Marina - Castles, Fjords & Canals

Where this cruise calls, day by day

14 ports and 1 sea day over 14 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Southampton

   United KingdomDepart
   Southampton port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Belfast

   United KingdomPort

   A shipbuilding city that has turned its own hardest history into its two main visits: the slipways where Titanic was built, and the political murals and peace walls of the Falls and Shankill roads. The Victorian centre around City Hall is handsome and walkable, but the berth is out in the docks, so you will be on a bus one way or another.

   • Titanic Belfast, on the slipway where the ship was laid down
   • A black taxi tour of the Falls Road and Shankill murals
   • The Giant's Causeway, about an hour up the Antrim coast
   • Crumlin Road Gaol and the Victorian Grand Opera House

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside at Stormont Wharf or Belfast Harbour, roughly 3 km from the centre with no safe walking route, so take the shuttle or a taxi (about 10 minutes).

   Best months

   May-Sep

4. Day 4

   Killybegs

   IrelandPort

   Ireland's biggest fishing port, a working harbour in County Donegal full of pelagic trawlers, on a sheltered inlet off Donegal Bay. The town is small and unpolished. It is on itineraries because it is the practical way into southwest Donegal - the Slieve League sea cliffs, roughly three times the height of the Cliffs of Moher, are half an hour away.

   • Slieve League cliffs and the Bunglas viewpoint, about 30 minutes by road
   • Glencolmcille folk village and its recreated thatched cottages
   • Donegal Town and the Ó Domhnaill castle
   • A boat trip along the cliff base from the harbour

   Getting ashore

   Most ships berth alongside at the deepwater quay a few minutes' walk from the town; the largest vessels anchor in the bay and tender, so check the daily programme.

   Best months

   May-Sep

5. Day 5

   Stornoway

   United KingdomPort

   The main town on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, and a Gaelic-speaking place where Sunday observance is still noticeable. Until recently ships had to tender; the new deepwater terminal at Arnish opened in 2024 and now takes the big ones. The island beyond is peat bog, machair and some of the oldest rock in Europe.

   • Calanais (Callanish) Standing Stones, older than Stonehenge
   • Dun Carloway broch and the Gearrannan blackhouse village
   • Lews Castle and the Museum nan Eilean, walkable from the harbour
   • Harris Tweed weaving demonstrations and the beaches of the west side

   Getting ashore

   Larger ships now berth at the Deep Water Terminal at Arnish, across the bay and shuttled about 10 minutes into town; smaller ships still come alongside at the inner harbour, a two-minute walk from the main street.

   Best months

   May-Sep

6. Day 6

   Lerwick, Shetland Islands

   United KingdomPort

   The capital of Shetland, closer to Bergen than to Edinburgh, with a flagstoned main street of grey stone houses whose gable ends drop straight into the harbour. The islands are treeless, windswept and full of archaeology - Norse, Pictish and Bronze Age layers sometimes stacked on the same site. Ponies and puffins do the rest of the work.

   • Jarlshof at Sumburgh, 4,000 years of settlement in one excavation
   • Sumburgh Head lighthouse and its puffin colony (until about mid-Aug)
   • Scalloway Castle and the Shetland Bus museum
   • Shetland Museum and Archives at Hay's Dock in Lerwick

   Getting ashore

   Larger ships dock at Holmsgarth, about a 20-minute walk or short shuttle from the centre; smaller ships use Victoria Pier right in town, and a few tender when berths are full.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug

7. Day 7

   Måløy

   NorwayPort

   Måløy, on the island of Vågsøy where Nordfjord opens to the Atlantic, is a compact fishing port rather than a scenic-fjord stop - working quays, a harbour promenade with street-art murals, and a bridge arcing across to the mainland. The scenery is coastal and windblown: sea stacks, surf beaches and the headlands of the Stad peninsula.

   • Vestkapp, the flat clifftop plateau on the Stad peninsula, about an hour by road
   • The Kannesteinen rock at Oppedal
   • Sør-Vågsøy church and the harbour murals in town
   • Selje and the ruins of the island monastery of St Sunniva

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth alongside at the Garpeskjær quay adjacent to the town centre, so no tender is needed; excursions inland or to Vestkapp go by coach.

   Best months

   May-Sep

8. Day 8

   Ålesund

   NorwayPort
   Ålesund port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
9. Day 9

   Skjolden

   NorwayPort

   The innermost cruise port in Norway - reaching it means sailing more than 200 km inland along the Sognefjord and then up the Lustrafjord, which is a slow, green, waterfall-lined approach. Skjolden itself is barely a hamlet at the fjord head, with a couple of hundred people and mountains closing in on three sides.

