Cruise Summary

Cruise Summary

Imagine yourself reclining under a deep azure sky, as the polished teak deck moves almost imperceptibly with the rhythm of the Mediterranean and a refreshing evening breeze ruffles the air. In the small, picturesque ports on the Dalmatian coast, surrounded by low cliffs, where the cruise liners boasting ever-larger passenger numbers are conspicuous by their absence, you are cruising the Mediterranean aboard your very own yacht-cruiser. Normally the preserve of the wealthy, you can now experience a magnificent vessel carrying fewer than 40 guests.Smaller numbers mean a more personal service on board, whilst the dimensions of our vessels allow easy access to stunningly attractive out-of-the-way ports like Split, Makarska and Hvar, which offer a much more intimate onshore experience. Our ships often sail between the islands and the shore, affording spectacular views that will stay with you for a lifetime.With so few fellow travellers, an exclusive atmosphere soon prevails as you gather in the convivial surroundings of the bar or up on the sun deck for a nightcap. The friendly, attentive yet unobtrusive staff attend to your every need as if you owned the vessel – that’s how relaxed it is on this unique type of cruise.Enjoy spectacular coastal views whilst reclining on a sun lounger or hammock on the ample sun deck. Below you will find the Salon Deck with the elegant restaurant and bar, beautifully furnished and fully air-conditioned for your comfort. Each day begins with an excellent breakfast on board with a selection of hot and cold options. Depending on which itinerary you choose, on certain days lunch or dinner is prepared on board, specialising in mouth-watering local menus, hot meat or fish dishes through to freshly prepared salads, all delivered with a beaming smile. No cruise is complete without the Captain’s Dinner, of course, and you will enjoy a delicious selection of the best of Croatian and Mediterranean cuisine. There’s no seating plan; you choose your own table and dining companions. On certain days you will be free to enjoy lunch or dinner at leisure, giving you the opportunity to sample some of the delightful local restaurants ashore.Every evening, the ships remain moored so you can take an after-dinner stroll off the vessel, exploring these typically unspoilt ports. After just a few days of this extraordinary experience, you will be on first-name terms with the ship’s company and most of your fellow guests. There is little formality – shorts and t-shirts are the order of the day. This is exactly how holidays should be.

Cruise Summary

From romantic Paris, we slip our moorings and commence our wonderfully scenic cruise along the beautiful and majestic Seine into the heart of one of France's most historic and picturesque regions, Normandy. With time to enjoy the historic little town of Les Andelys en route, we continue our journey along the Seine’s sweeping meanders, before exploring the delights of Rouen, one of Europe’s finest medieval cities with its stunning cathedral and tangle of atmospheric winding streets.Passing the legendary Jumiege Abbey, we moor in the pretty village of Caudebec with time after dinner for an evening stroll in this most typical of French villages. Then to Bayeux, spared significant war damage, it retains its wealth of splendid buildings as well as the legendary and stunning tapestry for which it is so famed. We also see some of the many thought-provoking monuments and places along the Normandy coast and reflect on the remarkable story of the D-Day landings on our visit to Gold Beach and the remnants of Mulberry Harbour. Our cruise would not be complete without a visit to charming Honfleur - its near perfect waterfront of tall pastel-coloured  18th century houses, traditional shops and maze of streets providing the inspiration for the Impressionist painter Claude Monet to paint here many times.Countless sleepy villages silently drift by as we arrive in delightful Vernon, from where we take the short drive to Giverny visiting Claude Monet’s home and one of the world’s most famous and most painted gardens. Enjoy the quintessentially half-timbered streets of Vernon before we continue on to our final destination, one of the world’s most iconic and romantic cities, Paris. From the Arc de Triomphe to the Sacre-Coeur to the Eiffel Tour, the Louvre to the Pompidou Centre, the smart shopping of the Galeries Lafayette to bohemian Montmatre, the list is endless and the variety arguably unmatchable; this breathtaking city never fails to inspire no matter how many times you get the chance to visit.

