Visiting:
Scottish archipelagos and the Faroe Islands: Nordic heritage and island identities
Through PONANT’s alliance with The Explorers Club, this voyage will feature Sefra Alexandra - The Seed Huntress, an endurance race ethnobotanist on a perennial hunt to preserve the biodiversity of our wild and cultivated lands through seed conservation. Sefra has conducted seed conservation fieldwork globally, fortifying community seed banks with Tactivate. She was a Genebank Impacts Fellow of the Crop Trust and worked for the Global Seed Vault. Sefra holds an M.A.T. in Agroecological Education from Cornell University and is a member of WINGS WorldQuest and The Explorers Club.
PONANT proposes a 10-day cruise aboard Le Bellot exploring the captivating landscapes and extraordinary historical heritage of the archipelagos of Scotland and the Faroe Islands, lands with Celtic and Viking influences. Leaving from Glasgow, you will reach Oban, capital of the county of Argyll, considered the cradle of Scotland, and its spectacular coastlines to the west of the Highlands. You will then sail towards Loch Ewe in the Northwest Highlands, a sea loch that is home to a remarkable subtropical Eden; next, you will reach Shiant Islands and its huge sandstone cliffs, where many colonies of seabirds come to nest. You will then head for the Orkney archipelago and its windswept moorland landscape. Stromness, a small fishing port with stone houses, reveals a rich history of Vikings, merchants and sailors. In the middle of the North Sea, the Scottish archipelago of the Shetlands is rich in unsuspected treasures on its raw territories with jagged coastlines. From Scalloway, the stone structures at Jarlshof are a vibrant testimony to the first settlements while the cliff at Sumburgh Head offers fantastic views of the seabirds. On the more remote island of Foula, man has had to deal with the elements. Your ship will then sail north towards the the Faroe Islands, Denmark’s northernmost autonomous territory. In this isolated archipelago, you will immerse yourself in a wild and spectacular natural environment. In Suduroy, the rolling plains populated by sheep shape the scenery punctuated by sheer summits, mountain lakes and jagged cliffs looking out to the islands, offering outstanding terrestrial and maritime panoramas. In Streymoy, you will enjoy sailing around cliffs home to bird colonies. Here, the Viking legends and the Nordic cosmogony are never far away. In the Hebrides, you will call at Stornoway, the main town on the island, built by the Vikings in the 9th century. One of the most important prehistoric sites in Scotland can be found here: the Calanais Standing Stones. The last stage of your journey will take you to Tobermory, a charming fishing port with multicoloured houses and with a distillery that produces a renowned single malt, before you arrive in Glasgow, your disembarkation port.
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.
