Cruise Itinerary

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is a city open to the sea and carefully planned with 18th-century elegance. Its founder is said to be the legendary Ulysses, but the theory of an original Phoenician settlement is probably more realistic. Known in Portugal as Lisboa, the city was inhabited by the Romans, Visigoths and, beginning in the 8th century, the Moors. Much of the 16th century was a period of great prosperity and overseas expansion for Portugal. The city boasts a good many monuments and museums, such as the Jeronimos Monastery, Tower of Belém, the Royal Coach Museum and the Gulbenkian Museum. High above the Baixa is the Bairro Alto (upper city) with its teeming nightlife. The easiest way to connect between the two areas is via the public elevator designed by Gustave Eiffel. Cruising up the Tagus River to the ship's berth, you can already spot three of Lisbon's famous landmarks: the Monument to the Discoveries, the Tower of Belém and the Statue of Christ, which welcomes visitors from its hilltop location high above Europe's longest suspension bridge.

Lively, commercial Oporto is the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon. Also called Porto for short, the word easily brings to mind the city's most famous product - port wine. Oporto’s strategic location on the north bank of the Douro River has accounted for the town’s importance since ancient times. The Romans built a fort here where their trading route crossed the Douro, and the Moors brought their own culture to the area. Oporto profited from provisioning crusaders en route to the Holy Land and enjoyed the riches from Portuguese maritime discoveries during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Straddling the banks of an estuary opening into the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao is the largest city in Spain’s northeastern Basque Country. Its earliest beginnings are preserved in the Casco Viejo, seven medieval streets that used to be guarded by walls. There visitors will find the city’s old churches, a large market, a public theater and the Academy of the Basque Language. Nearby sources of iron ore made Bilbao an important industrial and shipping center from the 14th century onward. The Spanish Civil War also started here. Today the city is being transformed by a growing service economy, and its prominence on the global traveler’s radar may be dated from the 1997 inauguration of the striking Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. In fact, the estuary town has become a veritable magnet for architects, boasting notable masterworks including Santiago Calatrava’s beautiful Zubizuri (“White Bridge” in Basque) and airport complex, the 541-foot Iberdrola Tower by the Argentine Cesar Pelli, a subway system by Norman Foster, the 1909 wine warehouse called Alhóndiga, converted a century later by designer Philippe Starck and the Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall by Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios. The Zorrozuarre area is also being redeveloped, following a 2007 master plan by the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. For views of all of this, take the funicular from the city center to the top of Mt. Artxanda, where a sports complex, restaurants and a balcony await you.

Ship sails flutter in the breeze, at the natural port of Saint-Malo - a historic and resilient walled city, which watches out over golden sands and island fortresses. Strung tenuously to the mainland, Saint Malo was the historic home of a rowdy mix of skilled sailors and new world explorers - as well as the plunderers who earned the place its 'Pirate City' title. Some of history's great voyages have launched from here - including Jacques Cartier's, which led to the settlement of New France and modern-day Quebec. View less Founded by a Welsh monk, who made his way here in the 6th century, Saint Malo's castle is forged from sheer granite, and its steep defensive ramparts arise defiantly. The atmospheric walled town turns its back to the mainland and gazes out longingly into the sea. Explore streets that breathe with maritime tales and medieval charm - restored from the intense damage sustained during the Second World War. Cathédrale de St Malo rises above the tight paths, offering views of the peppered islands and fortifications. Boatloads of fresh oysters and scallops are heaved ashore - savour them or grab savoury crepes galettes, stuffed with cheese and ham. Wash Saint Malo's foods down with a Brittany cider, which challenges wine as the indulgence of choice in these parts. A highly tidal region, the pocket-sized islands of Petit Bé and Grand Bé join the mainland, and you can explore at leisure as the tide recedes. The incredible island of Mont Saint Michel also looms in the estuary of the Couesnon River nearby, hovering like a cinematic mirage above high tide’s waters. Elsewhere, Cap Fréhel's lush green peninsula juts out from the emerald coast towards Jersey, tempting with rich coastal hiking trails.

The seaport and naval station of Cherbourg is situated along the English Channel northwest of Paris at the mouth of the Divette River. Believed to rest on the site of an ancient Roman station, Cherbourg has been occupied since ancient times and was frequently contested by the French and English in the Middle Ages because of its strategic location. Most recently passed to France in the late 18th century, the town was extensively fortified by Louis XVI. During WWII the Germans held Cherbourg until it was captured by the American forces shortly after the Normandy landings. Following a vast rehabilitation program that returned it to working condition, Cherbourg became an important Allied supply port. Today, Cherbourg is important for transatlantic shipping, shipbuilding, electronics and telephone equipment manufacturing, yachting and commercial fishing.

Rouen, capital of the northern French region of Normandy, is a port city on the river Seine. Important in the Roman era and Middle Ages, it has Gothic churches, such as Saint-Maclou and Saint-Ouen, and a cobblestoned pedestrian center with medieval half-timbered houses. The skyline is dominated by the spires of Cathédrale Notre-Dame, much-painted by Impressionist Claude Monet.

Rouen, capital of the northern French region of Normandy, is a port city on the river Seine. Important in the Roman era and Middle Ages, it has Gothic churches, such as Saint-Maclou and Saint-Ouen, and a cobblestoned pedestrian center with medieval half-timbered houses. The skyline is dominated by the spires of Cathédrale Notre-Dame, much-painted by Impressionist Claude Monet.

Rouen, capital of the northern French region of Normandy, is a port city on the river Seine. Important in the Roman era and Middle Ages, it has Gothic churches, such as Saint-Maclou and Saint-Ouen, and a cobblestoned pedestrian center with medieval half-timbered houses. The skyline is dominated by the spires of Cathédrale Notre-Dame, much-painted by Impressionist Claude Monet.

Amsterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled facades, legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. Its Museum District houses the Van Gogh Museum, works by Rembrandt and Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum, and modern art at the Stedelijk.