Cruise Summary

Soak up all that Europe’s most cultured river has to offer, with its wealth of grand baroque architecture, medieval cities, picture perfect towns and the sights that inspired Strauss and Mozart. Stepping aboard you will appreciate the superb surroundings of your floating luxury hotel for the next seven nights with spacious and well-appointed cabins or suites, private bathrooms and meticulously prepared fine cuisine.From Budapest, we slip our moorings and head on our journey north to Esztergom spending the morning exploring its historic centre, which once was Hungary’s capital, before continuing westwards to the beautiful old town of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Navigating through Lower Austria we then reach the romantic town of Dürnstein, where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned, having been shipwrecked on his return from the crusades. After we visit the remarkable monastery in Melk, with its 200m long Emperor’s Gallery, lined with portraits of Austrian emperors.Soon we arrive in Linz where you have the opportunity to discover its baroque old town on a guided tour. Alternatively, take the short drive to Salzburg and enjoy a guided tour of the old town, seeing the imposing Hohensalzburg fortress, towering over the city and the birthplace and residence of Mozart, Salzburg’s most famous citizen. On our way back eastwards we will reach classical Vienna, home of Strauss and many great composers. This city offers up so much wonderful architecture as well as a host of other things to see including the Spanish riding school.Finally, cruising into Hungary, we arrive back in imperial Budapest, straddling the picturesque Danube. After a guided tour of this palatial city we spend the evening on board, where the Captain hosts another spectacular dinner, an excellent finale to this most exceptional and relaxing cruise.

Cruise Summary

Explore Medieval Germany in its purest form, cruise the  gentle meanders of the Main and mighty Danube discovering the aptly named Romantic Road, the twisting streets of medieval Bamberg, enchanting Rothenburg and fascinating Nuremberg. Following embarkation in Mainz we enjoy a leisurely start with time to explore this pretty town, with its stunning Romanesque cathedral and timber-clad buildings, at the very scenic heart of the country’s famous winelands. Our cruise along the Main, with its characteristic meandering bends, takes us firstly to idyllic Miltenberg, a fantastically well-preserved medieval village set against a spectacular backdrop of lush green forests and rolling hillsides.Then it’s on to delightful Wertheim, off the well-trodden tourist trail, its ancient castle standing proud over the neat, pretty houses and colourful market square below. Further delights are uncovered as we arrive in Wurzburg, the most elegant of Bavarian cities, crowned by the stunning Baroque palace, a relic of a bygone age. Take the Romantic Road to Rothenburg on our optional tour for spectacular views of the river below as it winds its way through this fairy-tale land. The beauty of Bamberg never fails to enchant as our cruise arrives in undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and historic towns in Europe.Sitting atop lush green hills, the spires of the stunning cathedral stretch to the sky above, whilst below the winding streets and quaint squares are a delight to explore. More picture perfect views  as we awake in historic Nuremberg, synonymous with the Second World War, but today an intriguing and stunning city once again with its ornate Gothic church and bustling market, a fitting finale to our magical cruise along one of Europe’s most spectacular waterways.

Cruise Summary

On our journey through the Rhine valley, we visit historic Koblenz where we have time to explore the old town at the confluence of both the Rhine and Moselle rivers. Next, we continue our navigation through the dramatic Rhine Gorge where the sheer valley walls tower over 400m above our heads and onto Rudesheim, where we enjoy another evening complemented with an excellent dinner on board.As the Rhine widens and the landscape becomes less rugged, our cruise continues south, stopping in fascinating Rudesheim onto medieval Speyer with its stunning Romanesque Basilica that dominates this pretty town.Next day we arrive at the city of Strasbourg where you enjoy a walking tour of the old town. Continuing, we drive through the typical rolling tree-clad massif of the Black Forest onto the charming town of Titisee, nestling on the shores of its namesake lake. Our final destination is Switzerland where we moor in Basel.Experience the most breathtaking Alpine scenery on earth on a mountain rail journey into the spectacular Bernese Oberland, seeing the majestic Eiger and Jungfrau, then discover Switzerland’s most attractive city, magnificent Lucerne, on our included tour.

