An Grand Journey of Atlantic Adventures, Nordic Marvels & Glacier-Sculpted Allure

If there is magic on the planet, then it is contained in water. On this journey, we discover liquid highways that have flowed for thousands of years through the most desirable destinations. Hamburg, seated on the Elbe River and straddling the North and Baltic seas, was built atop a group of narrow islands by medieval shipping merchants of the still proud Free and Hanseatic League. With six times as many canals as Venice, Hamburg owes its affluence to water. Today, the most notable network of canals wind through the gentrified neighbourhood of Speicherstadt. Once the largest warren of water-facing warehouses in the world, it is now a thriving UNESCO World Heritage Site teeming with boats, bistros, shops and nightlife. Heavily hyped as the newest darling of achievement is the sensational waterfront Elbphilharmonie concert hall. Crowned with a wildly beautiful wave-like glass tiara, she lives up to her accolades as the most acoustically advanced concert hall in the world. Landmark architecture in Rotterdam is similarly set beside life-sustaining canals. Once a way to control tidal flooding, the canals, they now thoroughly reflect a lifestyle of marvellous urban living. Curious and cubist, the Kubuswoningen apartments seem to fall like stacked yellow squares into a quaint barge-lined canal. Here the promenade leads to Oudehaven, where the White House, the oldest high-rise building in the Netherlands, towers as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our quest for canals and culture continues to Zeebrugge that is forever linked by the Baudouin Canal to Bruges. Fairytale, charming, UNESCO, the accolades cascade like the currents. Everything here puts its best face toward the water. The Quay of the Rosary, the most photo-worthy point, was once where salt trading was valuable than gold. Even more revered, however, is the Basilica of the Holy Blood that is reported to have a venerated relic of Christ’s body brought here by the Count of Flanders. Water sustains the dream of the adventurer and there is no place it is more appreciated than aboard this journey.

The teak promenade of EXPLORA I becomes your stylish catwalk as you journey to where men wear kilts and women mash the best Scotch whiskey. Walk in the footsteps of saints and ancient kings. Cross paths with artists and poets who protest there “may be dragons.” Edinburgh is enigmatic with come-hither nooks along the Royal Mile. Amble along a tumble of cobbles to the Palace of Holyrood (the British royal family’s home), pass the Scottish Parliament and St. Giles Cathedral until you finally reach the pinnacle of majesty, the hill-topped Edinburgh Castle. Here the jaw-dropping global performance of the Military Tattoo is set before the flood-lit castle ramparts in a truly unforgettable parade of pipes and drums (and sometimes camels and elephants). With more than 30 hours in the city, you can even opt to play golf at the legendary St. Andrews Golf Course. Listen. Do you hear it? The mountains echo the soulful cry of bagpipes. Enter the Highlands, where no men are mightier than those who fought in the world-altering carnage at Culloden near Inverness. Here, the great Caledonian Canal cuts through Scotland to become the headwaters of Loch Ness, notably guarded by Nessie the sea monster and the ruins of the impressive Urquhart Castle. Hop a gondola lift to the highest peak in the UK, Ben Nevis, or visit Clava Cairns, the 4,000-year-old burial grounds that inspired the TV saga Outlander. The unending element of surprise lies in the appeal of the Outer Hebrides, including the stunning Luskentyre beach (rated amongst the top 25 in the world by the BBC) or the Neolithic standing stones (older than Stonehenge), and handsome woollen garments woven from locally loomed Harris Tweed. The moon winks over the Atlantic and guides us to Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles. Graceful experiences await to be unwrapped in Glasgow, where you can go in search of more kingdoms of the sylvan and sublime.

The teak promenade of EXPLORA I becomes your stylish catwalk as you journey to where men wear kilts and women mash the best Scotch whiskey. Walk in the footsteps of saints and ancient kings. Cross paths with artists and poets who protest there “may be dragons.” Edinburgh is enigmatic with come-hither nooks along the Royal Mile. Amble along a tumble of cobbles to the Palace of Holyrood (the British royal family’s home), pass the Scottish Parliament and St. Giles Cathedral until you finally reach the pinnacle of majesty, the hill-topped Edinburgh Castle. Here the jaw-dropping global performance of the Military Tattoo is set before the flood-lit castle ramparts in a truly unforgettable parade of pipes and drums (and sometimes camels and elephants). With more than 30 hours in the city, you can even opt to play golf at the legendary St. Andrews Golf Course. Listen. Do you hear it? The mountains echo the soulful cry of bagpipes. Enter the Highlands, where no men are mightier than those who fought in the world-altering carnage at Culloden near Inverness. Here, the great Caledonian Canal cuts through Scotland to become the headwaters of Loch Ness, notably guarded by Nessie the sea monster and the ruins of the impressive Urquhart Castle. Hop a gondola lift to the highest peak in the UK, Ben Nevis, or visit Clava Cairns, the 4,000-year-old burial grounds that inspired the TV saga Outlander. The unending element of surprise lies in the appeal of the Outer Hebrides, including the stunning Luskentyre beach (rated amongst the top 25 in the world by the BBC) or the Neolithic standing stones (older than Stonehenge), and handsome woollen garments woven from locally loomed Harris Tweed. The moon winks over the Atlantic and guides us to Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles. Graceful experiences await to be unwrapped in Glasgow, where you can go in search of more kingdoms of the sylvan and sublime.

