Luxury Scotland,Norway,Bear Island & Svalbard

Embark the Silver Cloud and depart on your expedition – “To the Land of the Midnight Sun”. After settling into your suite and attending a safety drill we will be setting sail. Meet the members of your Expedition Team in the Lecture Theatre and attend the first of many memorable dinners in one of the restaurants.

John O’Groats, often called “the end of the road”, is a fantastic, unspoilt location. The most northerly point in mainland Britain, the RSPB’s reserve of Dunnet Head has stunning sea cliffs, with some very diverse coastal heathland and grassland habitats. Special plants such as spring squill, thrift and roseroot thrive there.The area around John O’Groats is recognised as one of the best places in the UK to see Atlantic puffins during their breeding season. Other seabirds include guillemots, northern fulmars, oystercatchers, shags, black-legged kittiwakes and a variety of gulls. During our Zodiac cruises we will view the nesting seabirds in the inlets, ledges and on the stacks. Grey and common seals, dolphins and orcas can also be often seen along the Caithness coast.

Charming sandstone buildings line the waterfront of this historic seaport. Lerwick is the northernmost town in Scotland and the capital of Shetland. Our morning excursion travels south, admiring the view of the magnificent Mousa Broch, the tallest and best preserved of all brochs in the world. You will continue down the west coast passing St Ninian’s Isle where the famous Pictish horde of silver dating from the 9th Century was found in 1958. Continue south to visit the remarkable archaeological site of Jarlshof. The site was uncovered by a violent storm in the winter of 1896/7, revealing an extraordinary settlement site embracing at least 5,000 years of human history. The site contains a remarkable sequence of stone structures – late Neolithic houses, a Bronze-Age village, an Iron-Age broch and wheelhouses, several Norse longhouses, a medieval farmstead, and the 16th-century laird’s house. Visit the remains of these village settlements with your guide.

You will then depart for the RSPB Reserve at Sumburgh Head where you will see Shetland’s first lighthouse, built in 1821 by Robert Stevenson. The cliffs around Sumburgh Head are on the southernmost tip of mainland Shetland and attract thousands of seabirds, including puffins, guillemots, shags and fulmars. Gannets are regularly seen off shore too. The seas here are home to various animals and you may be lucky enough to see harbour porpoises (neesicks), white-beaked dolphins and whales – orca, minke and even humpback whales are sometimes seen. Common seals often haul themselves out onto the rocks.

Of Norway’s many fjords, Geirangerfjord is doubtless the most beautiful. Impressive mountains, numerous waterfalls as well as farms clinging to the steep hillsides give the fjord its unique character. Our excursion takes us uphill past the wooden, octagonal Geiranger Church, through the wild Flydal valley where a scenic overview stop is made, and continues around hairpin bends to Lake Djupvatn, and the summit of Mount Dalsnibba (1,500 metres.) From here, there is an amazing panorama of mountains, waterfalls and lakes.

As we head north along Norway’s magnificent shore, Silver Cloud will cruise along mountainous islands, through steep-walled fjords and narrow channels. Be out on deck to discover these special places. Our lecturers will present interesting talks and seminars, but you can also relax at the pool and let the impressive landscape go past while enjoying a drink. Have lunch al fresco and sample some of the exquisite cuisine prepared by our team of international chefs.

Leknes is a town on Vestvågøy in the Lofoten Islands connected by bridges and tunnels to the mainland. On our birding excursion we will look for gannets, cormorants, eider ducks, shags, great and Arctic skuas, black guillemots, kittiwakes and Arctic terns. En route, we pass the Borgpollen Bay where we may observe black and red-throated divers, tufted ducks and scaups. Further on, during a stop by Lake Storied we have the possibility to see black-tailed godwits, bluethroats, Slavonian grebes and a variety of ducks.

Alternatively, choose to visit the remarkably well-preserved Nusfjord Fishing Village and the Lofotr Viking Museum.

Because of many Arctic expeditions having started in Tromsø the town is known as the “Gateway to the Arctic” - visit the two museums dedicated to the Arctic: the Polar Museum and Polaria. You can also see the northernmost botanical garden with its surprising variety of plants growing this far north. Tromsø’s churches are quite interesting –the wooden Lutheran church in town or the “Ice Cathedral” on the mainland can easily be reached. A spectacular view of the town and the surrounding area can be had taking the cable car to the top of Storsteinen, 421 metres above sea level. You could also visit Norway’s northernmost brewery and taste its beer. There are many ways to keep you busy this morning.

During the afternoon Silver Cloud will head out to sea and our lecturers will take the opportunity to prepare you for our stay in Svalbard.

Explore the rugged coastline of this remote island. Close to 9 kilometres of cliffs are home to some of the largest bird colonies of the northern hemisphere. common and Brünnich’s guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes, northern fulmars, and glaucous gulls are all found along the cliff. Other species have been observed, including puffins and even gannets.

Leaving Bear Island head out on deck to watch for whales -white-beaked dolphins and minke whales are known to frequent the area.

Our flexible itinerary is dependent on weather and ice conditions. We will go ice cruising by ship and Zodiac and also hope to visit:

Hornsund – This is the southernmost fjord on the rugged west coast of Spitsbergen Island where we hope to see belugas, bearded seals, polar bears and many birds.

Fjortende Julibreen – The 14th of July Bay is located at the entrance of Krossfjorden. Here we will go ashore for a hike up to the 14th of July Glacier.

Liefdefjorden – At the entrance to Liefdefjorden are several small island groups. On the Andøyane (Duck Islands) we may encounter polar bears looking for bird’s eggs.

Monacobreen – Cruising past majestic red Devonian sandstone mountains we will reach the end of Liefdefjorden for a Zodiac cruise along the front of two different glaciers: Monacobreen and Seligerbreen. Monacobreen has a 5 kilometre long front and is a good place to look for seals, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Ivory Gulls.

Magdalenefjorden, where the remains of blubber ovens and a cemetery can still be seen.

Arrive and disembark