Ovation, Scandinavian Gems & St Petersburg ex Copenhagen to Stockholm

Details

21 Night Cruise sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm onboard Seabourn Ovation.

21 Night Cruise sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm onboard Seabourn Ovation.

With their unmatched sense of style, elegance and grace, Seabourn ships beckon you to travel beyond the bounds of the imagination. Aboard Seabourn, every desire is met promptly and with a welcoming smile. Whether it's a warm blanket and a cup of gourmet hot chocolate as you drift along the Norwegian Fjords or a relaxing neck massage poolside, you'll feel that you're a member of a very exclusive club.

Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation will maintain our high ratio of space per guest, enabling highly personalized service by close to one staff member for each guest on board. With the addition of these two new ships, Seabourn will have the youngest and most modern ultra-luxury fleet in the industry.

Perhaps best of all, each ship offers all-suite accommodations, Seabourn’s signature water sports Marina, an open-bar policy serving premium wine, champagne and spirits, and renowned menus.

Highlights of this cruise:

Copenhagen
Modern Copenhagen is an attractive, well-kept city and the largest city in Scandinavia. It has a provincial, small-town atmosphere, gabled houses, narrow streets and a skyline that is dominated by delicate spires. Copenhagen is also the greenest capital in Europe with much of the city center reserved for pedestrians, strict anti-pollution laws, and bikes often outnumbering cars on the streets. There are many green spaces (including the world-famous Tivoli) and in the summer, cafés and restaurants occupy the pavements.

Copenhagen boasts theaters, museums and a lively, surprisingly cutting-edge nightlife scene. The best the country has to offer can be experienced in the capital city, where there are design studios, ultra-hip bars, and modern architecture amongst the 17th-century buildings. A road bridge to Sweden was completed in 2000, making Copenhagen a key focal point for Scandinavia, the Baltic and the rest of mainland Europe.

Alesund, Norway
Stretching into the Borgundfjord and backed by the Sunnmoere Alps, Aalesund abounds with natural beauty. The town itself dates from the 9th century, when it was a Viking base for establishing settlements in France. Following a great fire in 1904, Aalesund was rebuilt in the popular Art Nouveau style of the time. Today, the towers, turrets and romantic facades make this one of the loveliest towns in all of Norway. The city is also the world's largest supplier of "klippfisk," or dried cod, but the main attraction by far is the scenic beauty of Aalesund's fjords and surrounding peaks, including 550-foot Mt. Aksla.

Storstappen Island, Norway
Honningsvåg is Norway’s northernmost town, and one of the smallest, with its population of 2,000 jammed into a mere one square kilometer. Devoid of permafrost, this subarctic region displays scores of colorful mountain landscapes carpeted during the summer in a lush tapestry of grasses and mountain wildflowers. In this truly unique environment, many private village gardens grow trees, despite the shortness of the Arctic summer. Honningsvåg is also the gateway to the northernmost point of continental Europe, the North Cape, or Nordkapp, often referred to as the ‘end of the world.’

Honningsvag, Norway
The perpendicular cliffs of Nordkapp, or the North Cape, mark the very top of the European continent. This ultimate destination has long drawn adventurous royalty including Oscar II, King of Norway and Sweden, who visited in 1873, and followed by the King of Siam in 1907. The North Cape is located on the island of Mageroey, a name derived from a word that means "meager." While the landscape may have a lunar appearance, it is not really so isolated. Just 21 miles away, the main town, Honningsvåg, has some 4,000 inhabitants. In summer that number swells when the Sami people and their reindeer settle on the outskirts of town.

Loen (Olden), Norway
The small village of Olden is located deep in the Nordfjord, cradled in a lush valley among snowcapped peaks. It has welcomed visitors arriving by ship since the end of the 19th century, as attested by the venerable Hotel Alexandria dating from 1884. There are some very old farms around Olden, including some believed to predate the Christian era here. Less than four miles away, the village of Loen is nestled at the base of Mt. Hoven, where a newly opened Skylift cable car can carry visitors from sea level to the mountaintop at 1,011 meters in about five minutes. There, they will enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding peaks and glaciers, and the fjords, farms and villages below. A strung cable Via Ferrata invites ambitious climbers to clip on and ascend the mountain on foot. The village is the popular gateway to the sprawling Jostedalsbreen National Park, with its system of glaciers feeding waterfalls including the Ramnefjellsfossen, whose three free-falling cascades tumble nearly 2,700 feet, making it the world’s third-highest waterfall. Mt. Skala is another popular attraction, boasting twin peaks of over 7,000 feet in altitude.

Flam
Flåm is a Norwegian village at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord. The town is located in the municipality of Aurland, in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. Surrounded by steep mountainsides, roaring waterfalls and deep valleys, this area is a paradise for everyone looking for a one-of-a-kind experience with nature.

