Isles of the North

• Exclusive journey to storied islands in the North Atlantic graced with pristine, rugged beauty and magnificently diverse geological features sculpted over millennia.
• Created in our tradition of innovative programming and educational travel.
• Access to ports unavailable to larger vessels and included excursions throughout your program.
• Specially arranged visits to awe-inspiring Icelandic wonders: the Goðafoss waterfall, the lava fields of Dimmuborgir and the surreal geothermal landscape of Námaskarð.
• UNESCO — Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark, Shetland Islands.
• Denmark & Norway Pre-Tour Extension and Reykjavík Post-Tour Extension.

Arrive at Bergen Flesland Airport. Proceed through the immigration checkpoint to the baggage claim area and retrieve your luggage. After completing a customs screening, meet a Gohagan & Company representative.

Transfer to the deluxe Atlas World Traveller. Settle in and enjoy dinner on board the ship tonight.

Enjoy a delicious breakfast on board this morning, and every morning of the cruise.

Spend free time this morning exploring the ship or relaxing with a book. After a delectable lunch, depart for your excursion.

Disembark in Lerwick, the capital and main port city of Shetland, for a coach tour to the island’s southernmost point. En route, pass through the rural townships of Fladdabister with a view—weather permitting—of the magnificent Mousa Broch, the tallest and best-preserved broch in the world. Continue down the west coast and pass St. Ninian’s Isle, where the famous Pictish hoard of silver, dating from the ninth century, was found in 1958. Next, embark on a guided visit to the remarkable archaeological site of Jarlshof. A violent storm in the winter of 1896 to 1897 uncovered the site, revealing an extraordinary settlement embracing more than 4,000 years of human history. View the sequence of stone structures, including an Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, late‑Neolithic stone houses, a Bronze Age village, Norse longhouses, a medieval farmstead and a 16th‑century laird’s house. Look for sightings of Shetland’s famous ponies as you travel back to the ship.

Join your fellow passengers for a Welcome Reception on the ship, followed by a Welcome Dinner.

Explore the island of Streymoy. Begin in the municipality of Tórshavn, founded by Norsemen in the 10th century. Navigate the narrow, historic lanes of Tinganes, which are bordered by traditional grass-roofed houses. Transfer to Kirkjubøur to visit the ruins of St. Magnus Cathedral and the 900-year‑old Roykstovan, the oldest wooden house in Europe.

After lunch at a local restaurant, continue to Kollafjørður to view a traditional Faroese church and visit the Dúvugarðar, a national heritage museum, located in the remote village of Saksun.

Seyðisfjörður boasts mountainous scenery, fun cafes, a bounty of local handicrafts, and traditional Icelandic architecture. Enjoy a specially arranged cultural and musical performance, featuring Icelandic songs.

Then take advantage of time at leisure to explore more of the town. Witness the picturesque Blue Church with its trademark rainbow pavement leading down to the street. This iconic landmark stood at a farm until 1882 when it was moved to Vestdalseyri. After being destroyed in a storm in 1894, the church was rebuilt in a different location and was moved to Seyðisfjörður in 1920.

Return to the ship for lunch onboard. Spend your afternoon cruising. Perhaps head up on deck to take in sights of the passing coastline.

Today’s excursion will take you to some of the fascinating, sometimes otherworldly, landscapes that make Iceland so memorable.

The 100-foot-wide horseshoe-shaped Godafoss waterfall is a spectacular sight. The falls are fed by the Skjálfandafljót River, which runs across a 7,000-year-old lava field created by the Trölladyngja volcano. Gaze across the plain and at the thundering falls—whose name means Waterfall of the Gods—perhaps feeling rising mist and thrumming from the rushing water as it falls 40 feet into a placid pool below.

Travel to Namaskard, a high-temperature thermal field where the sulfur cauldrons, fumaroles, mud pots and land colored by minerals in shades of red, yellow, green and orange create an otherworldly landscape. Continue to Dimmuborgir to admire and walk among dramatic lava rock formations. The lava field, filled with pillars, towers, caves and other structures, was created by volcanic eruptions over the centuries. The strange dark shapes resemble nothing so much as a dark castle, or Dimmuborgir in Icelandic.

Return to the ship for lunch and an afternoon at leisure.

This evening, join your fellow passengers for a Farewell Reception on the ship, followed by a Farewell Dinner.