20-Day Atlantic Crossing, Portugal, Spain & France

Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world, hosting a myriad of ships year-round from all over the globe. Although it is technically not on the Caribbean Sea, no other American city exudes more of the diverse tropical appeal of the Caribbean. The city is home to a large and vibrant immigrant population that blends snowbird refugees from more northern climes with emigres from all Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as sizable groups from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. From the hot-blooded Art Deco haunts of South Beach to the natural wonders of the UNESCO-inscribed Everglades and the laid-back charms of the Keys, South Florida offers a bounty of appealing attractions that make an extended stay in the region nearly mandatory for those either embarking or disembarking here.

The Madeira Archipelago, consisting of the islands Madeira, Porto Santo and Desertas, is situated in the Atlantic, about 400 miles from the African coast and 560 miles from Lisbon. Discovered by the Portuguese in 1419, Madeira, the largest of the islands, became of great importance to Portugal for its sugar production and later on for the cultivation of wine. The unusually temperate oceanic climate and extraordinary scenery had Northern Europeans flocking to Madeira as early as the 18th century to spend the winter months. The winning combination of high, rocky peaks, steep green ravines and waterfalls in the interior, with the flowering charm of Funchal still attracts nearly half a million visitors each year.

The great period of “the Discoveries” accounted for phenomenal wealth brought back from India, Africa and Brazil by the great Portuguese navigators. Gold, jewels, ivory, porcelain and spices helped finance grand new buildings and impressive monuments in Lisbon, the country’s capital city. As you sail up the Tagus River, be on deck to admire Lisbon’s panorama and see some of the great monuments lining the river. Lisbon is one of Europe’s smallest capital cities but considered by many visitors to be one of the most likeable. Spread over a string of seven hills, the city offers a variety of faces, including a refreshing no-frills simplicity reflected in the people as they go unhurriedly through their day enjoying a hearty and delicious cuisine accompanied by the country’s excellent wines.

The commercial center of northern Portugal and hub of the port wine trade, Porto is a gracious, cosmopolitan city noted for its 12th century cathedral and medieval churches, picturesque narrow streets and wine lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia. It is clustered on hills overlooking a river, and is a northern European style city with granite church towers, narrow streets and hidden Baroque treasures.

Straddling the banks of an estuary opening into the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao is the largest city in Spain’s northeastern Basque Country. Its earliest beginnings are preserved in the Casco Viejo, seven medieval streets that used to be guarded by walls. There visitors will find the city’s old churches, a large market, a public theater and the Academy of the Basque Language. Nearby sources of iron ore made Bilbao an important industrial and shipping center from the 14th century onward. The Spanish Civil War also started here. Today the city is being transformed by a growing service economy, and its prominence on the global traveler’s radar may be dated from the 1997 inauguration of the striking Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. In fact, the estuary town has become a veritable magnet for architects, boasting notable masterworks including Santiago Calatrava’s beautiful Zubizuri (“White Bridge” in Basque) and airport complex, the 541-foot Iberdrola Tower by the Argentine Cesar Pelli, a subway system by Norman Foster, the 1909 wine warehouse called Alhóndiga, converted a century later by designer Philippe Starck and the Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall by Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios. The Zorrozuarre area is also being redeveloped, following a 2007 master plan by the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. For views of all of this, take the funicular from the city center to the top of Mt. Artxanda, where a sports complex, restaurants and a balcony await you.

Located on the southeastern curve of the Bay of Biscay, St-Jean and Biarritz are the most important resorts on the Cote Basque. The French/Spanish alliance was cemented when Cardinal Mazarin arranged the marriage of Louis XIV to Maria-Teresa, the Infanta of Spain, in St. Jean-de-Luz. Biarritz made in the international must-do list when the Empress Eugenie built her palace there is 1854. Since then, it has attracted a seemingly endless list of crowned heads and tycoons, drawn by the pleasant climate, the broad sandy beaches and the casinos that thrive here.

Saint-Malo is a port city in Brittany, in France’s northwest. Tall granite walls surround the old town, which was once a stronghold for privateers (pirates approved by the king). The Saint-Malo Cathedral, in the center of the old town, is built in Romanesque and Gothic styles and features stained-glass windows depicting city history. Nearby is La Demeure de Corsaire, an 18th-century privateer’s house and museum.

Portsmouth is a port city and naval base on England’s south coast, mostly spread across Portsea Island. It’s known for its maritime heritage and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The dockyard is home to the interactive National Museum of the Royal Navy, the wooden warship HMS Victory, where Nelson died in the Battle of Trafalgar, and HMS Warrior 1860. The Tudor ship Mary Rose is also conserved in a dockyard museum.

Crossing the English Channel from continental Europe to Great Britain, the first view of England is the milky-white strip of land called the White Cliffs of Dover. As you get closer, the coastline unfolds before you in all its striking beauty. White chalk cliffs with streaks of black flint rise straight from the sea to a height of 350’ (110 m).

Numerous archaeological finds reveal people were present in the area during the Stone Age. Yet the first record of Dover is from Romans, who valued its close proximity to the mainland. A mere 21 miles (33 km) separate Dover from the closest point in France. A Roman-built lighthouse in the area is the tallest Roman structure still standing in Britain. The remains of a Roman villa with the only preserved Roman wall mural outside of Italy are another unique survivor from ancient times which make Dover one of a kind.