12 Days, Luxury Cruise from CloudExp - 20210614 - 12 days

From the northernmost point of Scotland, either at Dunnet Head or John O’Groats, board a boat to the Orkney Islands, and the capital of Kirkwall. Its a picturesque little town with a distinct Viking flavor and impressive red sandstone cathedral.

Shetland Islands, archipelago, 552 sq mi (1,427 sq km), off N Scotland. They consist of c.100 islands c.70 mi (110 km) long, about a fourth of which are inhabited. The largest are Mainland (where Lerwick, the main town, is located), Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Whalsey, and Bressay. Oil, produced offshore in the North Sea since the 1970s, supplements income from traditional sheep, cattle, and knitware industries. Tourism is also important. The hardy Shetland pony and the Shetland sheepdog originated there. Occupied by Norsemen by the 9th cent., the islands were annexed to Scotland in 1472. Fishing is plentiful here, and the rocky cliffs offset by vast colonies of gannets and gulls make for breathtaking scenery.

Restless, enduring and wonderful, London is Europe’s largest city. And surely, if you have the choice to visit only two or three cities of the world in your lifetime, by all means make one of them London.

The Romans started it all. The city they developed was “the square mile,” – and Londoners still hunt for Roman relics in the Thames. History is everywhere you look in London, yet today the city is as modern and metropolitan as any city on earth.

By day, London is buzzing with the frenetic pace of commerce not even Dickens could have imagined. By night, the excitement and glitter of theatres, cinemas, pubs and restaurants beckons throngs of travellers from around the world. But there is another London, a peaceful London of cool museums, quiet tea rooms, immaculate gardens and hushed churches.

There is Royal London – ancient pageantry in a modern kingdom – with its palaces, pomp and precise manoeuvres at the Changing of the Guard. And there’s outrageous London, the urban gathering ground for Cockney pitchmen, “fringe” theatre and the city’s youth, with their own distinctive style.

There is also Greenwich, easily accessed from central London by public transport, or take a more scenic route and arrive by riverboat. Notable for both its maritime history and royal heritage, it is perhaps best known for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time, based at the Royal Observatory.

London, this extraordinary city of contrasts, holds a stunning abundance of hidden-round-the-corner surprises. You owe it to yourself to explore them all. Here, then, is the London you’ll come to know and remember.

The world’s northernmost university – only one institute of higher learning may boast of that distinction, and at the moment anyway, that institution is the University of Norway at Tromso. Situated about 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Tromso has continuous sunshine from late May to mid-July. Nearby is the city of Narvik, known for mysterious lightning that occurs every August.