THE BALTIC SEA

THE BALTIC SEA

• The Baltic Sea is one of the newer choices in Cruise travel destinations• Like the Alaska cruises this one is only available in the summer months but it is a great way to visit the countries in Northern Europe as well as Germany and Poland.• This is a popular Cruise line destination and provides access to most of Northern Europe as the Mediterranean Sea does for Southern Europe.• The Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands

PORT OF ORIGIN•Stockholm•Copenhagen

STOCKHOLM• is the capital and largest city of Sweden, with nearly 2 million inhabitants within its vicinities.• The inner city is made up of 14 islands connected by some 50 bridges on Lake Mälaren, which flows into the brackish Baltic Sea, and passes the Stockholm archipelago with some 24,000 islands and islets.• is a cosmopolitan place with both classical and modern architecture, and a captivating Old Town, Gamla Stan. Over 30% of the city area is made up of waterways, and another 30% is made up of green spaces.

Gamla Stan - the city's Old Town that's a fascinating step back in time.

Nobel Museum – this museum tells the stories of Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune by stabilizing nitroglycerin into what we call dynamite.

COPENHAGEN• is the capital of Denmark and what a million Danes call home.• This "friendly old girl of a town" is big enough to be a metropolis with shopping, culture and nightlife par excellence, yet still small enough to be intimate, safe and easy to navigate.

Amalienborg Slot (Amalienborg Palace) is the winter home of the Danish royal family and actually consists of four identical palaces.

The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, depicting a mermaid. The sculpture is displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark.

PORT OF CALL•Oslo•St. Petersburg•Helsinki•Tallinn•Riga

OSLO• is the capital and largest city of Norway, and the third largest city of Scandinavia.• Oslo is also the demographic, economic and political centre of Norway.

Oslo Vigeland Sculpture Park - Arguably the most unique attraction in Norway, this sculpture park accumulates more than one million visits a year and is home to sculptor Gustav Vigeland's life's work.

The Viking Ship Museum is home to a variety of viking age artifacts including wooden ships, beds and tools.

ST. PETERSBURG• is a world-class destination and Russia's second largest city, with a population of more than 5 million perched at the eastern tip of of the Baltic Sea and the Neva River.• The city was formerly known as Petrograd (Петрогр́ад), and later Leningrad (Ленингр́ад).

Five historic buildings (one of which was the former residence of Russian Tsars) today make up the Hermitage Museum, housing one of the finest art collections in the world.

This spectacular Russian-style church was built at the location of Emperor Alexander II’s 1881 assassination and is a must-see St. Petersburg attraction.

HELSINKI• is the capital of Finland• Founded in 1550, the "Daughter of the Baltic" has been the Finnish capital since 1812, when it was rebuilt by the tsars of Russia along the lines of a miniature St. Petersburg, a role it has played in many a Cold War movie• Helsinki pulls off the trick of being something of an international metropolis while still retaining a small-town feel.

Old Town Porvoo is a quaint village dating back to 1346. Walk the cobblestone streets and stop for photos at the Old Bridge of Porvoo, which offers magnificent views of the town. Explore on your own or perhaps browse one of the many small handicraft shops.

Temppeliaukio Church The interior of the church was built directly out of solid rock, and today it is frequently used as a concert venue because of its acoustics.

TALLINN• the capital of Estonia, lies on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, only 70 km (43 mi) south of Helsinki. • At the historical and medieval heart of the city is the hill of Toompea, covered in cobbled streets and filled with medieval houses and alleyways.• The lower town spreads out from the foot of the hill, still protected by the remnants of a city wall.

Tallinn's medieval Old Town is known around the world for its well-preserved completeness and authentic Hanseatic architecture.

RIGA• is the capital of Latvia, the largest city in the Baltic States, and the second-largest city of the Eastern Baltic.• It holds about a third of the country's population.