Our thoughts go out to everyone impacted by the invasion of Ukraine. We are closely monitoring the situation and hoping it will be resolved soon. In the meantime, we are making alternative plans for our departures that call in Russia. We will continue to make adjustments to our itineraries as necessary. Lindblad Expeditions will directly follow up with guests with more detailed information as it becomes available.
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See the sea side of historic lands
Fall in love with Europe all over again, or for the first time, on our gracious and intimate voyages that explore Europe from a new point of view, bringing you up close—expedition-style. Marvelous itineraries, plus unique and exclusive opportunities, ensure you have a memorable European experience. Navigate European waterways to discover a compelling blend of architecture, art, and history, both medieval and modern. Stroll through historic cities as they reveal the stories and secrets of their past. Discover Europe as its own history-makers and explorers did—from the sea—with our world-renowned expertise to guide you.
Trace a maritime thread around the isles, exploring the wild and beautiful places where Celtic and Viking influences still thrive in local languages and customs
Sail around magical Skellig Michael, which is crowned with a seventh-century beehive monastery
See the stunning 12th-century Iona Abbey, and Zodiac into Fingal’s Cave in Scotland
Explore wild, windswept outer isles; search for whales, dolphins, and seals; and see vast, important seabird nesting sites
We will cover your bar tab and all tips for the crew on all National Geographic Resolution,National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endurance, and National Geographic Orion voyages.
Explore round churches and charming fishing villages on the Danish islands of Christiansø and Bornholm alongside our National Geographic Photography Expert
Discover UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Hanseatic trade center of Visby and the Old Towns of Riga and Tallinn
Explore Neolithic sites on the Swedish island of Öland, and discover the unusual culture of Finland’s Åland Islands, an autonomous, Swedish-speaking region
Delve into the captivating cities of Stockholm and Helsinki, discovering their timeless Old Towns as well as their flourishing contemporary culture
Get immersed in the local cultures through musical performances curated by our ethnomusicologist Jacob Edgar
We will cover your bar tab and all tips for the crew on all National Geographic Resolution,National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endurance, and National Geographic Orion voyages.
New
Culture and Cuisine: From Porto to Basque Country
Length
7 days
Apr
From
$6,990
Top Highlights
Sample fine port wines on a tour of their birthplace, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Porto
Spend a day discovering Galicia, collecting mussels with local fishermen, listening to traditional music, and visiting a splendid Galician estate
Join a pilgrimage to the medieval cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, consecrated in 1211, and enjoy local music
Discover an array of iconic architectural masterpieces—from the Roman Tower of Hercules in A Coruña to Bilbao's stunning footbridge by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava
Explore Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum, with its iconic billowing metal sheets, designed by Frank Gehry
In St. Jean de Luz, taste Basque pintxos and wines and hear the chords of a traditional instrument called the trikitixas
We will cover your bar tab and all tips for the crew on all National Geographic Resolution,National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endurance, and National Geographic Orion voyages.
Peer into the past in the prehistoric homes of Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands and Jarlshof in the Shetland Islands
Ride Zodiacs for a close-up view of the unique geometric basalt columns of Staffa, a tiny island in the Inner Hebrides
Join our naturalists on excursions and aboard the ship to watch for puffins, gannets, fulmars, razorbills, kittiwakes, and more
Venture to the ruins of Dunnottar Castle, set dramatically on an isolated headland on Scotland’s east coast
Travel aboard the state-of-the art National Geographic Resolution, sister ship to National Geographic Endurance, and capture your best photos alongside a National Geographic photographer
We will cover your bar tab and all tips for the crew on all National Geographic Resolution,National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endurance, and National Geographic Orion voyages.
Sail in the wake of Europe’s incredible history as you travel past towering cliffs and glide into ancient fortified ports. Meander through medieval cobblestone streets, stroll breathtaking shores, and Zodiac into rarely-seen hidden coves of myth and legend. Sample local food and drink. Whichever European journey you choose you are sure to have a dynamic and fully engaged experience of the physical and cultural landscape of the region. Every day offers choices and flexibility, and you can be assured that you will not be herded in large groups through tiny European streets. Be as active, or as leisured, as you choose. Rev up or slow down. It’s up to you.
There’s no need to dress up; life aboard is casual all the way. There’s no assigned seating in the dining room. In fact, many tables accommodate uneven numbers, making for easy mingling and the fun of sharing breakfast, lunch, or dinner with different new friends, staff, or guest speakers.
Expedition Stories
Little-Known Islands of the Baltic Sea
These seldom-seen islands in the archipelagos of Sweden, Finland, and Denmark offer enchanting views, centuries-old history, and rich culture. Learn more about Oland, Gotland, Bornholm and more.
See, do and learn more by going with engaging experts who have been exploring this region for decades. Go with an expedition leader, naturalists, historians, and more.
Expedition Leader
Veteran expedition leaders are the orchestrators of your experience. Many have advanced degrees and have conducted research or taught for years. They have achieved expedition leader status because they possess the skills, experience, and the depth of knowledge necessary to continually craft the best expedition possible for our guests.
