London to Lisbon: Cruising Europe's Western Shores – with Smithsonian Journeys

In alliance with Smithsonian Journeys.

This cruise is part of a collection of PONANT voyages that are specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers who want to engage with the world. In addition to the usual elements of the PONANT experience, the listed price for these voyages includes transfers to and from the ship, talks and discussions aboard ship by world class experts, and a shore excursion or activity in each port of call that encourages guests to embrace the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the local environment and culture.

Set sail with PONANT aboard Le Champlain for a 10-day cruise along the coasts of France, Spain, and Portugal.

Embark in London, England, the cosmopolitan capital of the United Kingdom, and begin with a night aboard ship docked near London Bridge. Your ship then continues down the River Thames, through the Strait of Dover, and along the English Channel.

From Caen, France, whose thousand-year-old castle was built during the reign of William the Conqueror, choose to venture further afield in Normandy to Omaha Beach, where Allied forces launched their attack against German troops during the D-Day invasion of WWII.

Your next call is in Saint-Malo, a charming seafaring town on the coast of Brittany and the gateway to magnificent Mont-Saint-Michel. This iconic medieval town on a tidal islet with its famed citadel and abbey is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

After a day at sea, Le Champlain sails into Bilbao, on the northern coast of Spain. Between daring architecture, including the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and the continuation of its ancestral traditions, you will bear witness to the city’s unique energy.

A Coruña, on Spain's northwest coast, is a major shipping port with a long maritime history, tracing back at least as far as the Phoenicians. The Tower of Hercules, built by Emperor Trajan, is a UNESCO World Heritage site—the only Roman lighthouse still in use. More recently, the city played important roles in the launch of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and in the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula in the early 19th-century.

Your journey continues to the city of Vigo in southwest Galicia. Not far from here, Santiago de Compostela awaits you for an extraordinary visit. This Christian pilgrimage destination is home to a number of monuments from the Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque periods, testimony to its illustrious past.

From the port of Leixões, you will visit Porto, Portugal. The capital of Portugal's northern region, this “city of granite” is renowned for its wine but also for its remarkable historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Your voyage ends in Lisbon, Portugal’s buzzing capital.