Cruise and Maritime Voyages

Originally settled by the Norsemen in the 9th century, Lerwick was founded as an unofficial marketplace to service 17th century Dutch herring fleets. The core of the town is a maze of narrow, flagstone streets set behind 18th century sandstone buildings overlooking the busy harbour. Hay’s Dock, once the centre of Shetland’s fishing and boat building industries, is home to the marvellous Shetland Museum and Archives. On the southern tip of Mainland the extraordinary archaeological site of Jarlshof tells the story of some 4,000 years of human history on this remote archipelago with a wealth of wildlife.

Eskifjördur is a charming, yet isolated, coastal village that lies in the middle of Iceland’s East Fjords, a stunning landscape sculpted by ice age glaciers. Not surprisingly the sea has shaped village culture and industry and the Maritime Museum gives insight into how the nature, upon which the community depend, has also seen them adopt self-sufficiency. Further along the coast is a famous spar mine, where some of Iceland’s largest spar crystals have been found. The mine features in optional excursions along with the Maritime Museum, and the Icelandic Wartime Museum which recounts Iceland’s World War Two history.

Situated just below the Arctic Circle, Isafjördur is the largest town in the Westfjords region of Iceland. It sits on a gravel spit that stands out into the Skutulsfjördur flanked on three sides by towering mountains. There are only three roads leading out of the town and all are through tunnels. The Maritime Museum traces the life and history of the settlement where fishing has been, and remains, the area’s main source of income. The Westfjords region is a nature lover’s paradise and a popular excursion visits the magical island of Vigur, which is home to a large eider duck colony and vast bird population.

Heimæy is the largest and only inhabited island in the Westman Islands, an archipelago of fifteen islands lying off the south coast of Iceland. On January 23rd 1973 a volcano erupted without warning by the side of Mt. Helgafell on the outskirts of the town and the islanders were forced to abandon their homes and flee to the mainland. Fortunately the fishing fleet was in port and amazingly there was no loss of life. Six months later when the volcano fell dormant most of the islanders returned to rebuild their homes on an island that was twenty percent larger in size.

The capital of the amazing Orkney archipelago, the Royal Burgh of Kirkwall sits almost exactly in the centre of Mainland, dividing the island into East and West. The magnificent St. Magnus Cathedral, a legacy of the town’s rich Viking heritage, dominates Kirkwall’s skyline. In its shadow, the town is a cluster of grey stone buildings lining narrow, flagstone streets. Excursions explore these beautiful islands whose history can be traced back some 6,000 years through Neolithic standing stones and the magnificent archaeological site of Skara Brae. Modern day Orkney is a hive of creative activity and its craft workshops are perfect for a special souvenir.