Best of British Isles - Antarctic Cruise

Welcoming England as the starting point of your British Isles Cruise! The pre-cruise night included in your package is to ensure a smooth motorcoach ride to Portsmouth on the morning of day two. The hotel will inform you of the meeting time and location for the motorcoach.

You will find a Poseidon representative at the lobby of the hotel. He will guide you to the chartered motorcoach which will bring us to Portsmouth. Portsmouth, the birthplace of the Royal Navy and its maritime history set the tone for our thrilling voyage. We welcome you on board the expedition vessel in the late afternoon.

The Isles of Scilly are a small group of islands located off the Cornwall coast. They offer mild climate, beautiful beaches, wildlife, and a relaxing lifestyle. Bronze Age grave sites, romantic castle ruins from the 17th century and a beautiful, sandy Island, Tresco reveal an interesting and long history. The Tresco Abbey garden is located on the grounds of an ancient Benedictine monastery. It contains a spectacular collection of over 20,000 plants that are native to all parts of the globe. The experience is further enhanced by the local shops and cafes.

Dunmore East, a fishing and tourist village located in County Waterford along Ireland's southeast coast is very popular. It is only a short drive through picturesque countryside to reach the House of Waterford Crystal. You can also take a tour to the Waterford Crystal factory, where you will see master craftsmen in action and the largest collection of their products. Nearby is Mount Congreve a beautiful 18th century Georgian estate with botanical gardens. It contains thousands of plants species in 70 acres of densely-planted woodlands and a 4-acre walled-garden.

We plan to travel the Saltee Islands. Great Saltee is Ireland's most famous bird sanctuary. The islands are owned privately and one of the largest bird refuges in the world. Saltees is a paradise for seabirds, with a wide variety of species from Gannets and Gulls up to Puffins or Manx Shearwaters. The Saltees are also on an important migration route, and they're a favourite stopping off place for spring and fall migrants.

Today's port is the lively seaside town Llandudno, located in north Wales. We then embark on an overland scenic tour through Snowdonia National Park. As we drive, we will see some of Britain's most wild and dramatic landscapes. We will discover the craggy mountain ranges, breathtaking waterfalls, clear crystal lakes, dense forests and flowering meadows. Snowdonia has a variety of wildlife, including wild ponies, otters and water voles. It is also home to rare bird species such as the dotterel, and a peregrine. In the Gwydyr Forest, we stop in Betws-y-Coed, a charming town that is distinctly Welsh.

Conwy Castle should also be on your list. Conwy is a World Heritage Site, and UNESCO has declared it one of the "finest examples of military architecture from Europe's late 13th and early 14th centuries". It is divided into two outer and inner wards. Eight large towers are on the defensive, and there are also barbicans. A postern gate leads down to the river to allow the castle to receive supplies from the sea.

We disembark today at the seaside town of Portrush, Northern Ireland. Overland, we travel to the famous Giant’s Causeway. We discover an amazing geological marvel--40,000 hexagonal basalt column of different heights, tightly packed. They descend like stairs into the ocean. Legend has it that the columns were once a causeway constructed by a giant. We can also see a variety of seabirds in this area, including fulmars, petrels, cormorants, shags, redshanks, guillemots and razorbills.

We also intend to travel the uninhabited island staffa, if weather permits. The hexagonal basalt columns that form the colonnade on this volcanic island are easily identifiable. Fingal's Cave, the most well-known feature of this island, is what we will explore here. The undulating waves of the sea play on the columnar basalt matrix deep within the island to produce an eerie tune that inspired Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. Nesting seabirds such as guillemots razorbills puffins nest on the rugged island.

We will also visit the beautiful Iona today,a tiny island located in the Inner Hebrides off the Isle of Mull. We are captivated by the stunning Iona Abbey. It was founded in AD 563 and is one of Scotland’s oldest and most sacred religious sites. Macbeth is said to have been buried in the adjacent graveyard. Iona, in addition to being a place of historical and religious importance, is also known for its tranquility and white-sand beaches, as well as its excellent birdwatching.

Outer Hebrides (also known as Western Isles) is a group of dramatic and rugged islands located off the coast of Scotland. St Kilda is the most remote of all. The people who inhabited this remote, storm-ravaged island were incredibly hardy and lived there for two millennia. After World War I the island's inhabitants were forced to leave as modernity closed in. We can only see their hard stone structures and distinctive storehouses, called cleitean. They are set in some of the most spectacular scenery on the British Isles. The island's natural beauty will delight nature lovers, with its hundreds of thousands seabirds and two types of early sheep. It also has over 130 different species of flowering plant. Stac Lee is a large sea stack located about 4 miles to the northeast of St. Kilda’s main island, Hirta. The island is also home to the largest northern gannet colony in the world. Islanders used to come here when St. Kilda was a permanently populated island, and would precariously jump ashore in order to gather eggs or hunt for birds.

We'll depart from Stromness today for an overnight tour to Mainland. This is the largest island of Orkney, located off the coast of Scotland in the north-east. The island's cultural heritage is showcased by attractions such as Skara Brae, a 5000 year-old site of habitation and ancient Ring of Brodgar in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Heart of Neolithic Orkney". Our island tour ends in Kirkwall where you can find the historic Saint Magnus Cathedral built in Romanesque style during the 12th Century. Enjoy the unique atmosphere of Kirkwall by wandering through its old streets.

Fair Isle is a small island with rugged coasts and rolling moorlands. It's enchanting because of its historic lighthouses and the friendly people who live there. Birders are drawn to the island for its many records of rare and eastern migrants and rarities.

Fair Isle, in Europe, is one of the best places for seabird watching, particularly puffins.

The island's wildflowers are also a feature. In its bays, seals can also be seen. During our visit, we will have the opportunity to view and buy hand-knitted articles in Fair Isle's distinctive and intricate style.

Isle of May, Bass Rock. These two uninhabited islands lie in the eastern part of Scotland, in the Firth of Forth. Isle of May, which is part of a National Nature Reserve, has large colonies of puffins and other seabirds such as shags and cormorants. Along the coasts, you can see harbor seals and gray seals. St. Ardin's Chapel and Low and Light Cottages are some of the historic architectural landmarks.

In the breeding season the island, also known as the Bass, is home to more than 150,000 northern Gannets. This makes it the largest colony in the world of these majestic birds. Its walls, which are steep and white with guano, darken the skies all around as seabirds fly. This incredible spectacle is one of nature's wonders.

We say goodbye to Leith in Edinburgh after breakfast aboard the expedition ship. If you want to stay longer in Edinburgh, we can arrange transfers from the port to the airport and back again.