga, where Amber Gallery offers exclusive amber jewelry, set in silver and gold in multiple locations throughout the city.

Many of the port destinations in the Baltic Cruising region are walkable cities. Pedestrian streets and parks allow visitors to escape traffic. Continue Reading »

In the Baltic Sea Region, visitors will find refined city lifestyles and rural country charm. From opera and ballet in St. Petersburg to open-air museums presenting farm and peasant life, the Baltics spans the gamut of cultural offerings.

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Klaipeda was united with Lithuania only in 1923, and even then was closed to tourists during 50 years of Soviet rule following World War II. Today, as the only Lithuanian port, Klaipeda holds a position of great importance to Lithuania’s economics and its connection to the rest of the world.

Cruise ships coming to Klaipeda catch sight not only of the reconstructed port entrance but also of the Curonian Spit National park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Entering the port itself, passengers see the Lithuanian Maritime Museum, the only museum of the kind in the Baltic States.

The cruise terminal (built in 2003) is situated by a medieval city castle in the historic city center. A rotating bridge, built in 1855 with reverted iron trusses, cast iron columns and manual rotation mechanism, permits entry into Klaipeda.

Lithuania’s oldest city, Klaipeda is situated at the mouth of the river Dane, in the country’s western part, a region famous for its summer resorts, sandy beaches and pine forests, especially along the Curonian Spit. The inland countryside is heavily wooded and green.

Excursions include Nida, a resort town in Neringa that features Europe’s highest sand dunes; Nerginga Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Juodkrante, a resort town featuring the Hill of Witches, a park of wooden sculptures depicting Lithuanian fairy-tales; Palanga, home of the famous Amber Museum housed in the 19th century mansion of Count Tishkevichius; and Village Life Lapiai, a preserved collective farm.

Take your desktop globe for a spin or pull out your atlas and cast your eyes on Europe. Look north, not south, to find the cruising region known as the Baltics.

Even experienced travelers sometimes confuse the Baltic with the Balkans. The two regions could not be more different. The Balkans fought long and drawn-out wars for most of the 1990s, The Baltics, on the other hand, remained peaceful, stable, safe and clean — just as they are today.

One of the world’s most popular and fastest-growing cruise destinations, the Baltic cruising region refers to the Baltic Sea, which stretches from southern Denmark to near the Arctic Circle. Along its shores are some of the world’s most fabled cities — Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, to name a few. All share a common climate, with the cruise season running from May through September, and a common history.

Cruise passengers set foot in lands once inhabited by kings and queens (who still exist in some of the Baltic countries), of Viking warriors and German merchants, of Tsars and seafaring wanderers. In many cities visitors see reminders of a time long ago: medieval town walls, cobblestone streets, castles, palaces and museums that house age-old artifacts.

The past decades have brought great change in the Baltics. Former Soviet-bloc countries in the Baltic region now embrace cruise passengers, and even though English is typically spoken as a second language in many of the port destinations, cruise passengers will hear a variety of tongues spoken as they stroll city streets.

Copenhagen and Stockholm, the Baltic Cruising Region’s primary turnaround ports (where most cruises begin or end), not only are conveniently connected to the rest of the world but also conveniently connected between the airports and the city centers and cruise terminals. Infrastructure is among the best in the world, and Copenhagen boasts not only the world’s best airport (according to one survey of travelers) but also Europe’s cheapest and fastest airport-to-city-center connections.

You might say that with all that is has going for it, the Baltics were “tailor-made for cruises.” Cruise passengers certainly think so. Year after year, they return in record numbers to cruise one of the world’s greatest destinations.

The Baltic cruising region refers to the Baltic Sea, an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean that separates the Scandinavian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe. Stretching from southern Denmark to near the Arctic Circle and from eastern Denmark to southern Finland, the Baltic Sea is the world’s largest expanse of brackish water, fed by freshwater rivers from a catchment area four times as large as the sea itself.

Though the two regions share similar-sounding names, the Baltics are not to be confused with the Balkans. The Balkans are comprised of countries (such as Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey) on the Balkan Peninsula in the southern reaches of Europe. The Baltics, by contrast, are situated at the same northerly latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. Countries bounding the Baltic Sea and its arms, clockwise from the west, are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

The Baltic cruising region is characterized by a variety of landscapes - low, rocky islands called skerries along the coasts of Sweden and Finland, Norwegian fjords, lagoons, inlets, and some of the world’s most fabled cities. On the far eastern edge of the Baltic Sea, Peter the Great’s “window to Europe,” St. Petersburg, is situated at the head of the Gulf of Finland. On the western edge of the Baltic Sea, Elsinore, Denmark, lays claim to Kronborg Castle, the setting for Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The Scandinavian capitals of Copenhagen and Stockholm, with their myriad attractions, serve as transportation hubs and are where most Baltic cruises begin or end.

One of the world’s most popular cruising regions, the Baltics also are one of the world’s fastest growing cruise markets. Annually, for several years running, port destinations in the Baltics have set records both in the number of cruise ship calls and the number of cruise ship passengers visiting ports.