Advice for Northern Europe Excursions

[Darren Martin]

Can anyone offer any advice on what to do in the ports listed below? We’re open to anything - private, DCL, walking around, etc. Thank you !

• Kiel, Germany
• Nynäshamn (Stockholm), Sweden
• Fredericia, Denmark
• Skagen, Denmark
• Oslo, Norway
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Zeebrugge (Brussels), Belgium

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Intr3pid]

Of the ports we have been to, here are the recommendations.

Fredericia:

Check out this post:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/help-in-fredericia.3736882/post-61610098

Amsterdam:

Take a taxi or bus to the city center, and do a canal tour. Some ideas:
https://flagshipamsterdam.com/
https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/tickets/canal-cruise-ticket

Most canal tours start and end in front of Anne Frank House - itself worth a visit.

Alternatively - or in combination if you have time - you can do a tour of the Zaanse Schans windmills. Like this one:
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attracti...eese_Small_Group_Tour_from_Amsterdam-Ams.html

Stockholm:

Nynashamn is about an hour out of Stockholm, so you will have to pick your battles. There is so much to do in Stockholm!

The historic city center has a ton of attractions that you can walk to. Try a free walking tour:
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attracti...ws-Free_Walking_Tour_Stockholm-Stockholm.html

Or DIY it on bikes or e-scooters that you can find pretty much everywhere:
https://happiestoutdoors.ca/self-guided-walking-tour-of-stockholm/

The city has dozens of high-quality museums (not kidding!). Our fav is the Nobel Prize Museum, which is wonderful to visit for a family with growing kids.

Grona Lund is the big theme park in the city, and you can take a short ferry to it. Maybe drop your kids at the park and visit a couple of nearby museums.
https://www.gronalund.com/en

Kiel:

Take the train or a private transfer to Hamburg, and tour the city center.

Zeebrugge:

Many options from Zeebrugge. We have not ported but been to several nearby places on land tours.

There are the towns/cities of Bruges and Ghent - where, like Amsterdam, you can do canal/city tours. A DCL excursion will also take care of shuttling into the town:
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...ugge-belgium-bruges-sightseeing-canal-cruise/

If you haven't yet, watch In Bruges (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536) before visiting the town.

You could also make your way to Brussels and do a city tour. Or, for families, on a DCL excursion like this one:
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/zeebrugge-belgium-dino-tour-in-brussels/

For the history buffs, there are a few WW sites nearby, including the beach next to Dunkirk (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5013056/) and the cemetery at Flanders Field (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/zeebrugge-belgium-ypres-in-flander-field/).

 

[Flossbolna]

In Kiel I would recommend going to Lübeck which is a very pretty historic old town.

Skagen is a beautiful village with long Sandy beaches. It’s fun to go to the very top of Denmark where you can stand with one foot in the North Sea and the other in the Baltic Sea. It’s been a while since I was in skagen (land trip), but I don’t think you need an excursion, you can just explore on your own.

 

[diablodancer]

If you’re going into Stockholm I’d really recommend the Vasa museum - one of my favourites in the world. If I remember correctly the ABBA museum (also includes Eurovision) was nearby and also very fun!

 

[mousefan73]

i live in Germany. though Lübeck is closer to Kiel the train network is faster to Hamburg in most costs.. they have hourly Regional ( RE) trains to Hamburg . take just over an hour..

some tips:
bahn.de is the german rail website has english too.
in germany main train station is in most cases the central stations. Haupbahnhof and is in timetables abbrev. at HBF.. so for Hamburg put in Hamburg hbf.
the Hbf is near the Jungfernstieg so google that area and you have a nice promendade.. Also "hafencity" is the old town with canals and near Elbphilharmonie well know concert hall.. if you google those places that gives you a radious to hang out for an afternoon and you see the highlights..


zeebrugge we were at in November and took a cruise bus to Brugges.... there are many ways to DIY this with public or cabs not sure if DCL has a bus... Brugges is a super cute town with amazing chocolate and beer shops... town sqaure is really nice.. one restaurant directly there with outdoor seating offered a flight of beer to try... the other options ( historcial ww2 excrusions didnt interest us and were too far imo). buses usually drop off at a bus partk, but its a nice flat walk to city center.. about 20 minutes but you also see some highlights too.. a monastary type thing.etc..

 

[Geomom]

In 2018 DCL actually docked in Stockholm. We bought the Stockholm Go City Pass in advance. It included the HOHO buses and ferries and tons of museums. We took the HOHO bus from port and focused all our visit on the island with the Vasa, Viking Alive museum (with a ride!), and Skansen open air museum. I would find out if DCL is providing a free shuttle to Stockholm from Nynashamn and if so, see if the city pass is worth it to you. It did include tons of museums.

 

[imbelle]

You can also get a city pass in Oslo that includes a ferry ride to Bygdoy Peninsula where there are several interesting museums (Kon-Tiki, Fram, Folk..sadly the Viking Ship Museum is currently being re-housed).

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Can anyone offer any advice on what to do in the ports listed below? We’re open to anything - private, DCL, walking around, etc. Thank you !

• Kiel, Germany
• Nynäshamn (Stockholm), Sweden
• Fredericia, Denmark
• Skagen, Denmark
• Oslo, Norway
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Zeebrugge (Brussels), Belgium

I can't speak to Kiel. But here are some ideas for the rest.

For Nynashamn, I'd do my best to head into Stockholm, where the choices are endless. From open air museums, to history museums, to old town. Some things to consider looking into are Gamla stan, Skansen open air museum, Vasa museum, and the ABBA museum. There are tons more choices here. Another place easy enough to do on your own once you get from Nynashman to Stockholm. There is a train you can take from the port of Nynashamn to Stockholm which takes about an hour, or often DCL offers paid for transportation.

Oslo has lots of options, one easy one is to walk from the cruise ship to the ferry port, and take a ferry over to "museum" island. From there you can pick from several options. My top pick is the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. Think Williamsburg, VA but Norwegian and from all throughout history. 100s of buildings to see, demonstrations, foods to try, etc. The apartment building with units from every decade was something amazing to see. Oslo is easy on your own.
You can also go tour Akershus Fort within walking distance, and a short taxi ride away is Vigeland park, a statue park with 200 statues in in.

I'd recommend doing a DCL port adventure in Skagen due to the logistics of getting anywhere from there. If you enjoy WW2 history, Skagen offers some great sites and museums. I'd use DCL or a private guide to get between them all.

Fredericia offers several great choices nearby including Christiansfeld (old town), Koldinghus (palace) and Egeskov (castle). Any of these are great choices either with DCL or on your own with transportation. They are all a decent ride away. Legoland is also nearby if that is something that interests you.

Amsterdam I'd recommend the Anne Frank house for sure. Plan way ahead and purchase your tickets months in advance. I'd also suggest a small boat canal tour. There are tons of museums in Amsterdam for art if that interests you. Pick your favorite. If your don't dock in downtown Amsterdam, DCL will often offer a free bus into Amsterdam. It can take upwards of an hour, but they start early in the day. Easy port to do on your own.

Zeebrugge, I would get a private guide and got to Brugge. Brugge is amazing, and can be done on your own, but I think it's best done with a knowledgeable guide who can give depth to all your seeing.

Enjoy your time traveling around these great cities.