Land ahoy!
Sometimes it isn’t just where you choose to go, but the perspective you adopt when you get there. Many of the world’s most beautiful cities and landscapes are best accessed from the water that surrounds them. So here are eight destinations best appreciate
Fjord foray
For spectacular coastal scenery that’s fairly close to home, consider cruising the magnificent fjord coastline of Norway. In Summer you’ll experience the ‘land of the midnight sun’, while Winter offers the northern lights, those wispy, cloud-like phantoms that wave to a magical, otherworldly choreography. The new TUI Discovery will sail there from Newcastle from May. Go with Thomson (thomson.co.uk/cruise)
Caribbean castaway
Hopscotching is the best way to see how islands vary, and also to help you decide which ones you’d like to return to. This Winter, the new Viking Sea will do an 11-day round-trip cruise from Puerto Rico to Tortola, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, Guadeloupe, St Kitts, St Martin and St Thomas. Go with Viking (vikingcruises.co.uk)
Tropical islands
Scoop up a rich mix of Indian Ocean islands – specifically Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius, Maldives and Sri Lanka – as well as South Africa and lots of stops in Asia, including the Similan Islands and Langkawi. This 36-day cruise aboard Seabourn’s new ship, Encore, starts in Cape Town on February 11 and finishes in Singapore. Go with Seabourn (seabourn.com)
European treasures
For the ultimate tour of Europe’s rich culture, join a river cruise for a 24-day journey from Amsterdam to Bucharest. This sentimental journey encompasses no less than nine countries, six capitals and three rivers, among them the majestic Danube. Highlights include UNESCO World Heritage Sites, monasteries,
[continued from previous page] palaces, battlegrounds, villages and vineyards.
Go with Uniworld (uniworld.com)
Fall colours
Fall in New England is one of the greatest free shows on earth. More than three-quarters of the region is blanketed by woodland and most of the trees are deciduous, transforming the landscapes into a riot of blazing colours.
Go with Celebrity Cruises (celebritycruises.co.uk), which has 14-night Canada and New England Fall sailings in September and October
Sydney Harbour
The world’s most spectacular port of arrival! Your ship will sail from the turbulent waters of the Tasman Sea in between the twin promontories of The Heads, past an armada of ferries and yachtsmen plying the sheltered Harbour waters, and into the arms of the city skyline, docking in between the iconic Opera House and the span of the Harbour Bridge.
Go with P&O Cruises (pocruises.com). The Arcadia, for example, has a 22-night cruise leaving San Francisco on 1 February and calling at Hilo, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Nuka Alofa, Auckland and New Zealand’s Bay of Islands before arriving in Sydney.
Mighty Mekong
A cruise along the Mekong River, a vital artery through the heart of Indochina, is both culturally enriching and scenically rewarding – especially when appreciated from the deck of the luxurious, 68-passenger Mekong Navigator. A classic 14-day itinerary includes the urban delights of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Cambodia’s Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, with scores of interesting sites in between, including war museums and the infamous killing fields, the floating market of Cai Be and the temple complex of Angkor Wat.
Go with Emerald Waterways (emeraldwaterways.co.uk)
Diverse Baltic
Cruising the Baltic may not have quite the same resonance as a jaunt round the Med, but the diversity of its historic ports of call is outstanding. Casting off from Dover on board Saga Sapphire, for example, you’ll visit both Skagen, on the northern tip of Jutland, and Kalundborg in Denmark – the gateway to Copenhagen, plus the northern capitals of Stockholm and Helsinki, and the architecturally elegant, artistically-rich Russian city of St Petersburg. Travel onwards to Kotka, the island city in the Gulf of Finland, Estonia’s medieval capital Tallinn, Gdynia in Poland (with easy access to Gdansk) and finally sail through the Kiel Canal before returning to Dover.
Go with Saga (travel.saga.co.uk)