Cruising Scandinavia
By Rick Steves
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| Cruise ships in the Stockholm Archipelago slalom past thousands of islands. The archipelago is dredged so the ships can get through. |
You can cover a lot of territory in Scandinavia without ever checking into a hotel. Overnight luxury cruise liners stacked with saunas, smörgåsbords, and duty-free shopping sail nightly between several major cities. Imagine enjoying a Scandinavian feast with a vista of archipelago scenery. Budget travel rarely feels this hedonistic.
Here's a round-up of some of the best trips, and some tips for making the most of them.
Stockholm-Helsinki
Two fine and fiercely competitive lines, Viking and Silja, connect the capitals of Sweden and Finland. Each line offers state-of-the-art ships with luxurious smörgåsbord meals, reasonable cabins, plenty of entertainment (discos, saunas, gambling), and enough duty-free shopping to sink a ship. Of the two, Viking has the reputation as the party boat. Silja is considered more elegant (but still has its share of sometimes irritating and noisy passengers).
The Pepsi and Coke of the Scandinavian cruise industry vie to outdo each other with bigger and fancier boats. The ships are big — at 56,000 tons, nearly 200 yards long, and with 2,700 beds, they're the largest (and cheapest) luxury hotels in Scandinavia. Many other shipping lines buy their boats used from Viking and Silja.
Which line is best? You could count showers and compare smörgåsbords, but both lines go overboard to win the loyalty of the nine million duty free–crazy Swedes and Finns who make the trip each year. Viking has an older, less luxurious fleet, but caters better to low-budget travelers, selling cheap ekonomi cabins (shower down the hall) and allowing passengers to pay for deck passage only and sleep for free on chairs, sofas, and under the stars or stairs. Viking's fares for standard passage are only slightly lower than Silja's, but students, seniors, and railpass-holders can score discounts. Note that Silja offers discounts for both Eurail and Eurail Scandinavia passes, while Viking only discounts for Eurail Scandinavia passes.
Both Viking and Silja sail nightly from Stockholm and Helsinki. In both directions, the boats leave about 16:30–17:30 and arrive the next morning around 9:30–10:00. Both companies also sail daily between Stockholm and Turku, Finland. For exact schedules, see www.vikingline.fi or www.silja.com.
Fares vary by season, by day of the week, and by cabin class. Mid-June to mid-August is most crowded and expensive (with prices the same regardless of day). Fares drop about 25 percent off-season for departures Sunday through Wednesday
In summer, a one-way ticket per person for the cheapest bed that has a private bath (in a below-sea-level, under-car-deck "C" quad) costs about €55. Couples will pay a total of about €225 for the cheapest double room (with bath) that's above the car deck. For current exchange rates, see www.oanda.com.
Finland is one hour ahead of Sweden. Sailing from Stockholm to Helsinki, operate on Swedish time until you're ready to go to bed, then reset your watch. Morning schedules are Finnish time (and vice versa when you return).
Eurailpasses cover deck passage on Silja line routes (but it costs one day of your flexipass). Eurail Scandinavia passes get you a 50 percent discount on deck passage on both Silja and Viking (doesn't use up a flexi-day). Even if a railpass covers the passage, you'll pay extra if you want a cabin. Railpass discounts change from year to year — always confirm before booking.
While ships have cheap, fast cafeterias as well as classy, romantic restaurants, they are famous for their smörgåsbord dinners. Board the ship hungry. Dinner is self-serve in two sittings, one at about 18:00, the other a couple hours later. Pay for both the dinner buffet (€42) and breakfast buffet (€13) when you buy your ticket (you'll save 10 percent). If you board without a reservation, go to the restaurant and make one. Make sure to reserve your table, not just your meal; window seats are highly sought after.
For summer or weekend sailings, reserve well in advance. Both companies have US reservation lines: tel. 800-533-3755 ext. 114 (Silja, www.seaeurope.com) and tel. 800-843-0602 (Viking, www.bortonoverseas.com).
If you're already in Scandinavia, call the cruise line direct to reserve your crossing: The Swedish reservations numbers are tel. 08/222-140 (Silja, www.silja.com) and tel. 08/452-4000 (Viking). In Helsinki, call 09/18041 (Silja) or 09/12351 (Viking, www.vikingline.fi). You can pay by credit card and pick up your ticket at the terminal (arrive one hour before departure) or pick them up early at the city office (in Stockholm, Viking's is at Cityterminalen and Silja's is at Kungsgatan 2; in Helsinki, Viking's is at Mannerheimintie 14 and Silja's is at Mannerheimintie 2). Operators speak English. Any travel agent in Scandinavia can also sell you a ticket (with a small booking fee).
Stockholm-Tallinn-Helsinki
You can visit the Baltic capital of Tallinn, Estonia — an inexpensive and adventurous destination — as a day trip from Helsinki or as part of a triangle trip: Stockholm - Tallinn - Helsinki - Stockholm.
Tallink's ships leave Stockholm at 18:00 every evening and arrive in Tallinn at 11:00 the next morning. Return trips leave Tallinn at 18:00 and arrive in Stockholm at 10:00. All times are local (Tallinn is an hour ahead of Stockholm).
