EUROPEAN COASTLINES & NORWEGIAN FJORDS

Welcome to London. You have 2 nights to explore the city

Check out of your London hotel and make your way down to Southampton, where Meraviglia is waiting for the first of your two back to back voyages. Before you board, it’s worth a wander through what’s left of the old city walls near Bargate, one of the best preserved of Southampton’s seven medieval gates. Once you’re settled onboard, take the afternoon to find your way around before sail away. Seven nights down the Western European coast start tomorrow, Brest, Lisbon, Vigo and Cherbourg all ahead of you

Brest is a port town in the Brittany region on the west coast of France. Your MSC cruise will take you on the discovery of a place full of charm, history and culture, set in a natural inlet whose beauty will leave you breathless.

There are many things to be seen in Brest, including the Tanguy Tower which houses historical findings from the city dating from ancient times to the period of World Wars. Another institution worth visiting is the National Maritime Museum located inside Château de Brest containing a real submarine.
To start your tour of Brest, you can walk along Rue de Siam, a lively commercial district. The look of the road is severe, in full 1950s style. Both here and the entire district found between Pont deRecouvrance and the Town Hall is filled with large multi-story residential buildings, symmetrically arranged on a perfectly straight axis.

Pont de Recouvrance, which dominates the docks and military port, was built in 1954 with a vertical lifting device. For a long time, it was the largest lifting bridge in Europe and is undoubtedly a stop not to be missed
on your visit to Brest during an MSC cruise.

Another really interesting place found at the docks is Les Ateliers des Capucins, a series of buildings that face the sea, built during the 19th century. In 2009, they were converted into a cultural and commercial center. In the bay of Brest, you can also see the delightful Phare du Petit Minou, a lighthouse built in 1848 that stands in front of the fort with the same name and is connected to the mainland by a stone bridge in the commune of Plouzané. Aligned with the Portziclighthouse, the Petit Minou had guided ships for over one hundred and fifty years along the safest route to make their way through the natural channel that unites Brest to the Atlantic Ocean.

Lisbon rises across a series of hills above the wide estuary of the Tagus, and its historic centre is compact enough to explore easily in a day. The Alfama is the oldest quarter, a maze of narrow streets below the Moorish Castelo de São Jorge. Facing it across the valley sits the Bairro Alto, known for its bars, restaurants and nightlife, with the Baixa or lower town spread between the two hills.

The Baixa’s grand buildings house some of Lisbon’s best shops and cafés. A shore excursion can take you to the Torre de Belém, an iconic symbol of the city built in the Manueline style favoured under King Manuel, its windows and stairways carved with symbols of Portugal’s age of exploration. Built to defend the mouth of the Tagus, the tower took years to complete and stood near the centre of the river when it opened in 1520, before the 1755 earthquake shifted the river’s course.

Visitors can explore several levels of the tower today, including a terrace facing the river where cannon once fired, and climb a steep spiral staircase to a top terrace for sweeping views across Belém.

Few cities enjoy as magnificent a natural setting as Vigo. Arrayed along the sloping southern shoreline of its namesake estuary, the city looks out over the bay and its green forest ridges toward the open ocean, a view best appreciated as your ship enters the harbour.

Cruise passengers mingle with locals at the Estación Marítima de Ría, then set off up the steep, cobbled streets of the old city, known as O Berbés and packed with shops, bars and restaurants. Along the seafront, kiosks serve strong coffee to early morning fishermen, while their catch is sold nearby at the Mercado da Pedra. On the aptly named Rúa da Pescadería, women lay out plates of fresh oysters on granite tables for passers-by.

A steep walk up from the old town, mostly along stone staircases, leads to the top of Castro hill, named for the ancient ruins still visible on one side and home to a seventeenth-century castle with sweeping views. Nearby, the Museo Quiñones de León sits at the centre of the sprawling Parque de Castrelos. Pontevedra makes an easy side trip, a quiet old city set back from the sea where the Río Lérez widens into the bay, its pedestrianised old quarter lively with local food and drink.

Cherbourg started life as a small fishing village before growing into the historic port designed by the military engineer Vauban. It served as a strategic naval base during the Napoleonic wars and today has a marina with over 1,000 moorings, with Cap de la Hague to the west and the Pointe de Barfleur to the east.

Cherbourg sits within Normandy, a region of apple orchards and rolling farmland dotted with half-timbered villages that has inspired generations of artists and writers. Its abbeys, chateaux and stretch of coastline give visitors plenty to explore beyond the port itself.

Back in Southampton, but you’re not going anywhere. This is the changeover point between your two cruises, new guests join for the Norway leg while you stay right where you are, no repacking, no new cabin, no second embarkation queue. It’s the point of booking the two legs as one. If you didn’t get ashore on Day 3, it’s worth using the quiet turnaround hours to walk into the old town, otherwise settle in and enjoy the ship to yourself while the port does its thing around you. Tomorrow you’re at sea, heading north to Norway.

Haugesund sits on Norway’s southwest coast, a working harbour town with a strong claim to being the birthplace of the nation. Just south of the port at Avaldsnes, Norwegian kings are said to have ruled from as early as the 9th century, and the site still holds a reconstructed Viking farm alongside a church dating to the 1200s. Closer to the ship, the walk into town crosses a bridge over Smedasundet with proper views back over the harbour, and Haraldshaugen, the national monument marking Norway’s unification, is a scenic stroll from the pier if you’d rather stay on foot.

Ålesund burned to the ground in a single night in 1904 and was rebuilt within three years in Art Nouveau style, giving the whole town centre a matching, almost storybook look you won’t find anywhere else in Norway. It’s an easy walk from the ship into the old streets, and the climb up Mount Aksla to the Fjellstua viewpoint is worth the legwork for a proper look over the town, the islands and the fjords beyond. If you’d rather stay at sea level, Atlanterhavsparken’s saltwater aquarium covers the marine life along this stretch of coast.

Today’s sail-in is the reason people book a Norwegian fjords cruise. Skjolden sits at the very end of Sognefjord, the world’s longest navigable fjord, reached by a run of roughly four hours inland through steadily narrowing water that turns a distinct glacial green the closer you get. The village itself holds fewer than 300 people, but it’s the gateway to Jostedalsbreen, mainland Europe’s largest glacier, and to the Urnes Stave Church, a UNESCO listed timber church dating to the 1100s. Not a place you’d get to any other way.

Kristiansand trades the drama of the fjords for an easier, sunnier pace, it’s known as one of Norway’s warmer cities and it shows in the harbour life. Christiansholm Fortress guards the entrance to the port and is an easy walk from the ship, its ramparts still intact after nearly four centuries. From there the waterfront leads on to Posebyen, rows of preserved 18th and 19th century wooden houses, and Fiskebrygga, the old fish market turned café strip, worth timing for lunch.

Disembarkation day, and the end of the road for this one. Sixteen nights, two seas and one ship the whole way through. If London wasn’t enough the first time round, or you’re not ready to head home yet, ask your Cruise Travel Advisor about extending your stay or adding another stop on the way back.