Why a cruise is the best way to explore the British Isles
Comprising nearly one thousand islands, mile for mile Britain could well offer the most varied coastline on Earth. Candy-coloured beach towns, spectacular pleasure piers and headland-guarding castles quickly give way to towering cliffs and rock stacks wheeling with some of the world’s most important sea bird populations and stretches of beach as under-rated and undiscovered as they are idyllic.
Many of these coastal attractions are so dramatic they can even be seen from the cruise ship deck. Here are nine of the most iconic sights to spy.
White Cliffs of Dover, Kent
The whiteness of these striking 350ft cliffs emanates from the chalk constituting the bulk of their composition, but it is their place on one of Britain’s key maritime routes, the Dover to Calais channel crossing, that has made them near-mythical bastions of Britishness. They became a symbol of defence during the Second World War, thanks to the Dame Vera Lynn number “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover” and still give visitors one of the most iconic welcomes to the country.
Crosby Beach, Merseyside
Sometimes, when sightseeing from a ship, you too can become a sight to see. Such is the case at the seafront of Crosby, near Liverpool, which has been transformed into one of Britain’s most singular stretches of coastline thanks to sculptor Antony Gormley’s Another Place art installation. The work features over 100 upright, life-size cast iron figures, all staring out to sea at the passing ship traffic and spreading for almost two miles along the sands. As striking as any manmade contribution to Britain’s shoreline, and more haunting than most, Another Place explores ‘man’s relationship with nature,’ according to Gormley.
Chesil Beach and the Jurassic Coast, Dorset
This 18-mile (29km) arc of shingle beach connects the Isle of Portland with the Dorset mainland and is commonly known as a tombolo – a rare form of spit that links an island to land. Chesil Beach forms part of a wider wonderland of bizarre topography known as the Jurassic Coast, a Unesco-listed region that includes one of Britain’s most impressive rock arches, Durdle Door, and the paradisiacal horseshoe-shaped Lulworth Cove.
Isles of Scilly
Waking from a deck-side doze to see the Isles of Scilly, you would be forgiven for thinking your vessel had drifted out to the Caribbean. This archipelago of sand-rimmed isles and turquoise waters has a history of shipwrecks and corsairs that reads like a chapter from Treasure Island. The low-lying islands are brightened further by the swathes of narcissi and ‘Scilly Pinks’, cultivated here as one of the principal industries.
Pembrokeshire Coast, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is the Cornwall of Wales: a smorgasbord of riven cliffs, secluded beaches and wave-based rock formations tinted purple by the local stone and dotted by peaceful fishing villages and seaside towns.
Watersports, particularly surfing, kayaking and coasteering (clambering along the cliff base, jumping off rock stacks and floating into sea caves) are deservedly popular here, where the coastline dazzles at every twist and turn. St Davids is Britain’s dinkiest and most westerly city, and reportedly the final resting place of Wales' patron, Saint David.
Causeway Coast, Northern Ireland
Giant’s Causeway, a mêlée of interconnecting basalt columns and saucer-shaped rocks that protrude out of the coast like a bizarre mini-city, is by far the best-known feature of County Antrim’s Causeway Coast – regularly touted as one of the most unique stretches of seaboard in the British Isles.
The startling topography of sheer cliffs and gold-sand bays, alongside poignant ancient ruins, made it a great filming location for some of Game of Thrones.
Argyll & Bute
With over 30 main islands, plus a loch-laced mainland coast that gives it an island-like feel, Argyll and Bute is a place to leave land transport behind and take to the waves.
Highlights include the region’s pretty main town, Oban, capped by a 19th-century philanthropist’s attempt at recreating the coliseum, the photogenic white whisky distilleries of Islay, the white sandy strands of Mull and the caves that inspired a Mendelssohn symphony on Staffa. With a scattering of craggy ruined castles ever in evidence, the waterways here are fascinating because of how close the land comes even when exploring on a big ship.
Outer Hebrides
This is the most remote inhabited archipelago off the coast of the British Isles, and one of the last strongholds of the Gaelic language, spoken by nearly all islanders. Running around 130 miles north to south, the island chain encompasses vast peat bogs, Britain’s best sandy beaches and the unique terrain known as machair (grass-and flower-covered sandy dunes), meaning the isles are a sanctuary for a stupendous variety of birdlife.
Look out for the poignant stone circles of Callanish, one of Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic sites.
Pentland Firth
Britain’s most treacherous sea crossing, the tempestuous Pentland Firth between Scotland’s north coast and the Orkney Islands might not appear ideal for sightseeing at first glance. Yet when the squalls clear, the rugged headlands of Dunnet Head and Duncansby Head, respectively the most northerly and north-easterly points of the British mainland, harbour some breathtaking geological formations: stacks, natural arches and sea caves.
An even more dramatic rock stack, the Old Man of Hoy, awaits on the other side of the firth on Hoy.
How to do it
Seabourn's 15-day Gems of the Irish Sea & Hebrides round-trip cruise from Dover calls at Portland (for Chesil Beach and the Jurassic Coast), the Isle of Mull and threads around the coast of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. From ￡6,499pp, departing July 1 2019 (seabourn.com).
Other cruise companies regularly plying the waters around Britain include Fred Olsen (fredolsencruises.com) and Cruise & Maritime Voyages (cruiseandmaritime.com).