KOTKA, FINLAND

We explored Kotka Finland on our own. The dock is far from the town, but there is a free shuttle bus to town that comes every 40 mins. The shuttle drops you off near the marine museum and the water park. The entire circumference of Kotka is probably 6 km. Additional things to see is the Kotka Church, Lennin statue, naval museum, and car museum. If you have time go inside the Cafe in the library by the church and buy a marshmallow cookie, so good.

Kotka + Hamina Highlights- nice drive out to Hamina - we were met by lovely ladies giving out maps etc. However- tour guide did not elaborate on town and left us to roam on our own. More information would have been nice. Not exactly the most exciting stops. Church of Kotka was gorgoeus.

After St. Petersburg was dropped from the itinerary, Kotka was substituted as an overnight stay. A half day would have been sufficient for this location, although skipping it entirely in favor of Helsinki would have been better. Actual portion of one Kotka guide's presentation from our city tour: On the left is a building. It is new. It is under construction. I think it's related to the port.

Honest to Gos, 1/2 an hour and you have seen everything. And by the way, we didn’t go to Kolkata,the shuttle took us to Hamina.

Hamina was lovely. Free shuttle bus from ship. Went to the park in Kotka. It was nice.