BRITISH ISLES BOUTIQUE CRUISE: FROM DUBLIN TO EDINBURGH

Sail on a remarkable cruise to the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and . Explore culture-crammed cities, fascinating ruins and natural marvels from aboard the luxurious Vega II. Visit both iconic sites and lesser-known gems bookended by Dublin’s street scenes and Edinburgh’s city views. In-between experience Hebridean tranquillity, the Norse traditions of the , Scotland’s castle country and prehistoric places that predate Giza’s pyramids and Stonehenge. Sample ’s celebrated single malts. Enjoy seeing the British Isles’ exciting flora and fauna – observe seals and colonies of puffins and guillemots. All accompanied by an ITINERARY expert team, who know these places like few others. DAY 1 DUBLIN Your 11-day cruise begins today in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland’s capital. It’s at times gritty and in places, gorgeous – Georgian squares, hidden parks and tree-lined canals. It’s lively, complex, cosmopolitan and eminently walkable. So make time to explore before you board Vega II. Visit The Long Room in the Old Library in stately Trinity College to inspect the Book of Kells. The illuminated manuscript was produced on Iona, which you’ll visit on Day 4. The Long Room itself is much lauded for its beauty – it’s a stunning, two-storey, barrel-vaulted space that houses 200,000 of Trinity’s oldest books and manuscripts. Elsewhere the new Museum of Literature Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland, Christ Church and St Patrick’s Cathedrals, the Guinness Storehouse, Kilmainham Gaol, Glasnevin Cemetery entice visitors – just be sure to stop into a snug somewhere for a pint.

DAY 2 PORTRUSH

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com Disembark in the small Northern Ireland town of Portrush (Port of spiritual connections. Barely 100 people reside in the spot Rois), which is located in County Antrim. It’s one of the island of where St brought Christianity to Scotland, so it’s Ireland’s most popular staycation destinations – indeed, mostly untouched and untamed. Iona is famed for its abbey, generations have happy memories of visiting this peninsula, which was found by Columba and his Irish followers in 563 CE. with its family-friendly amusements, attractions and beaches. It It was in these contemplative cloisters that the sacred treasure, is also the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Giant’s the Book of Kells, was created. The illuminated manuscript was Causeway and Causeway Coast. Flanked by the Atlantic and taken to Ireland in 807 CE in an attempt to keep it safe from towering cliffs, the Giant’s Causeway is Northern Ireland’s marauding Vikings. Very little of the gorgeous granite sacred number-one attraction. Visit and decide for yourself if the basalt structure you see dates from these times, a Benedictine formations are the handiwork of prehistoric volcanic activity – or building was built on the original site in around 1200. Just north two legendary Celtic giants. of Iona, is uninhabited Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Isles. Enjoy visiting to see its colonies of playful puffins, guillemots DAY 3 & ISLAY and seals. Arrive on Scottish shores today. The Isle of Gigha – or simply Gigha – is sited off the west coast of Kintyre. At just under 10 DAY 5 ST KILDA kilometres long, this island is tiny and often overlooked by The westernmost islands of the Outer , St Kilda, is a Scottish-island-hoppers, who favour its more famous remote cluster of islands that rise dramatically from the neighbours such as Jura or Islay. However, this underrated place storm-lashed North Atlantic. Located west-northwest of North – known as ‘God’s Island’ in Viking times – is utterly divine. It’s Uist, St Kilda has been named one of the most beautiful places been continually inhabited since prehistoric times, and it’s easy in Europe by Condé Nast Traveller, who hailed the UNESCO to see why – it’s unusually lush thanks to its mild climate. You World Heritage Site’s “unforgettable ocean views and unique might like to visit Achamore Gardens to see its renowned ecosystem”. Come ashore to tour a ghostly village on Hirta, rhododendron and camellia collection and then the ruined which was permanently inhabited until the evacuation in 1930. church at Kilchattan. West of Gigha is Islay. Land and drink in Walk along the spectacular coastline, see the highest sea the island’s great beauty: rugged mountains with white sandy stacks and cliffs in Britain and one of Europe’s most significant beaches and misty glens. But there’s more to Islay than meets gannet colonies, as well as one of the UK’s most crucial puffin the eye; it’s home to seven world-class distilleries, making the rookeries. island the perfect place to find the best single malt in Scotland. DAY 6 DAY 4 IONA & LUNGA Sail to Stornoway, the capital of the most populous island in No matter your belief system, spending time on Iona is good for the . Lewis is a windswept, rugged place that’s the soul. This isle, located in the which hug close famed for its weavers, who make world-famous Harris Tweed. to the western coast of Scotland, has more than a millennium Named after the neighbouring island – despite the majority of

