Viking Neptune - British Isles Explorer

Where this cruise calls, day by day

12 ports and 3 sea days over 14 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Bergen

   NorwayDepart

   The usual start or finish of a Norwegian fjord itinerary, wedged between seven mountains and a deep harbour. Rain is the default - locals hand out umbrellas without comment. The draw is Bryggen, the row of leaning wooden Hanseatic trading houses on the north side of the Vågen inlet, and the funicular that climbs straight out of the old town to a mountain plateau.

   • Bryggen wharf and the alleys behind its facades
   • Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen, 8 minutes from the centre
   • The fish market at the head of Vågen
   • Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's lakeside villa and composing hut

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Skolten, a 10-minute walk from Bryggen, or at Dokken/Jekteviken further south, which is 25-30 minutes on foot and usually shuttled.

   Best months

   May-Sep

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   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

4. Day 4

   Aberdeen

   United KingdomPort

   The granite city, built almost entirely from local silver-grey stone that glitters in rain, and for fifty years the operational base of the North Sea oil industry. Cruise ships moved in 2022 to the new South Harbour at Nigg Bay, which is well away from the centre. Most passengers head down the coast to a castle or inland to Deeside.

   • Dunnottar Castle on its sea stack near Stonehaven, about 30 minutes south
   • Royal Deeside and Balmoral Castle, roughly an hour inland
   • Old Aberdeen, King's College and St Machar's Cathedral
   • Aberdeen Maritime Museum on Shiprow

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside at South Harbour, about 4-5 km from the centre; use the cruise shuttle or the seasonal CS1 bus, roughly 10-15 minutes to Union Street.

   Best months

   May-Sep

5. Day 5

   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

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   Kirkwall, Orkney

   United KingdomPort

   Orkney's capital, built around a red and yellow sandstone cathedral founded in 1137 when the islands were Norwegian. The archipelago is flat, green and extraordinarily dense in prehistory - the Neolithic sites here predate the pyramids and sit within a few miles of each other on the Mainland.

   • Skara Brae, a Neolithic village uncovered by a storm in 1850
   • The Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness
   • St Magnus Cathedral in the middle of Kirkwall
   • The Italian Chapel, built from Nissen huts by prisoners of war, and Scapa Flow

   Getting ashore

   Larger ships dock at Hatston Pier, about 2 km from town with a shuttle; smaller ships come alongside at Kirkwall Pier in the centre, and a few tender.

   Best months

   May-Sep

8. Day 8

   Ullapool

   United KingdomPort

   A planned fishing village of 1,500 laid out by the British Fisheries Society in 1788 on the shore of Loch Broom, in Wester Ross. Whitewashed terraces face the water, and the mountains behind are the isolated sandstone peaks of Assynt and Coigach. It is the ferry port for Stornoway and a rare cruise entry point into the far northwest Highlands.

   • Corrieshalloch Gorge and the suspension bridge over the Falls of Measach
   • Inverewe Garden's subtropical planting on the Gulf Stream coast
   • Stac Pollaidh and the Assynt peaks, and Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt
   • The Ceilidh Place and the village museum in Ullapool itself

   Getting ashore

   This is a tender port - ships anchor in Loch Broom and tender to the pier in the village centre.

   Best months

   May-Sep

9. Day 9

   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

10. Day 10

    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

11. Day 11

    Holyhead

    United KingdomPort

    A ferry port on Holy Island off Anglesey, with the longest breakwater in the UK and not a great deal in the town itself. It works as the sea door to north Wales: Snowdonia's peaks and Edward I's ring of castles are within an hour, and most passengers are on a coach within minutes of clearing the gangway.

    • Caernarfon or Conwy Castle, both about an hour away
    • Snowdonia (Eryri) and the Llanberis mountain railway
    • South Stack lighthouse and its seabird cliffs, 15 minutes from town
    • The Llanfairpwllgwyngyll station nameplate on the way to the mainland

    Getting ashore

    Ships up to about 300 m berth at the deep-water berth with the town a short walk away; larger vessels anchor off and tender in through the marina.

    Best months

    May-Sep

12. Day 12

    Dublin

    IrelandPort

    A Georgian capital on the Liffey, with the two big draws - the Book of Kells and the Guinness Storehouse - at opposite ends of the centre, so pick one if the day is short. The port is a working container terminal downriver and the walk in is along an unpleasant dual carriageway, so plan on wheels either way.

    • The Book of Kells and the Long Room at Trinity College
    • Guinness Storehouse and its Gravity Bar
    • Kilmainham Gaol, where the 1916 leaders were executed (book ahead)
    • Christ Church and Dublin Castle, or a walk in St Stephen's Green

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at Alexandra Quay or Ocean Pier, 3-5 km from the centre; take the shuttle or a taxi (10-15 minutes) rather than walking out through the port.

    Best months

    May-Sep

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14

    Dover (London)

    United KingdomPort

    Sold as London, but Dover is a Channel ferry port on the Kent coast with the White Cliffs above it and the capital a good two hours away. It works as a turnaround for northern Europe sailings. If you are here on a port day, the local options - the castle on the hill, Canterbury inland - are better value than a dash to London and back.

    • Dover Castle and its Second World War tunnels under the cliffs
    • The White Cliffs clifftop walk to South Foreland Lighthouse
    • Canterbury Cathedral, about 25 minutes by road
    • Leeds Castle, roughly 45 minutes inland

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock alongside at the Western Docks cruise terminals; central Dover is a 15-20 minute walk or short shuttle, and London is about 2 hours by coach or an hour by train from Dover Priory to St Pancras.

    Best months

    May-Sep

15. Day 15

    London (Greenwich)

    United KingdomArrive

    Small ships come up the Thames past the Barrier and moor mid-river off Greenwich, which puts you at the maritime heart of London rather than in the centre. Ashore, the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen's House and the observatory sit in one baroque set-piece along the river, with the meridian line drawn across the courtyard on the hill.

    • Royal Observatory Greenwich and standing on the Prime Meridian
    • The clipper Cutty Sark in dry dock, walkable underneath
    • National Maritime Museum and Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College
    • Greenwich Market and the view from the top of Greenwich Park

    Getting ashore

    Ships moor to buoys at Greenwich Ship Tier and tender to Greenwich Pier; central London is 20-30 minutes from there by DLR or Thames Clipper riverboat.

    Best months

    May-Sep