Western Europe

Western Europe's Atlantic façade stretches from the dramatic cliffs of Ireland and the rugged coasts of Brittany to the golden beaches of Portugal's Algarve and the volcanic archipelagos of the Canary Islands and Madeira. This is a cruising region of extraordinary cultural and geographic variety, encompassing some of the world's great port cities alongside wild, sparsely visited coastlines.

Lisbon, built on seven hills above the Tagus estuary, is one of Europe's most beguiling capitals — a city of yellow trams, Moorish castle ramparts, and azulejo-tiled facades, whose Age of Discovery heritage launched the first circumnavigation of the globe. The Spanish Atlantic coast reveals Santiago de Compostela, goal of the Camino pilgrimage for a thousand years, and the pintxos bars of San Sebastián — arguably Europe's finest food city.

Further north, Brittany's megalithic monuments at Carnac predate Stonehenge by a thousand years; the Channel Islands preserve their unique Franco-British heritage; and Dublin, with its Georgian squares and literary legacy — Joyce, Beckett, Wilde, Yeats — anchors an Irish coastal experience of great warmth and character.