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com registered weavers living and working on Lewis – Harris Tweed is closer to Bergen than Inverness. The Shetlands were Viking the only fabric guarded and protected by an Act of Parliament. ruled until the 15th century, and despite the Norseman ceding Discover the spellbinding (or Calanais Stones) control, the culture remained notably Norse-tinged as can be on the island’s west coast, a collection of standing stones in a seen at the Museum and Archives in . More cruciform pattern with a central stone circle. Erected in 3,000 history awaits at Fort Charlotte, a five-sided artillery, and the BCE, this ritualistic site is thought to have been built some 500 Bod of Gremista, an 18th-century fishing booth-turned textile years before Stonehenge making this circle and the one on museum. If time allows, head for , an hour’s drive from , the UK’s oldest. No one knows the purpose of these Lerwick. This Iron Age broch and Norse settlement have more circles, but there’s new evidence that a massive lightning strike than 4,000 years of human activity on one site. If venturing may have inspired the ancient island dwellers to build the stone outside of Lerwick to Jarlshof for example, be sure to keep an circles. eye out for world-famous tiny Shetland ponies. Around 1,500 of them roam free throughout the archipelago. DAY 7 Romantically ramshackle, the appealing grey-stone town of DAY 9 PETERHEAD Stromness may not be as big as the Orkney’s capital , Disembark today in the port of Peterhead, also known as Blue but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in character. Town, in Aberdeenshire at Scotland’s easternmost point. The long-established seaport, with its Norse language-derived Located on the outskirts of town, the Peterhead Prison Museum name, has changed little since the 18th century. Captain Cook’s is highly rated if you feel like a small stretch behind bars. This ships stopped here in 1780 en route back from Hawaii, and port is located on the edge of ‘Scotland’s Castle Trail’. Cook’s companions would have explored a place not dissimilar Aberdeenshire, that great shoulder of land which pushes into to today’s Stromness. Walk the narrow, flagstone-paved main the North Sea, has more castles per hectare (260) than street, dive down the tiny alleyways which entice you to explore anywhere else in the . Among the agricultural further. The Stromness Museum is excellent and full of maritime plains, heather-covered craggy hills and forests, you’ll find tchotchke. The Pier Arts Centre and its towering collection of everything from Pictish and Roman forts through medieval modern art have been described as a ‘little seaside Tate’. Just strongholds and the turreted fairy-tale fantasies or dramatic 12 kilometres north of the harbour lies extraordinary Skara Gothic Revival delights of the 17th and 18th centuries. Whisky Brae, one of the world’s most evocative prehistoric sites. lovers might be interested to note that the distilleries of Predating Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza, it’s northern Glenfiddich, Strathisla and Glen Grant are also close by. Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic village. Aberdeen – the multicultural Granite City and the UK’s Oil Capital – is only 45 minutes away. You might opt to visit the DAY 8 LERWICK Aberdeen Arts Centre, the Maritime Museum and the Gordon Lerwick is the capital – and only real town – of the Shetland Highlanders Museum or see Marischal College. Islands, a subarctic archipelago of some 100 islands that is

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com DAY 10 LINDISFARNE & FARNE ISLANDS Itineraries are subject to change. Holy places have undisputed magic, no matter your faith. This is undoubtedly aided by early Christian saints having a knack for choosing riotously beautiful spots. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a tiny tidal island that is connected to Northumberland by a narrow causeway at low tide. It was an important centre of Christianity under Saints Aidan and Cuthbert – the former having been sent from Iona to establish a priory on the isle in 635. Vikings continually sacked the monastery until it was abandoned in 875. A castle was built on the island in 1550 and extended by architect Edwin Lutyens – known for New Delhi – at the turn of the 20th century. Once you have finished your Lindisfarne pilgrimage, take a moment (or several) to marvel at the Farne Islands, where you’ll have an unprecedented chance to see inquisitive grey seals who’ll stare right back at you. Stroll about, and you’ll spot kittiwakes, guillemots and puffins.

DAY 11 LEITH (EDINBURGH) Your 11-day cruise comes to a close today in Scotland’s charming capital, Edinburgh. Sail into Leith, Edinburgh’s port of the Firth of Forth. Once you have bid farewell to Vega II and her excellent crew, head away from the waterfront to explore the city’s historic sites and winding walks. No visit to Edinburgh would be complete without walking the Royal Mile from the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, to that lauded landmark, Edinburgh Castle, which sits on Castle Rock, a volcanic hill. Nearby is the contemporary, design-forward building and the National Museum of Scotland, which presents a detailed history of Scotland. Or climb to the top of Calton Hill, it’s steep, but the views are worth it.

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01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com YOUR SHIP: VEGA

YOUR SHIP: Vega

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Launched in 2022, this state of the art ship has been designed to journey to off the beaten path destinations and remote polar regions in style and comfort. The ship incorporates a PC5 ice-strengthened hull combined with extra-large stabilisers to make your journey as smooth as possible. Sophisticated Elegance. We know how important outdoor space is, so our spacious, relaxing public spaces provide wide open, unobstructed views throughout the ship. The destination will always be in view. Your Wellbeing. The safety & happiness of our guests is paramount to our 120-strong crew on board as well as our passionate expedition team who'll be serving up thrilling shore excursions and lasting memories. Cabin Types. Our 76 cabins including 6 suites have all the amenities you will need to feel comfortable including dressing gowns, hairdryers, personal safes and minibars. Our stylish cabins all have desks, a dressing area and comfy seating. En suite bathrooms all feature glass-enclosed rain showers.

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com INSIDE YOUR SHIP

Balcony. From Oceanview

Premium Suite Suite

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com PRICING

26-Apr-2022 to 06-May-2022 Premium Suite £9346 GBP pp Suite £8224 GBP pp Balcony. From £6433 GBP pp Oceanview £5887 GBP pp

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com