Summer Escapes: From the North Sea to the Iberian Peninsula

Embarkation takes place in Oslo, a capital set at the head of a fjord and ringed by forested hills. Frogner Park holds the Vigeland installation, more than 200 granite and bronze figures by sculptor Gustav Vigeland. The Munch Museum on the waterfront shows the work of Edvard Munch, and the medieval Akershus Fortress watches over the harbour. At Holmenkollen, the ski museum sits beside the ski jump with a view across the city and the fjord.

Mandal, Norway’s southernmost town, lines the Mandalselva river with white wooden houses in the old Bryggegata quarter. Sjøsanden, a long beach of fine pale sand, draws Norwegians each summer. The sculptor Gustav Vigeland and his brother Emanuel, a painter, were both born here, and the house of their birth is now a museum.

A full day at sea carries the ship south and west across the North Sea, a shallow shelf sea that has fed European fishing fleets for centuries. Gannets and fulmars follow the shipping lanes, and offshore wind farms appear on the horizon as the Belgian coast nears.

Ostend grew from a fishing village into the seaside resort of Belgian kings, and Belle Époque villas still line the Zeedijk promenade above a wide beach of fine sand. The painter James Ensor, famous for his masks and skeletons, was born here in 1860 and spent most of his life in the town. Mu.ZEE, the art museum by the sea, shows Belgian art from the late 19th century to today.

The route runs through the Dover Strait, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, where only about 33 kilometres separate the English and French coasts. The English Channel then opens westward towards Brittany. The approach to Brest passes Ushant, an island whose lighthouses mark a corner of the Atlantic known for its fierce tides.

Cardinal Richelieu made Brest a naval base in the 17th century, and the city rebuilt almost entirely after the bombing of 1944. The Château de Brest, one of the oldest fortresses in France, houses the national naval museum. La Recouvrance, a replica of an 1817 topsail schooner, moors on the Penfeld river near the Recouvrance bridge, one of the largest lift bridges in Europe. Océanopolis fills its aquariums with marine life from polar seas to the tropics.

Royan sits at the mouth of the Gironde estuary, where Belle Époque villas survive in the Pontaillac district. Bombing in January 1945 swept away much of the centre, and the postwar rebuilding produced a concrete modernist town. The covered market, a thin shell of concrete from 1955, and the church of Notre-Dame, finished in 1958, define its skyline. Offshore, the Cordouan lighthouse, listed by UNESCO in 2021, stands in the estuary, and La Rochelle lies within day-trip distance.

Santander curves around a wide bay on Spain’s northern coast, and a fire in 1941 destroyed much of the old centre. The Palacio de la Magdalena, a summer residence for King Alfonso XIII built in 1912, crowns a headland above the water. Renzo Piano’s Centro Botín projects over the harbour, and the sheltered beaches of El Sardinero front a row of Belle Époque buildings. The Palaeolithic paintings of Altamira, a UNESCO site, lie about 30 kilometres away.

Now the third largest city in the Principality of Asturias, Aviles has managed to retain all its charm. Its old town, declared a Historic-Artistic Site, contains architectural marvels such as the pedestrianised streets Calle Galiana and Calle Rivero, the Plaza de España and its town hall, and the Church of Sabugo, dating from the 13th century. Between palaces – including the very beautiful Valdecarzana and Camposagrado palaces –, shady arcades, fountains and other historical monuments, fall in love with this city and its unique heritage.

La Coruña stands on a peninsula in north-west Spain. As you enter the harbour, you can see the imposing Castillo de San Antón, which houses archaeological collections from Galicia. In the old town, you’ll travel back in time as you meander through the streets from the medieval church of Santiago to the contemporary Domus building, a museum dedicated to human biology and psychology. Brightly coloured tramways connect to the waterfront, on one side, Riazor beach, and on the other, the Hercules tower: this lighthouse overlooking the Atlantic, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, listed for its history dating back to Antiquity.

Nestling on the Atlantic coast, in the south of Galicia, the former fishing port of Vigo is now the region’s largest municipality. Its old town, more commonly known as O Berbés, will unveil its many historical monuments and the unusual architectural style of its homes. Off the coast, the Cíes Islands, declared a Nature Reserve and located in the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park, offer truly splendid landscapes and exceptional biodiversity. Further north, make sure you visit Santiago de Compostela, which welcomes many pilgrims from all over the world every year. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, its historical centre has significant architectural heritage.

Figueira da Foz sits at the mouth of the Mondego River, where one of the widest beaches in Europe runs along the front. Portuguese aristocrats made the town their seaside resort in the 19th century, and the villas and casino from that era still line the shore. Coimbra, 40 kilometres inland, holds a university founded in 1290 that earned UNESCO listing in 2013.

Lisbon rises over the Tagus a few kilometres from the Atlantic. The earthquake of 1755 flattened much of the lower town, while Alfama, the old Moorish hillside quarter, largely survived and still fills its small bars with fado. At Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower, both UNESCO listed, mark the age of Portuguese exploration. Chiado’s elegant streets hold the city’s fashion labels, and pastéis de nata come hot from the bakery in Belém that has sold them since 1837. Disembarkation takes place in Lisbon