Atlantic shores and the Channel coastline
From Lisbon to London, PONANT invites you on an unforgettable cruise along the Portuguese, Spanish, French and British Atlantic coastlines. A 15-day circuit filled with discoveries aboard Le Bellot.
Throughout your journey, you will benefit from an excursion included per person per port of call, to choose from a selection offered by PONANT. During this cruise, explore the Santiago de Compostela site from Vigo, visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or discover the aptly-named Belle-Île-en-Mer from Quiberon. The diversity of experiences on offer promises you intense and varied moments (to discover the full range of excursions, go to the itinerary tab).
After boarding in Lisbon, you make a port of call in Leixões, before heading on to Porto. The capital of the northern region, this 'city of granite' is not only known for its wine, but also for its remarkable historic town centre, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Your journey continue to Galicia and the city of Vigo, the biggest fishing port in Spain. Not far from here, Santiago de Compostela awaits you. This unmissable pilgrimage destination is home to a number of monuments from the Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque periods, testimony to its illustrious past. Le Bellot then heads for the capital of the Spanish Basque Country, Bilbao. Between daring architecture and the continuation of its ancestral traditions, you can witness the city’s unique energy.
Your ship sets sail for Bordeaux, the wine capital of the world, then Royan, a seaside resort located at the mouth of the Gironde estuary, before moving up towards the Breton coasts in Quiberon, the embarkation port for Belle-Île-en-Mer, Houat and Hoëdic. You sail around the tip of the Finistère and reach Roscoff, a former city of corsairs that is labelled a “Small Town with Character”. During your stop in Saint-Malo, a town famous for the legendary Route du Rhum yacht race, lose yourself in the diversity of its heritage, stroll along its rampart and fall under the charm of the city of privateers.
Le Bellot crosses the English Channel and drop anchor at the spellbinding Channel Island of Guernsey, marked by the long exile of Victor Hugo. Then, you make your way to Dartmouth, a charming town tucked away in the heart of the stunning décor formed by the mouth of the Dart. You discover its old pastel-coloured fishermen’s houses and some half-timbered buildings.
Your journey comes to an end in London, the cosmopolitan capital of the United Kingdom, rich with historical heritage and exceptional avant-garde art.
When searching for a luxury yacht expedition cruise, there’s one name above all else that you need to know – Ponant Cruises. Founded in 1988 by former French Merchant Navy officers, Ponant combines succulent luxury with authentic adventures on all seven continents.
From classic Mediterranean itineraries and Caribbean sailings, to bucket-list expeditions around Greenland and Antarctica, Ponant cruises proudly counteract the banality of mainstream voyages with a unique take on the concept of small-ship cruising. It’s the absolute trip of a lifetime.
Like the other ships in the PONANT EXPLORERS series, Le Bellot has been designed to provide absolute comfort for its passengers, even at the heart of the world's most remote and isolated regions.