Flåm is known for its railway which is widely known as one of the world's most fantastic stretches of railroad. The exciting history of the railway can be learnt by visiting the Flåmsbana Museum in Flåm. Other attractions include the Otternes Farmyard, the Norwegian Wild Salmon Centre and the Borgund Stave Church.

Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway. Stavanger is the 4th largest city in Norway and has been nominated as ‘European Capital of Culture 2008’.

Attractions in and near Stavanger include Preikestolen, or ‘the pulpit rock'. It's one of Norway's most famous sights, and the region's most popular attraction. Set on a hill to the west of the Vågen harbour, is the picturesque Old Town, with its white wooden houses and narrow cobbled streets. Here you will find the Canning Museum which offers a fascinating insight into the history of the city. Another interesting attraction is the the high-tech Norwegian Petroleum Museum, built to look like an offshore platform on the harbour.

Other activities include a salmon safari where you can swim with wild salmon in their natural habitat. Visitors can shop in Kvadrat, Norway's biggest shopping centre or visit Kongeparken amusement park, or the much-loved Butterfly Park.

Farsund, Norway
Farsund is located on the Lista Peninsula in southern Norway, which is filigreed with fjords and waterways such as the Lygdalsfjorden. It is a popular attraction for vacationers for its beaches and prolific birdlife, as well as hiking trails and historic events such as the pirate festival. The Vanse Church is one of Norway’s earliest, dating from 1037. The town was also an important part of the Atlantic Wall in WWII, with bunkers and fortifications such as the Nordberg Fortress, and nearby islands used as prisons for captured Axis soldiers. The Lista Lighthouse is a popular place to watch birds and get views over the beaches.

Skagen, Denmark
At the tip of the flat, sandy Jutland peninsula, Skagen is Denmark’s northernmost town and a popular holiday destination for Danes. It was long Denmark’s most important fishing port, but its popularity as a recreation area began at the end of the 19th Century when Queen Alexandrine, the wife of King Christian X, fell in love with the rustic character of the place and built the summer residence Klitgaarden. The royal couple invited other Scandinavian and European royalty to share holidays with them and Skagen’s reputation grew. At the same time, the Skagensbanen railway made travel to Jutland easier. Impressionist artists were attracted by the exotic sand- and seascapes and the vivid light reflected from the sea, and a school of Skagen Painters thrived in the first quarter of the 20th century. Arts and crafts still remain an important local tradition, and the town has many shops and galleries offering handmade goods to visitors. There is a venerable lighthouse near the peninsula’s tip, where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet, but due to their differing densities, their margins can clearly be seen. A St. Lawrence’s Church was built in Skagen in the 14th century, but it was eventually inundated by drifting sand dunes. The Skagen Church of today was built in 1841. Visitors today are attracted to period buildings such as the Skagen Museum, and former artists’ residences including the Anchers Hus and Drachmanns Hus. The Skagen area is also a magnet for birdwatchers, since 367 of Denmark’s 471 bird species can be seen there.

Tallinn, Estonia
The capital of Estonia, Tallinn was called Reval until the 20th century. The port's ideal maritime position has always been a temptation to other nations and won it a position in the Hanseatic League. This cross-cultural history gives Tallinn a special ambience that visitors appreciate. The main attraction is the Old Town. Perched on a low hill by the shore, its fortification walls, worn cobbled streets and 13th-century buildings make it one of the purest medieval towns in all of northern Europe. With about a half-million inhabitants, Tallinn comprises almost a third of Estonia's population. Outside of town there is rich dairy land and along the coast stretch expansive sand beaches.

St. Petersburg, Russia
Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, Russia's second largest city and principal Baltic port contains a tsar's ransom in architecture, palaces and art treasures. Once the capital of Imperial Russia and playground of Russia's elite, the city's name was changed following the 1917 revolution to Petrograd, then Leningrad, before resuming its original name in 1991. St. Petersburg is patterned after Western capitals with canals reminiscent of Venice, a grand boulevard that evokes Paris and a spirit that is uniquely Russian.

Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki, capital of Finland and "Daughter of the Baltic," was founded in 1550 and became the capital in 1812. The city is beautifully set on a peninsula surrounded by islands and is protected by fortifications at Suomenlinna. A modern, lively city of approximately a half million inhabitants, Helsinki's attractions include the harbor, market square and many spacious parks. The Empire Center is one of Europe's finest examples of neoclassical architecture.

Stockholm, Sweden
Sweden's capital has been called the most beautiful city in the world. This "city that floats on water" sprawls over 14 islands that are linked by over 50 bridges, which cross winding waterways in all directions. To the east is an archipelago of thousands of islands in different shapes, sizes and contours. Venice, for all its gondolas, does not approach the water traffic of Stockholm. The hundreds of small boats that line the inlets and canals testify to the passion of every family to own and sail a boat.