European Explorer

Your gateway to the Eternal City, Civitavecchia has served as Romes seaport since the 13th century. The port has a long and venerable history. The emperor Trajan built a pleasure villa near the modern city, while Bernini and Michelangelo designed the harbor fortifications. Yet the Eternal City eternally beckons. The ancient capital of the Western World and the center of Christianity for nearly 2,000 years, Rome provides an inexhaustible feast. Visit the ruins of the Forum, view the splendors of the Sistine Chapel, or climb the Spanish Steps, once the heart of Romes Bohemian Quarter. Rome has been a magnet luring the worlds greatest artists, architects, and philosophers since the days of the Caesars.

Toulon has been the great bastion of the French navy since 1494, when Charles VIII chose its superb harbor as the site for a naval shipyard. Today, Toulon is homeport for the French navys nuclear-powered aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle.” The city is also the capital of the Var and provides an excellent gateway to the riches of Provence and the Cote dAzur. To the north and west are medieval Provencal hilltop villages and superb vineyards. To the east lie the fabled coves and beaches of the Cote dAzur, the setting for the legendary resort of St. Tropez. And everywhere there is the miraculous fusion of sky and sea that forms the essence of Southern France. Toulons Upper Town bears more than a strong resemblance to Paris – in the 1840s, the prefect of the Var was that same Baron Haussmann who gave the City of Light its elegant boulevards and architecture. Haussmann first tried his hand at urban renewal here in Toulon

The 1992 Summer Olympics revealed to the world what Europeans and seasoned travelers already knew – Barcelona is one of the worlds greatest treasures. Vibrant and earthy, commercial and cultural, this city of two million residents is the capital of Spains autonomous region of Catalonia. Stroll along the wide, tree-lined promenades of Las Ramblas and marvel at the spires of Gaudis Basilica La Sagrada Familia. Or visit the former Olympic Ring on the hill of Montjuic – also home to world-class parks, fountains and museums. Barcelona, which nurtured such artistic giants as Picasso, Dali, Miro and Casals, is definitely a travelers paradise.

The Rock crouches over the sea like an ancient stone beast, looking Sphinx-like to Africa. Beneath the white cliffs of this natural fortress grows a profusion of palm, pine, and cypress. No fewer than 600 varieties of flowers thrive here, some not found anywhere else on Earth. Gibraltars stunning setting is matched by its history – five countries have battled for 13 centuries to control the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The result made for a cultural melting pot. Veiled Moroccan women in caftans and vacationing Englishmen and Spaniards stroll along the narrow, steep lanes. The locals revert to a liquid Spanish when talking among themselves. And visitors to a 15th-century cathedral pass through a blue-tiled courtyard, once part of a 13th-century mosque.

Draped across seven hills, Lisbon was once the center of a vast maritime empire that stretched from the west coast of Africa to the Spice Islands of the East Indies. Then, on November 1, 1755, a violent earthquake destroyed two-thirds of the city in the space of 10 minutes. Only the Alfama, the old Moorish quarter, survived. Today, Lisbon is a stately city of Neoclassical buildings and wide plazas. Eternally linked to the sea, Lisbons magnificent harbor is spanned by the longest suspension bridge in Europe.

The south of England boasts a dramatic coastline that encloses some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. The landscape of hills and heaths, downs and forests, valleys and dales, is without rival. Southampton serves as your gateway to the countryside – and to a wide variety of historic sites, national landmarks and charming. And of course, London is a two-hour drive by modern highway. The United Kingdoms premier passenger ship port, Southampton was home for many years to the great transatlantic liners of yesteryear.