14-day fjords of Norway & Iceland

Your voyage begins in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The largest port in Europe, Rotterdam is an intriguing mix of the old and the new. The city's lineage is ancient - Count Willem III granted city rights to the sleepy fishing village on the Rotte in 1328, yet much of the city dates from the six decades following the end of World War II. An important industrial center and a major European port, Rotterdam was among the first targets of the Nazi blitzkrieg against the West. On May 14, 1940, the German Luftwaffe firebombed the city, Rotterdam was gutted. The post-war years saw a slow rebuilding but by the early 1960s the maze of port facilities extended all the way to the North Sea. Today, this city of over half a million is the economic powerhouse, not just of the Netherlands but of Northern Europe.The Nazi bombardment of 1940 gutted most of the old city. As a result, Rotterdam's architecture is an intriguing mix of old and new: modern glass skyscrapers often stand adjacent to 19th- and 18th-century buildings.

A full day at sea - time to enjoy Rotterdam's restaurants, pools and entertainment.

Your ship calls at Eidfjord, Norway.

Your ship calls at Scenic cruising Hardangerfjord.

By the mid-19th century, European travelers were cruising the waters of the Nordfjord and visiting the village of Olden. The Romantic Movement inspired this new taste for dramatic landscape - and Norway had plenty of dramatic landscape. Then as now, travelers were impressed, moved, and not frequently overwhelmed by the stark contrast between peaceful rural farmsteads and a towering wilderness of mountain peaks and glaciers.For many years Olden was home to American landscape artist William H. Singer (1868-1943). Scion of a Pittsburgh steel family, Singer provided Olden with a road and a regional hospital.

Your ship calls at Scenic Cruising Nordfjord.

Your ship calls at Alesund, Norway.

Bergen has played a crucial role in Norwegian history and culture since Olav the Good founded the city in 1070. Perched between the sea and seven hills, Bergen has witnessed Vikings setting sail on voyages of exploration, trade and war. In the Middle Ages, its old port was a major trading hub for the Hanseatic League, the band of Germanic merchants whose trading empire encircled the Baltic and North Seas. In the 19th century, Bergen was home to such cultural luminaries as the virtuoso violinist Ole Bull and the composer Edvard Grieg.The city retains much of its 18th- and 19th-century charm. Visitors to Bergen will encounter a city that offers a heady blend of natural beauty, history and culture.

Continue your voyage aboard Rotterdam with a leisurely day at sea.

Your ship returns to Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Another day at sea to explore the ship at your own pace.

In 1933, an enterprising editor in Inverness enlivened a slow news week with the story of an odd sighting in Loch Ness. The legend grew overnight - and today individuals still scan the dark waters of the Loch for a sight of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. Legend goes back as far as the 6th century and insists that the celebrated Loch Ness Monster inhabits a cave beneath the picturesque ruins of Urquhart Castle. Welcome to Invergordon, your gateway to Loch Ness and that area of the Highlands known as the "Great Glen."

A full day at sea - time to enjoy Rotterdam's restaurants, pools and entertainment.

Considered the cultural capital of Eastern Iceland, Seydisfjordur lies at the head of a narrow fjord flanked by high mountains. This town of some 700 souls achieved municipal status in 1895, the first town in the East of Iceland to do so. The city is also the terminus for the ferry service linking Iceland to the Faeroe Islands and Denmark. Seydisfjordur is your gateway to the wild and isolated scenery of the Eastern Fjords. In myth, these narrow bays and towering mountains were once the home of trolls, elves and ogres.Seydisfjordur boasts a wealth of well-preserved 19th century homes and buildings. In the summer the small town can take on a cosmopolitan air as visitors flock to town aboard the ferry.

Your ship calls at Scenic cruising Seydisfjordur.

The town is your gateway to the famous "Land of Fire and Ice" - Iceland's dramatic landscape of volcanic craters, extinct lava lakes and majestic waterfalls.Visitors to Akureyri have a hard time grasping the fact that the town lies just below the Arctic Circle. The climate here is temperate: flower boxes fill the windows of houses, and trees line the neat, well-tended avenues. Thanks to that mild climate, Akureyri's Botanical Gardens provide a home for over 2,000 species of flora from around the world - all surviving without greenhouses. No wonder Icelanders refer to Akureyri as the most pleasant town on the entire island.Travel Tip - Akureyri rhymes with Tipperary.

Your ship calls at Scenic cruising Eyjafjordur.

The town of Ísafjördur is the municipal centre of the West Fjords peninsula. The West Fjords are Iceland's least populated region, with 9,600 inhabitants in the area of 9,520 km. Isafjördur (population 3,500) formerly one of Iceland's main trading posts, was granted municipal status in 1886. Some of Iceland's oldest and best-preserved buildings, dating from the 18th century, are located in Ísafjördur. The town is still predominantly a fishing centre. A vigorous and varied cultural and artistic scene flourishes in the town as well. Mountains surround Ísafjördur on the three sides and the sea on the other. The ancient settlement site of Eyri downtown is enclosed by the narrow Skutulsfjördur fjord, which shelters the harbour in all weathers.

Your ship calls at Scenic Cruising Isafjardurdjur.

Iceland is a land of volcanoes and glaciers, lava fields and green pastures, boiling thermal springs and ice-cold rivers teeming with salmon. This unspoiled demi-paradise is also home to a very old and sophisticated culture. The northernmost capital in the world, Reykjavik was founded in 874 when Ingolfur Arnarson threw wood pillars into the sea, vowing to settle where the pillars washed ashore. Today, Iceland is an international center of commerce and home to one of the most technologically sophisticated societies in the world.Reykjavik is the gateway to Iceland's natural wonders, which range from ice fields to thermal pools. The island is in a continual process of transformation much like its society, which blends Nordic tradition with sophisticated technology.