Queen Anne - British Isles from Southampton

Where this cruise calls, day by day

11 ports and 2 sea days over 12 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Southampton

   United KingdomDepart

   Britain's main cruise homeport, on Southampton Water at the head of the Solent. Almost nobody calls here as a port day - you join or leave your ship at one of five terminals (Mayflower, Ocean, QEII, City and Horizon), which are spread across the working docks and reached by taxi or coach rather than on foot. The city itself was heavily bombed in 1940, so the old core is patchy: surviving medieval walls, the Bargate, and a good maritime museum.

   • SeaCity Museum and its Titanic exhibition - the ship sailed from Berth 44 here
   • Walking the medieval town walls and the Bargate
   • Day trip to Winchester Cathedral, about 20 minutes by train
   • The New Forest for wild ponies, roughly 30 minutes by road

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth alongside; terminals are 2-4 km from the city centre and from Southampton Central station, so use a taxi or the cruise line coach, and allow about 80 minutes by train to London Waterloo.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct (peak turnaround Jun-Aug)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Edinburgh (South Queensferry)

   United KingdomPort

   Not Edinburgh - South Queensferry is a small burgh on the Firth of Forth beneath the three Forth bridges, and it is where ships anchor when Edinburgh is on the itinerary. The tender lands you by the Hawes Inn on a single cobbled high street. The city is a coach ride inland, and a short port day makes for a rushed Royal Mile.

   • Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile down to Holyrood
   • The Royal Yacht Britannia, berthed at Leith
   • Walking under the cantilevers of the 1890 Forth Bridge
   • Rosslyn Chapel, about 30 minutes south of the city

   Getting ashore

   This is a tender port - ships anchor in the Forth and tender to Hawes Pier, from where Edinburgh city centre is about 30-40 minutes by coach; weather in the Forth occasionally cancels the tenders.

   Best months

   May-Sep

4. Day 4

   Invergordon

   United KingdomPort

   A small Highland town on the Cromarty Firth, a deepwater anchorage used by the Grand Fleet in both wars and now ringed by oil rigs in for repair. The town itself takes twenty minutes to see - there is a series of murals along the main street - and effectively everyone travels out, most of them toward Loch Ness or a distillery.

   • Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle, about an hour by road
   • Inverness and Culloden Moor battlefield
   • Dunrobin Castle at Golspie, with its falconry displays
   • Glenmorangie distillery at Tain, 20 minutes north

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside at the town quay and you can walk straight into Invergordon; Inverness is 25 miles away, about 40 minutes by coach.

   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

   Isle of Skye

   United KingdomPort

   The largest of the Inner Hebrides, and geologically a strange one - the Cuillin ridge is bare gabbro, while the Trotternish peninsula is a slumped basalt landslip that produced the rock pinnacles Skye is famous for. Ships anchor off Portree, a small harbour town of painted houses that is the island's only real centre.

   • The Old Man of Storr pinnacle, a steep 1-2 hour walk up
   • The Quiraing landslip road and viewpoints
   • Dunvegan Castle, seat of Clan MacLeod for 800 years
   • Talisker distillery at Carbost

   Getting ashore

   This is a tender port - ships anchor in Portree Bay and tender to the pier in the middle of town; the well-known sites are 20-45 minutes away on single-track roads, so book transport in advance.

   Best months

   May-Sep

7. Day 7

   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

8. Day 8

   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

9. Day 9

   Liverpool

   United KingdomPort

   One of the few ports where you step off the ship into the middle of the city - the terminal is at Pier Head, in front of the Royal Liver Building and its two mythical birds. Liverpool made its money on Atlantic shipping and lost it again, and both halves are on display along the restored Albert Dock. The Beatles industry is unavoidable and mostly good fun.

   • The Beatles Story at Albert Dock and the Cavern Club on Mathew Street
   • Royal Albert Dock, the Tate Liverpool and the Maritime Museum
   • The Three Graces at Pier Head
   • A tour of Anfield or Goodison, or the ferry across the Mersey

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside at Liverpool Cruise Terminal on Princes Parade; the city centre and Albert Dock are both a 5-15 minute walk.

   Best months

   May-Sep

10. Day 10

    Cobh

    IrelandPort

    A steep terrace town on Cork Harbour, and the last port Titanic called at before crossing. It was Queenstown then, and 2.5 million emigrants left Ireland from these quays. The cathedral spire dominates everything, and the pastel row known as the Deck of Cards climbs the hill behind the waterfront. Ships tie up in the middle of it all.

    • Titanic Experience Cobh, in the original White Star Line ticket office
    • St Colman's Cathedral and its 49-bell carillon
    • Cobh Heritage Centre on emigration and the Lusitania
    • Blarney Castle or Cork city, both about 30-40 minutes away

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at the deepwater quay in the town centre - the train station to Cork (about 25 minutes) is directly beside the berth.

    Best months

    May-Sep

11. Day 11

    Cobh

    IrelandPort

    A steep terrace town on Cork Harbour, and the last port Titanic called at before crossing. It was Queenstown then, and 2.5 million emigrants left Ireland from these quays. The cathedral spire dominates everything, and the pastel row known as the Deck of Cards climbs the hill behind the waterfront. Ships tie up in the middle of it all.

    • Titanic Experience Cobh, in the original White Star Line ticket office
    • St Colman's Cathedral and its 49-bell carillon
    • Cobh Heritage Centre on emigration and the Lusitania
    • Blarney Castle or Cork city, both about 30-40 minutes away

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at the deepwater quay in the town centre - the train station to Cork (about 25 minutes) is directly beside the berth.

    Best months

    May-Sep

12. Day 12 · At sea

13. Day 13

    Southampton

    United KingdomArrive

    Britain's main cruise homeport, on Southampton Water at the head of the Solent. Almost nobody calls here as a port day - you join or leave your ship at one of five terminals (Mayflower, Ocean, QEII, City and Horizon), which are spread across the working docks and reached by taxi or coach rather than on foot. The city itself was heavily bombed in 1940, so the old core is patchy: surviving medieval walls, the Bargate, and a good maritime museum.

    • SeaCity Museum and its Titanic exhibition - the ship sailed from Berth 44 here
    • Walking the medieval town walls and the Bargate
    • Day trip to Winchester Cathedral, about 20 minutes by train
    • The New Forest for wild ponies, roughly 30 minutes by road

    Getting ashore

    Ships berth alongside; terminals are 2-4 km from the city centre and from Southampton Central station, so use a taxi or the cruise line coach, and allow about 80 minutes by train to London Waterloo.

    Best months

    Apr-Oct (peak turnaround Jun-Aug)