Go carefully into Prince Christian Sound, an iceberg-pocked chasm deep inside a rocky labyrinth, hewn out of the mountains of southern Greenland by Thor himself. Succumb to the sublime sounds of Mother Nature’s song: the silence-shattering whip-crack of calving glaciers, the low groans of spectral ice floes and the shrill exclamations of seabirds, accompanied by the wind’s howl. Onwards through jagged snow-capped peaks rinsed clean by meltwater falls, we are among the intrepid few to navigate the 60-mile passage, escorted by pods of curious whales and solitary bearded seals, basking on lonely bergs.

An extended journey into the northernmost realms of Earth, you sail with a privileged few who will venture into the icy narrows of Iceland and Greenland. You may walk across polar ice caps, float in blue lagoons, and Zodiak beside looming icebergs. Discover soul-enriching sites inside Iceland’s Golden Circle and exuberant landscapes in her rarely seen remote northern fjords. Sail the intricate and spectacular 113-kilometre passage of Prins Christiansund and be awestruck by 2100-metre peaks rising out of the waterway, monstrous waterfalls and glaciers plunging into the sea. Is it any wonder this was once home to brave Erik the Red? High-latitude sailing leads us through the Labrador Sea and into the Strait of Belle Island to find Canada’s maritime providences ablaze in fall colours. We find the soul of America in New York City, Newport and Boston, where revolutionary thinking still rings. Intriguing beyond measure, Bay of Fundy astonishes with its colossal tidal change. Then we glide through the Gulf of St. Lawrence to arrive in Quebec City just as a thousand lights twinkle on at Le Château Frontenac and the UNESCO-protected French fortress.

The land of opportunity is not just a moniker, it also applies to Explora’s experiences that go beyond the superficial to delve deep into the soul of North America. There is no place with more potentiality than Manhattan, the global capital of commerce and culture. The MoMa, Wall Street and Harlem, New York embraces it all … and so can you easily. From the wealthy summer playground of Newport, a seaside town bursting with superlatives. Home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, America’s first polo club, and infamous industrialist residents from the Gilded Age including the Astors and the Vanderbilts. It even boasts the oldest operating restaurant in the U.S., The White Horse Tavern, which has been serving guests since 1673. However, older still is beautiful Boston, dubbed the Athens of America that was settled in 1630. Go behind-the-scenes along Freedom Trail to see how revolutionary thinking still rings inside the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House and Bunker Hill Monument. Visit the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, an eccentric socialite who collected art from around the world. Intriguing beyond measure, we sail to Nova Scotia to the marvel at the Bay of Fundy to witness the highest tidal change in the world. A true natural phenomenon, the tidal change is so massive that it actually causes a shift in the region’s gravity. From one astonishment to the next, we glide deep into the St. Lawrence River to arrive at Quebec City just as a thousand lights twinkle on at Le Château Frontenac and the UNESCO Old City of ingenuity. 400 years old and still very much alive, she was founded by Champlain then lost to the British; however, her heart remains devoted to the Francophile. Terrasse Dufferin, a magnificent 425 meters long boardwalk, offers views of the St. Lawrence River but Château Frontenac, an audaciously elegant structure, soars even higher with fabulous green-copper turrets. Don’t miss fresh croissants from Paillard boulangerie, the cobbled lanes of Le Quartier Petit-Champlain, or Place-Royale, the city’s original square where a statue of King Louis XIV watches over all.

The land of opportunity is not just a moniker, it also applies to Explora’s experiences that go beyond the superficial to delve deep into the soul of North America. There is no place with more potentiality than Manhattan, the global capital of commerce and culture. The MoMa, Wall Street and Harlem, New York embraces it all … and so can you easily. From the wealthy summer playground of Newport, a seaside town bursting with superlatives. Home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, America’s first polo club, and infamous industrialist residents from the Gilded Age including the Astors and the Vanderbilts. It even boasts the oldest operating restaurant in the U.S., The White Horse Tavern, which has been serving guests since 1673. However, older still is beautiful Boston, dubbed the Athens of America that was settled in 1630. Go behind-the-scenes along Freedom Trail to see how revolutionary thinking still rings inside the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House and Bunker Hill Monument. Visit the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, an eccentric socialite who collected art from around the world. Intriguing beyond measure, we sail to Nova Scotia to the marvel at the Bay of Fundy to witness the highest tidal change in the world. A true natural phenomenon, the tidal change is so massive that it actually causes a shift in the region’s gravity. From one astonishment to the next, we glide deep into the St. Lawrence River to arrive at Quebec City just as a thousand lights twinkle on at Le Château Frontenac and the UNESCO Old City of ingenuity. 400 years old and still very much alive, she was founded by Champlain then lost to the British; however, her heart remains devoted to the Francophile. Terrasse Dufferin, a magnificent 425 meters long boardwalk, offers views of the St. Lawrence River but Château Frontenac, an audaciously elegant structure, soars even higher with fabulous green-copper turrets. Don’t miss fresh croissants from Paillard boulangerie, the cobbled lanes of Le Quartier Petit-Champlain, or Place-Royale, the city’s original square where a statue of King Louis XIV watches over all.