EUROPEAN COASTLINES & NORWEGIAN FJORDS

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

Despite its pummelling by the Luftwaffe and some disastrous postwar urban sprawl, the thousand-year-old city of Southampton has retained some of its medieval charm in parts and reinvented itself as a twenty-first century shopping centre in others, with the giant glass-and-steel West Quay as its focus.

Core of the modern town is the Civic Centre, a short walk east of the train station and home to the excellent Southampton City Art Gallery that’s particularly strong on contemporary British artists. The Western Esplanade runs alongside the best remaining bits of the old city walls.
Rebuilt after a French attack in 1338, they incorporate God’s House Tower, at the southern end of the old town in Winkle Street, which currently houses the Museum of Archaeology. Best preserved of the city’s seven gates is Bargate, at the opposite end of the old town, at the head of the High Street; it’s an elaborate structure, cluttered with lions, classical figures and defensive apertures. A shore excursion on your MSC Northern Europe cruise from Southampton can be the opportunity to discover the capital of England, London.
For the visitor, London is a thrilling place. Monuments from the capital’s glorious past are everywhere, from medieval banqueting halls and the great churches of Christopher Wren to the eclectic Victorian architecture of the triumphalist British Empire. You can relax in the city’s quiet Georgian squares, explore the narrow alleyways of the City of London, wander along the riverside walks, and uncover the quirks of what is still identifiably a collection of villages.
The capital’s great historical landmarks – Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and so on – draw in millions of tourists every year.

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.

Despite its pummelling by the Luftwaffe and some disastrous postwar urban sprawl, the thousand-year-old city of Southampton has retained some of its medieval charm in parts and reinvented itself as a twenty-first century shopping centre in others, with the giant glass-and-steel West Quay as its focus.

Core of the modern town is the Civic Centre, a short walk east of the train station and home to the excellent Southampton City Art Gallery that’s particularly strong on contemporary British artists. The Western Esplanade runs alongside the best remaining bits of the old city walls.
Rebuilt after a French attack in 1338, they incorporate God’s House Tower, at the southern end of the old town in Winkle Street, which currently houses the Museum of Archaeology. Best preserved of the city’s seven gates is Bargate, at the opposite end of the old town, at the head of the High Street; it’s an elaborate structure, cluttered with lions, classical figures and defensive apertures. A shore excursion on your MSC Northern Europe cruise from Southampton can be the opportunity to discover the capital of England, London.
For the visitor, London is a thrilling place. Monuments from the capital’s glorious past are everywhere, from medieval banqueting halls and the great churches of Christopher Wren to the eclectic Victorian architecture of the triumphalist British Empire. You can relax in the city’s quiet Georgian squares, explore the narrow alleyways of the City of London, wander along the riverside walks, and uncover the quirks of what is still identifiably a collection of villages.
The capital’s great historical landmarks – Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and so on – draw in millions of tourists every year.

Your holiday comes to an end today. Interested in extending you stay? Ask us about our amazing range of packages available or speak with a Cruise Travel Advisor who will be able to customise your holiday with you.