Fares vary by the day and season — highest on Friday nights and from July 1 to August 15; lowest on Sunday through Wednesday nights the rest of the year. I've given high/low prices here in Swedish currency (6 kr = about $1). A one-way berth in a four-person cabin with a private bath costs 500/300 kr on the Regina Baltica, 600/400 kr on the Victoria. Round-trip prices cost only a little more: 600/400 kr on the Regina Baltica, 700/500 kr on the Victoria. The two legs of a round-trip don't have to be on successive days (unlike the Stockholm–Helsinki ferries), and the price depends on both the outbound and return days of the week. Couples can rent a cabin for themselves for roughly four times the per-person prices above.
Breakfast is 90 kr, and the smörgåsbord dinner is 240 kr. Reserve your meal (and even, if possible, a window table) when you buy your ticket. The boats have exchange offices with acceptable rates for your leftover cash.
Reserve by calling either the Stockholm reservations line (Swedish tel. 08/666-6001) or the Estonian booking number (Estonian tel. 640-9808). Unfortunately, they cannot take your credit-card number over the phone; they'll send you a form to mail or fax back. Pick up your tickets at the port on the day of departure or at their downtown office (Klarabergsgatan 31 in Stockholm). Online booking is possible only in Swedish and for entire cabins (www.tallink.se).
Speeding between Helsinki and Tallinn
From April to October, four different companies offer fast boats that link Helsinki and Tallinn (2/hr, 90–100 min, first departure about 7:00, last about 21:30). You can reserve in advance by phone or online, or buy tickets from a travel agency (such as the Helsinki Expert office in the TI — see below), but it's rarely necessary. Fast-boat trips may be canceled in stormy weather (in which case you'll be put on a bigger, slower boat).
Fares run €30–50 one-way (evening departures from Helsinki and morning departures from Tallinn are cheapest). Round-trips start at about €40 if you come back with the same company. Linda Line, which uses small hydrofoils, is the fastest (only 90 min, 45-pound luggage limit). The Tallink, Nordic Jet, and Silja fast ferries take cars and tolerate bad weather the best.
Copenhagen-Oslo
Luxurious DFDS Seaways cruise ships leave nightly from Copenhagen for Oslo, and from Oslo for Copenhagen. The 16-hour sailings leave at 17:00 and arrive at 9:30 the next day. So you can spend seven hours in Norway's capital and then return to Copenhagen, or take this cruise from Oslo and do Copenhagen as a day trip...or just go one-way in either direction.
Cabins vary dramatically in price depending on the day and season (most expensive on weekends and late June–mid Aug; cheapest on weekdays and Oct–April). For example, a bed in a two- to four-berth "Seaways" shoehorn economy cabin starts at 324 kr per person one-way (524 kr with a window); a luxurious double "Commodore class" cabin higher on the ship runs 968-1,118 kr per person one-way (and includes a TV, minibar, free breakfast buffet, and free Wi-Fi). A "mini-cruise" round-trip with a day in Oslo and no meals starts at 400-500 kr per person in an economy double cabin. All cabins have private bathrooms inside.
DFDS Seaways operates two ships on this route — the M.S. Pearl of Scandinavia and the M.S. Crown of Scandinavia. Both offer all the cruise-ship luxuries: big buffets for breakfast and dinner (from 219 kr), gourmet restaurants (3-course meals from 339 kr), a kids' playroom, pool (indoor on the Crown, indoor and outdoor on the Pearl), sauna, nightclubs, Wi-Fi (40 kr/hr), satellite phone (50 kr/hr), and tax-free shopping. There are no ATMs on board. All shops and restaurants accept credit cards as well as euros, dollars, and Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian currency.
Reservations are smart in summer and on weekends. Advance bookings get the best prices. Call DFDS Seaway's Danish office at 33 42 30 00 (Mon–Fri 8:30–17:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–17:00, www.dfds.com), or, in the US, call 800-533-3755 (www.seaeurope.com).
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| Don't fall in! Some of Norway's fjords are more than a mile deep. |
Cruising Strategies
If you're taking an overnight trip, keep these tips in mind:
- Travel off-season. Prices drop significantly if you cruise outside of July and August. Any time of year, avoid traveling on a Friday night, when boat fares are highest and business-class hotel prices are lowest.
- Consider taking successive trips. Sometimes you pay less for a round-trip ticket if you sail out one night and return the next.
- Book ahead. On some of the busier routes, such as the Stockholm-Helsinki trip, you can reserve not only your berth but also your window-side dinner table and your sauna time.
- Savor your smörgåsbord. Board the ship hungry. Pick up the "How to Eat a Smörgåsbord" brochure. Resist the urge to pile everything on your plate at once, as many Americans do. Instead, take small portions and dine in stages. Why rush?
Eat like a king. Promenade the decks like a queen. Even if you're just common folk, you can afford royal treatment in Scandinavia.
Updated for 2008. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' Scandinavia guidebook — or join us on one of our free-spirited tours in Europe.