With visits to St Petersburg, Berlin and medieval Tallin n among highlights, a cruise in the Baltic is rich in  history and culture. But don’t get the idea this is just  a holiday for boffins.

Cruises here spend time in Denmark , home to Tivoli Gardens fun park. In Stockholm, you  can go on a high-speed  boat ride down the archipelago; in Helsinki borrow  a bike and cycle around  the  town. The wealth of things to do and see is due to the Baltic being enclosed on three sides and surrounded by Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. Cruises here are anything from seven nights to two weeks, the longer ones visiting more countries. Almost all spend two  or three days in St Petersburg because  there  is so much to see in the  city.

Baltic cruises mostly depart from Copenhagen or Stockholm, but a few leave from Amsterdam all places with plenty of flights from the UK – and you can also cruise there from a British port. Off that appeals, you will need two  weeks. Big ships have to go into the Baltic through the Kattegat off Denmark, smaller vessels can use the Kiel Canal , a waterway built  between  1887 and  1895.

COPENHAGEN

Copenhagen,  on  the  cast  coast  of Denmark, is the busiest port in the Baltic. Ships dock at Free Port, from where there  are trains and buses into the centre, or the Langclinic Pier, which is a good 15-minutc walk  from  the centre of  town.  It’s a pleasant  stroll (there is a bus if  you prefer not to walk) that will  take you  past  the Little Mermaid statue, which really is very small.

Highlights more worthy of your time include  a canal boat  ride,  Tivoli  Gardens fun fair (best visited after dark), a Carlsberg Brewery  tour  and  Stroget, the main shopping street. Head to Nyhavn’s bars and restaurants at lunchtime.

GDYNIA

This is the  port  for  Gdansk,  a  delightful city rebuilt to its former 17th-century glory after being destroyed during the Second World War. The port is about  14 miles from the city and you can take an excursion or taxi into Gdansk, but it’s more fun and cheaper  – to  take a taxi  to  the station and get the train. The journey takes abou t 45 minutes. Gdansk  is a city for strolling. It has a laid-back vibe, living statues and stalls full of locally-made crafts. Excursion  boats go from the old city quay to Westerplatte, where the Second World vVar began on September  l   1939.

HELSINKI

The capital of Finland, Helsinki is a quirky city, very grand in places, where you can cycle, walk or take a variety of excursions. Ships dock at West  Terminal, from where it’s a 10-minute shuttle bus ride into the city (if  your  ship charges for this, look out for the bus that stops at the dock as it is much cheaper)  or  South  Terminal,  from where it’s a 10-minute walk to the city. Helsinki highlights include the Temppeliaukio Church, hewn out of the  bedrock  in the centre of the city, the Uspensky Cathedral, built in 1868 when Finland was part of the Russian Empire, and the harbour market, where you’ll find quality  handicrafts  and boat  trips  through  the archipelago.

OSLO

Oslo, the capital of Norway, lies at the end of a fjord and is as far north as Anchorage in Alaska. Ships tic up in the harbour,  from where it is a 10-minute walk into town. Top attractions are the Kon-Tiki Museum, housing the balsa wood raft on which Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru to Polynesia, and the Fram Museum, built around the polar exploration ship used by Roald Amundsen. The museums are next to each other and easily reached by boat from the harbour. Other highlights are the Gustav Vigeland sculptures in Frogner and Holmenkollen  ski jump.  A simulator lets you feel what it’s like to launch yourself off the top.

STOCKHOLM

The capital of Sweden, Stockholm is built on 14 islands connected by 57 bridges and is one of the most beautiful cities in the Baltic. Most ships sail to the city through an archipelago of 24,000 islands, docking in one of seven berths, but some anchor at Nynashamn in the Baltic Sea, in which case it’s a one-hour train journey into the city.

Key attractions include the Vasa Museum, built around a 17th-century warship that sank in Stockholm harbour on its maiden voyage, and an under-the-bridges boat ride. For something more thrilling, take a 45mph RIB (rigid inflatable boat) through the archipelago (waterproofs are provided ) , or join a tour across the rooftops of the city. You can also get your chills in the ice bar at the Nordic Hotel. Warm capes and gloves are provided.

ST PETERSBURG

St Petersburg was built on marshland by Peter the Great in 1703 and is the jewel in the Baltic’s crown. Small ships dock close to the city centre, but most have to use the Marine Facade cruise port , which is a little way out of the city.

Most ships stay two nights, sometimes three, as there is so much to see, including the  Hermitage,  which  houses  the  largest art collection in the world, and Peterhof, Peter’s summer palace, which is a hydrofoil ride  across the  Gulf  of  Finland from the city. Other highlights include the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, about 40 minutes from St Petersburg, the  Church  of  the Spilled  Blood,  built  where  Tsar  Alexander II was assassinated in  1881, and the Peter  and  Paul  Fortress,  where  Nicholas  II, the last tsar, and his family are buried. At the Yusupov Palace, you’ll learn how Rasputin was murdered. As they stay overnight, most cruise lines ofter an evening at the opera or ballet. If  you  take your ship’s tours you  can go ashore without a visa; to explore alone, you must get a Russian visa before leaving the  UK.

TALLINN

Visitors  go to Tallinn,  the  capital  of Estonia, to see the medieval walled city. It’s less than  15 minutes’  walk from the port,  but there are shuttle buses for those who  need a ride. It’s small and laced with  the alleys and cobbled

streets with highlights including the Town Hall Square, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Toomkirk, the oldest church in Estonia. Head to Müürivahe Street, along the town  wall, for colourful knitwear.

WARNEMUNDE

This is both a lively seaside resort and the gateway for cruise passengers  wanting  to visit Berlin. The transfer takes about three hours each way by train or coach  so staying in Warnemiinde or visiting nearby Rostock might  appeal  more.  Most  ships moor right in Warnemiinde so you can walk into town;  trains  to Rostock go from the  nearby station, or cruise there along the Warnow River. In Berlin, see the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust memorial, the Berlin Wall panorama and Kurfurstendamm. Warnemiinde has beaches and bars. In Rostock, don’t miss the 13th-century Marienkirche and its astrological clock, built in 1472 and still working today.