We will be visiting both these places on our Baltic cruise in September. Can anyone give me any information as to what is the best way to spend our time? I can't walk long distances but providing there are places to sit occasionally I can manage. Any advice will be most welcome.
Carole
Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
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CaroleF
Topic author - First Officer
- Posts: 1859
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Hampshire
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GrahamEC
- Able Seaman
- Posts: 7
- Joined: May 2014
Re: Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
Hi Carole
A very good question! We are going on the Adonia Baltic Cruise leaving end-June and were asking ourselves the same question! Hopefully someone will come to our aid.
A very good question! We are going on the Adonia Baltic Cruise leaving end-June and were asking ourselves the same question! Hopefully someone will come to our aid.
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CaroleF
Topic author - First Officer
- Posts: 1859
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Hampshire
Re: Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
Hi Graham,
Unfortunately I haven't had any answers. I have looked up both places on Google but haven't really come up with any ideas. It would be good to know where we dock as to how easy it is just to get off and wander around.
Carole
Unfortunately I haven't had any answers. I have looked up both places on Google but haven't really come up with any ideas. It would be good to know where we dock as to how easy it is just to get off and wander around.
Carole
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GrahamEC
- Able Seaman
- Posts: 7
- Joined: May 2014
Re: Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
Hi Carole
No further replies to our exchange of messages. I guess we will have to be the pioneers and report back on what we find! Still we are not scheduled to depart until later this month so there is time yet....... but I am not holding my breath.
Graham
No further replies to our exchange of messages. I guess we will have to be the pioneers and report back on what we find! Still we are not scheduled to depart until later this month so there is time yet....... but I am not holding my breath.
Graham
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GrahamEC
- Able Seaman
- Posts: 7
- Joined: May 2014
Re: Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
Hi Carole
We have now returned from our Baltic cruise on Adonia and very good it was too!
Saaremaa - a 'nice' place but frankly not a great deal to see or do. There is nothing at the port. On joining the cruise we were offered an extra tour called "Kuressaare On Your Own" and which consisted of a coach to the capital of the island around 40 minutes drive. We opted for this tour and found ourselves in a pleasant town with some nice places around the town square for coffee/pastries or lunch . There is also a castle which is well worth visiting and which recounts the history of the island with particular reference to the occupation by the Russians and the Germans.
Bornholm - we had opted not to do a tour but used the shuttle into the town. It is possible to walk from the port but this is not to everyone's taste unless you like working docks! Having looked around the town we were almost at a loss and decided to visit the tourist information centre and which is close to the ferry port (not the cruise terminal). However on the way we came across a Europcar car hire office and decided to drive ourselves around the island. This cost around £70 including fuel for a small car. We drove right round the island stopping off at a number of small harbours, glass works etc. Enjoyed a nice lunch by a harbour listening to a jazz band playing in the open air. Wish we had gone straight for the car hire - we had a really enjoyable day and did as we pleased in some glorious weather. There are some bus services that go round the island and a number of fellow passengers reported positively on them - not sure if they were able to 'hop on/off' though?
Hope all this is of use.
We have now returned from our Baltic cruise on Adonia and very good it was too!
Saaremaa - a 'nice' place but frankly not a great deal to see or do. There is nothing at the port. On joining the cruise we were offered an extra tour called "Kuressaare On Your Own" and which consisted of a coach to the capital of the island around 40 minutes drive. We opted for this tour and found ourselves in a pleasant town with some nice places around the town square for coffee/pastries or lunch . There is also a castle which is well worth visiting and which recounts the history of the island with particular reference to the occupation by the Russians and the Germans.
Bornholm - we had opted not to do a tour but used the shuttle into the town. It is possible to walk from the port but this is not to everyone's taste unless you like working docks! Having looked around the town we were almost at a loss and decided to visit the tourist information centre and which is close to the ferry port (not the cruise terminal). However on the way we came across a Europcar car hire office and decided to drive ourselves around the island. This cost around £70 including fuel for a small car. We drove right round the island stopping off at a number of small harbours, glass works etc. Enjoyed a nice lunch by a harbour listening to a jazz band playing in the open air. Wish we had gone straight for the car hire - we had a really enjoyable day and did as we pleased in some glorious weather. There are some bus services that go round the island and a number of fellow passengers reported positively on them - not sure if they were able to 'hop on/off' though?
Hope all this is of use.
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CaroleF
Topic author - First Officer
- Posts: 1859
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Hampshire
Re: Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
Thank you for that Graham, very interesting. I'm pleased you enjoyed the cruise - what did you think of Adonia? We have a balcony cabin on B deck. Really looking forward to it.
Carole
Carole
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GrahamEC
- Able Seaman
- Posts: 7
- Joined: May 2014
Re: Saaremaa Island and Bornholm
Carole
It was our first trip on Adonia and we really enjoyed it. She is only small compared to other ships in the fleet but everyone was most friendly. We had a balcony cabin on B deck and it was not far to walk to anywhere else on board - we try to avoid using the lift in some vain hope that we might keep fit! The two special restaurants are very good with Sorrento particularly good value. I guess there are fewer facilities on board compared to larger ships and there are fewer rooms for activities but for a 16 day cruise as we had then this was no real problem.
I am sure you will enjoy the experience.
Graham
It was our first trip on Adonia and we really enjoyed it. She is only small compared to other ships in the fleet but everyone was most friendly. We had a balcony cabin on B deck and it was not far to walk to anywhere else on board - we try to avoid using the lift in some vain hope that we might keep fit! The two special restaurants are very good with Sorrento particularly good value. I guess there are fewer facilities on board compared to larger ships and there are fewer rooms for activities but for a 16 day cruise as we had then this was no real problem.
I am sure you will enjoy the experience.
Graham