   • Urnes Stave Church, the oldest in Norway and a UNESCO site, reached by a small ferry across the fjord
   • Nigardsbreen, an accessible arm of the Jostedalsbreen glacier
   • Feigumfossen waterfall, a 218 m drop above the Lustrafjord
   • The Sognefjellet mountain road over to Jotunheimen

   Getting ashore

   One ship at a time berths at the quay or the floating Seawalk pier and walks ashore; additional ships anchor and tender in.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (Sognefjellet road usually opens late May)

10. Day 10

    Nordfjordeid

    NorwayPort

    A village at the head of Eidsfjorden in Nordfjord that only opened to cruise ships in 2019 and now takes a surprising number of them. It is known within Norway for the Nordfjord horse breed and for the Myklebust ship - a 30 m Viking vessel burned in a chieftain's grave here, reconstructed full size in a purpose-built hall by the water.

    • Sagastad and the reconstructed Myklebust Viking ship
    • The Nordfjord horse stud and riding centre
    • Hoddevik and Stad peninsula beaches, about an hour away
    • Walking or cycling the flat valley paths along the Eid river

    Getting ashore

    Ships tie up to a floating Seawalk pier that extends out to meet them, so you walk ashore rather than tender, and the village centre is 5-10 minutes on foot.

    Best months

    May-Sep

11. Day 11

    Eidfjord

    NorwayPort

    A village of a few hundred at the inner end of the Eidfjord arm of Hardangerfjord, with mountains rising straight from the quay. It exists on the cruise circuit because of what is up the valley behind it: the Måbødalen gorge and Vøringsfossen, a 182 m waterfall now crossed by a steel step-bridge over the ravine.

    • Vøringsfossen waterfall and the footbridge across the gorge
    • The Hardangervidda Nature Centre at Øvre Eidfjord
    • Måbødalen valley and the old zigzag road
    • Kjeåsen mountain farm, perched 530 m above the fjord

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at the village quay and you walk straight off; everything beyond the village needs a coach or taxi, with Vøringsfossen about 30 minutes away.

    Best months

    May-Sep

12. Day 12

    Mandal

    NorwayPort

    Norway's southernmost town, on the Mandalselva river near Lindesnes, and about as un-Arctic as Norway gets - a long sandy beach, warm summer water by Norwegian standards, and a quarter of white clapboard houses in the Malmø district. It is a small call, mostly on boutique and expedition itineraries rather than big-ship ones.

    • Sjøsanden, a long sandy beach 15 minutes' walk from the centre
    • The white timber lanes of Malmø and the town's wooden church
    • Vigeland House, the museum to sculptor Gustav Vigeland, who was born here
    • Lindesnes lighthouse at Norway's southern tip, about 40 minutes away

    Getting ashore

    Small ships berth alongside at the town quay within a few minutes' walk of the centre, but larger vessels anchor off in the fjord and tender, so check the daily programme.

    Best months

    Jun-Aug

13. Day 13

    Gothenburg

    SwedenPort

    Sweden's second city and main west-coast port, laid out by Dutch engineers in the 1620s, which is why canals run through the middle of it. It is a shipbuilding and Volvo town with a strong cafe habit - fika is taken seriously in the wooden Haga district. The archipelago on the doorstep is car-free and reachable on a public ferry.

    • Liseberg, the largest amusement park in Scandinavia
    • Haga's wooden houses and oversized cinnamon buns
    • The Southern Archipelago ferry to Styrsö or Vrångö
    • Feskekôrka fish market and the Universeum science centre

    Getting ashore

    Most ships berth at America Cruise Quay in Frihamnen, about 2 km from the centre with a tram or shuttle in; the largest ships use Arendal, roughly 20 minutes out by coach.

    Best months

    May-Sep

14. Day 14

    Copenhagen

    DenmarkPort

    Denmark's capital works as both a Baltic turnaround port and a day call, and which berth you get changes the day completely. The city is flat, cycle-mad and easy to cover on foot once you reach it: harbour swimming pools, the pastel warehouse fronts of Nyhavn, and a royal quarter at Amalienborg where the guard still changes at noon.

    • Nyhavn canal and a harbour boat tour from its head
    • Tivoli Gardens, opposite Central Station
    • Rosenborg Castle and the crown jewels
    • Christiansborg's tower, free and the best rooftop view in the city

    Getting ashore

    Most large ships dock at Oceankaj, about 6 km north of the centre and needing a shuttle or bus (roughly 20-25 minutes); smaller ships use Langelinie, a 10-minute walk from the Little Mermaid and 25 minutes from Nyhavn.

    Best months

    May-Sep

15. Day 15

    Copenhagen

    DenmarkArrive

    Denmark's capital works as both a Baltic turnaround port and a day call, and which berth you get changes the day completely. The city is flat, cycle-mad and easy to cover on foot once you reach it: harbour swimming pools, the pastel warehouse fronts of Nyhavn, and a royal quarter at Amalienborg where the guard still changes at noon.

    • Nyhavn canal and a harbour boat tour from its head
    • Tivoli Gardens, opposite Central Station
    • Rosenborg Castle and the crown jewels
    • Christiansborg's tower, free and the best rooftop view in the city

    Getting ashore

    Most large ships dock at Oceankaj, about 6 km north of the centre and needing a shuttle or bus (roughly 20-25 minutes); smaller ships use Langelinie, a 10-minute walk from the Little Mermaid and 25 minutes from Nyhavn.

    Best months

    May-Sep