Cruise Summary

Sail between smaller islands and ports, allowing spectacular coastal views normally inaccessible to larger cruise liners. Enjoy this seven-night cruise on the four-star MV Riva along the Dalmatian coast, one of the world’s most dramatic landscapes, studded with beautifully preserved and atmospheric Venetian-influenced medieval towns, on some of Europe’s clearest waters

Cruise Summary

On this incredible river cruise through the Balkans, we start by exploring the stunning sights of Kalocsa and Belgrade, with its magnificent Kalemegdan Fortress. Then it’s off to Pleven passing through the Iron Gates Gorge and the Djerdap locks before visiting Bucharest. Known as ‘little Paris’ this gem of a capital city will capture your heart with its romantic buildings and tree-lined boulevards.Then we explore the very best of The Danube Delta and enjoy a cruise through Europe’s largest area of wetlands and marshlands – a UNESCO-listed site. From here we see Constanta where you can explore it’s charming Old Town and museums, Veliko Tarnovo and the village of Arbanassi.After taking a scenic drive to the spectacular rock formations at Belogradchik we visit Lepenski Vir – one of the most important Mesolithic archaeological sites in Serbia before travelling to Novi Sad, Osijek and Vukovar. Finally, on the final leg of this stunning river cruise we discover the imperial city of two halves – Budapest.

Cruise Summary

One of Europe’s best kept secrets in one of its most undiscovered corners, explore the sleepy villages and medieval towns unchanged for centuries, amongst the breathtaking rolling hills and terraced vineyard slopes of the stunning Douro Valley.Commencing in the Roman city of Porto, the home of Port wine, Portugal’s once wild river Douro has been tamed by locks into resembling a series of finger lakes, adding greatly to the valley's ambience. Leaving behind the Atlantic influenced greenery of the coast, you are soon immersed in a Mediterranean land of olives, vines, and picturesque, medieval hilltop villages. Our destination is the higher reaches of the valley from where we visit Salamanca - home of one of Europe’s oldest universities, two of its finest cathedrals, Spain’s finest city square and even the Inquisition!You will adore the away-from-it-all experience and visit some of Iberia’s most beautiful medieval towns, monasteries and vineyards, and feel you have been away for months!

Cruise Summary

Russia, the world’s largest country, is a land of superlatives matched by its epic history, monumental architecture, incredible culture and sweeping landscapes of immense beauty. Perhaps the best way to cover the breadth of its myriad gems and feel the might of empires past is on a relaxing river cruise, where every turn reveals a fascinating new view.Our 11-night cruise begins in Moscow, the enigmatic capital and a dazzling metropolis, with a glittering array of Unesco-listed monuments: the magnificent 70- acre Kremlin fortress and historic Red Square, with the strikingly colourful onion-domed cathedral of St Basil taking centre stage.Beyond Moscow’s glitz and glamour, we discover another side to this intriguing country. The mighty ‘Mother Volga’, Europe’s longest river, entices us with a different landscape: swathes of ancient silver-birch forests, centuries-old churches and brightly painted timber houses in quintessential villages lost in time. We’ll visit the medieval Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and the historic cities of Yaroslavl and Uglich on Russia’s famous Golden Ring.Cruise the waters of the stunning River Svir, which flows between the rocky fissured shores and tranquil bays of Lake Onega to the wild marshlands of Lake Ladoga, two of Europe’s largest lakes. We call at the fairy-tale village of Mandrogi and also Kizhi Island to see the outstanding Church of the Transfiguration with its 22 shimmering domes – a wooden masterpiece built without a single nail!Our final port of call is often described as Europe’s most beautiful city: St Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great in 1703, was designed to be a showpiece of the Empire, with majestic architecture and breathtaking vistas that have inspired artists and writers throughout the ages. Our cruise includes a visit to the world-renowned Hermitage, which features an exceptional collection of priceless artworks housed in some of the city’s finest buildings, including the Tsars’ beautiful Baroque-style Winter Palace.Let our experienced tour managers and insightful guides lift the alluring veil of mystery over this fascinating country and its culture on a truly unforgettable cruise.