Our naturalists, passionate about the geographies they explore (and return to regularly), illuminate each facet through their enthusiasm and knowledge. Our guests consistently cite the expertise and engaging company of our staff as key reasons to repeatedly travel with us.
Our historians will share the stories, tumults, and triumphs of the people and places we explore. Their colorful personalities and passion for history, from the minutiae to the big picture, make them engaging travel tour guides and companions.
Every expedition aboard a ship in our National Geographic-flagged fleet offers an exclusive service—a Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic certified photo instructor. This naturalist is specially trained to offer assistance with camera settings and the basics of composition, and to help you become a better, more confident photographer.
Video chroniclers accompany every expedition, shooting vivid HD footage—with no recycled footage ever—to provide you with a professionally edited and completely authentic memento of your expedition. Working during the day, and editing into the night, they have your video chronicle ready for preview prior to—and available to purchase at—disembarkation.
Greet the morning with a prebreakfast stretching session led by your wellness specialist on the stern deck. Or sleep in and take advantage of the state-of-the-art fitness center and yoga studio. Your wellness specialist will offer massage therapy and body treatments.
Undersea Specialist
Because the ocean is vital to the regions we visit, we help you explore it. Our exclusive undersea program is a pioneering expedition feature, designed to enrich your experience and aid your understanding of the region you’re exploring—given the importance of the ocean to life on the planet.
The fog silently rolled in overnight, and early risers awoke to a quiet and very still morning. As we set off on our bus tours and ventured the length and breadth of these stunning Islands, the Shetlands became increasingly ethereal in appearance. At the southernmost end of Shetland, we visited Sumburgh Head and its fabulous cliffs of seabirds, owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Here we got super close to puffins, the stars of the show. Later in the morning, we headed to Jarlshof, a prehistoric and Norse settlement to discover 4,000 years of Shetland’s history.
This morning we arrived to Unst, which is about 200 miles west of Norway and the most northerly island of the Shetlands and all the British Isles. Dozens of Viking longhouses have been found here; we were able to see replicas of a Viking ship and a Viking longhouse. While many of us had a tour of Unst’s highlights, another group went birdwatching in Hermaness National Nature Reserve.
Today we got to visit two very special places in the Shetland Islands, Foula and Mousa. On Foula, a small group of people live a bucolic lifestyle. They are isolated from the world and dependent on the ferry or a small airplane to provide them with the necessities of life that they cannot grow, raise, or fish for themselves. The second Island, Mousa, is the site of a Neolithic broch used in the Iron Age and dated at 300 BC. Brochs are found only in Scotland, and this is the best-preserved broch in the country.
Kirkwall, the capital city of Orkney, was sparkling in warm sunshine this morning. We dispersed for different walks, some to photograph the winding streets and charming gardens of the town, some to look for birds in the Orcadian countryside, and others to stroll the town and learn something of its history. Tales were told of pirates, press-gangs, wicked earls, and Norse saints. We learnt of the origins of Kirkwall with the building of St. Magnus’s, Orkney’s great Norse cathedral begun in 1137, a stunning Romanesque and Gothic edifice in red and yellow sandstone. At this time, Orkney was still part of the Scandinavian world, remaining so until the 15th century when it passed to the Scottish Crown. Scapa Flow, the world’s second largest natural harbor, housed the British fleet in both world wars, and some guests took a brisk walk to explore the dramatic events with the scuppering of the German fleet in June 1919 and the sinking of the Royal Oak, the Royal Navy’s flagship, in October 1939. The neolithic heart of Orkney, UNESCO World Heritage inscribed, abounds in monumental archaeological sites. Skara Brae is a remarkably intact village that was exposed by a storm in 1850. Its stone houses survive, complete with stone furniture, including beds, dressers, and hearths. These houses were inhabited by Stone Age farming people for 600 years between 3100 BC and 2500 BC. The contemporary Ring of Brodgar originally comprised 60 standing stones in a wide circle within a henge defined by a deep rock-cut ditch, part of a complex of monuments that dominate the landscape in this part of Orkney. The nature and wildlife of Orkney are just as spectacular. Rich soils produce wildflower meadows full of orchids, the shores are abundant with mute swans and oystercatchers, and the air is filled with the singing of larks.
One of the greatest things about a Lindblad Expedition is that even when weather prevents you from doing a planned excursion, it never means doing nothing for the day. In true expedition style, it means exploring the possibilities and figuring out an incredible plan B. Today was one of those days. Even though our initial plans were cancelled by weather, the day turned into an incredible adventure and in my mind, it was one of the best days of the expedition so far. We started early with a visit to Stac Lee, a sea stack with hundreds of thousands of gannets nesting on the island. It hosts the largest gannet colony in Scotland. When our planned visit to St. Kilda was cancelled, we set off to the Isle of Lewis to visit the Stones of Callanish, a spectacular megalithic monument dating back to 3000 BC.
When you arrive at climactic points along the way, you'll get there by the grandest of front doors—the sea. This is how people through history came and went, and consequently, Europe’s ports are hubs of vibrance and in many cases, remarkable beauty.
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