Scandinavian cruise port walking tours

Travel and Leisure

Siri: “Welcome to Visby, medieval gem of Gotland, a UNESCO-listed Hanseatic town…”

For our 12-night Princess cruise around the Baltic Sea, we’re going to stop at a number of interesting ports with rich cultures and history. Normally when we visit new European cities, the first thing we do, is look to see if Rick Steves has a free walking tour available on his Audio Europe app for smartphones. Unfortunately, for all the ports we’re going to visit, he hasn’t recorded any of them. But don’t despair, as he has written walking tours for most of the places, and through the magic of technology, I’ve used Siri to speak these tours for us, and that’s how I have created these audio files. Disclaimer: these recordings (except Visby and Klaipeda) are subject to copyright, and not to be distributed.

Rick doesn't have tours for Visby and Klaipėda, so I used ChatGPT to create them

There’s two ways to get these onto your iPhone (sorry Samsung users, I can’t offer any instructions for you) and depending on whether you sync with a Mac or not determines which way you’ll need to use.

Method 1: (easiest) use your Mac to transfer to your iPhone

Note: I’m sure there is a similar way to do this on iTunes for Windows users, but I have a Mac, so you’ll need to verify how to do that on your own. 

1. Download the zip file to your Mac or PC using this link.
2. Unzip the file by double-clicking it (sometimes Mac will auto unzip the files).
3. You will have two folders, one with the audiobook walk files and the other with walking maps.
4. Open the Books app on your Mac and import the audiobook files (I think for Windows users, you drag n' drop or import them into iTunes).
5. Sync your iPhone to your Mac, and select to transfer either all audiobooks or just the ones you’ve selected (same should go for iTunes Windows users).
6. Airdrop or transfer the map images to your or your travel partner’s iPhone.

You’re done. Tip: Use one set of bluetooth earbuds shared between travel partners. Enjoy your time walking around the old town areas with Rick’s notes.

Method 2: (more labourious) download each walk individually directly to your iPhone

Note: the links below should work for Samsung users using the Google Play Books app, but I have no way of validating what the procedure is like.

1. 
   Download the BookPlayer app from either the App Store or Google Play, depending on your device; it's free.
2. Assuming you are reading this on your phone's browser, scroll down below for the tour you want (probably best to do this over Wi-Fi); we're going to copy the URL for the audiobook. Select the desired audio tour, then tap and hold the link, and select “Copy Link”.
3. Then open the BookPlayer app, and tap "+ Add files". This opens the Import dialog box. Choose "Download from URL". Paste the URL you copied in step 2. Tap "Download".
4. 
   Tap the checkmark (✓) in the top right corner of the Import dialog.
5. Tap either Import into "Library" or to a "New Folder", where you'll be given an opportunity to create a folder for them, e.g. "Cruise Walks". 
6. You're ready to play the tour from BookPlayer, but wait, your partner needs the maps. So click the link to the image beside the walk file below, and save/transfer to your partner's device. 

Port	Audio tour	Walk map
Copenhagen:	City walk	Copenhagen
Visby:	Old Town walk (ChatGPT)	Visby
Stockholm:	Gamla Stan walk	Stockholm
Helsinki:	Welcome to Helsinki walk	Helsinki
Tallinnn:	Welcome to Tallinn walk	Tallinn
Riga:	Old Town & Art Nouveau	Riga
Klaipėda:	Old Town walk (ChatGPT)	Klaipėda
Gdańsk:	Gdańsk walk	Gdańsk
Oslo:	Oslo walk	Oslo
Skagen:	- sorry NA -	- NA -

If the second method is too hard to figure out, contact your grandson, nephew, or nearest IT-support family member, but not me. 

I’ve made these for our cruise group of 10 passengers, and made this how-to page so that I could share these with them. If you have ended up here by accident, or we've met on the cruise, please do not distribute these any further.

Oh, and I also scanned from my Rick Steves guidebooks that I/we thought might be useful, because I didn't want to drag around the physical book. I've put them in this zip file, which you can extract to your Books app, or save to your Files (iPhone). It includes the source material for the walks in some cases, and also the port guides from his Northern Europe Cruise Ship Ports book.