A glorious mosaic of beauty, freedom and authenticity, Portugal’s capital is a stirring artwork of a city. Known for the seven hills it spreads across, and its stirring fado music, Lisbon is a pastel-coloured blend of houses and beautiful tile artworks - and this creative city strikes a perfect harmony between natural and manmade beauty. Stroll along Alfama's steep, cobbled streets as you explore one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods - where each house and door could be its own photograph. Look for the decorative tiles, with the distinctive blues and whites of Azulejo ceramics, and visit the dedicated museum to learn more. Afterwards, wind up to São Jorge Castle, where views out across Lisbon’s red rooftops unravel. Just one of many majestic viewpoints, you can also seek out Miradouro da Graça for perhaps Lisbon's finest panorama, with the copper-coloured suspension bridge stretching over sparkling water beyond the sea of buildings. The elegant Tower of Belém rises in the Tagus estuary and is a historic defender of these shores. The grand, carved cloisters of Jerónimos Monastery spread out close by, and there's another UNESCO recognised location close by at Sintra, where a colourful town is set amid thick gardens and towering mountains - capped by the royal Pena Palace. Later, relax and take a quick break to drink Ginjinha, a cherry liqueur made from chocolate cups instead of coffee. Lisboetas have a sweet tooth, and the famous Pastel de Nata's crumbling pastry and caramelised-custard topping is the essential accompaniment to any coffee stop.

The Cíes Islands are truly a natural paradise of exceptional ecological interest. The craggy granitic rock hills and cliffs of these three islands were once well known as a hideout for pirates. The western sides of the islands share nearly vertical cliffs and numerous sea caves, both formed by erosion from wave action generated by Atlantic squalls as they pass over the islands. The more sheltered eastern side is protected from the salt spray of Atlantic winds and has formed beaches and dunes carpeted with brushy vegetation. The area is now a nature reserve and home to over 15,000 nesting seabirds, most of them Yellow-legged Gulls. The water around the islands is exceptionally clear and cool, and the islands are a favorite recreational spot for the local people.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Lovely Belle Ile – or Belle Ile en Mer to give it its full title – carries its name well. Set 14 km off the coast of mainland Brittany, the “beautiful island in the sea” is an undiscovered marvel. Tourists are few and far on Belle Ile. And with reason – it’s impossible to get to except by ship and even then it is pretty tortuous: the island is a six-hour car ride from Paris to the tiny port town of Quiberon, and is then followed by a 30-minute ferry ride. But it is well worth it. Pretty white fishermen’s cottages welcome you, rocky creeks with waters worthy of the Caribbean (although not the same temperature) beckon you and sailing boats rock gently in their moorings. Le Palais, the island’s main town, boasts a 16th-century citadel standing guard near the harbour. Monet painted the village of Sauzon in 1886 and Sarah Bernhart once owned a home on the island. The island’s rich history dates back as far as 6,000 BC, when it was separated from mainland France. Over the years Belle Ile has fallen prey to many invasions, primary due to inadequate defences. That all changed when Louis XIV commissioned Vauban to fortify the island and entrusted its management to the States of Brittany. After a short occupation of the island by the English (1761-1763), the island’s land was divided up among all of its inhabitants. The French Revolution would further change things, and once Belle Ile was released from the king’s domaine, the island prospered with the development of agriculture, fishing, and ship building. Quiberon is a peninsula of contrasting natural beauty, from its wild, unspoilt western coastline to the sheltered, sandy beaches of the eponymous bay to the east. Visitors flock to the charming fishing villages that serve as popular summertime resorts, coloured with art galleries and alive with the hum of restaurants that serve freshly caught fish. Connected to the mainland by a narrow tombolo, which is guarded by the formidable Penthièvre Fort, the Quiberon Peninsula stretches south for approximately 9 kilometres (6 miles) forming the western border of Quiberon Bay. In 1759 this bay was the site of a decisive battle in the 7 Years’ War, when the British Royal Navy gained supremacy over its French counterpart. In the following century Port Maria at the very southern tip, rose to prominence as France’s leading sardine harbour, thanks to the development of preserving food in sealed and cooked bottles, later tin cans. The peninsula’s earlier history is still very much evident, with numerous menhirs and stone alignments present along its length, hinting at the significance of the area in megalithic times. Perhaps this was partly a reflection on the peninsula’s natural beauty, but also on the dominant force of the Atlantic Ocean that sculpted it. The result is known locally as the “Wild Coast”, with caves, arches and rocky coves making for a sublime and breathtakingly beautiful spectacle. Overflowing with history, culture and natural beauty, no wonder Quiberon is known as the “Peninsula of Dreams”.

Fishing has dominated the Britanny town of Concarneau from its beginning. Starting as a safe harbour for local fishing boats it expanded to become an important port and fish processing base for a deepwater tuna fishing fleet. A museum highlights the rich fishing history, and other reminders of fishing both past and present are all around. The harbour shores have walking tracks, beaches and smaller villages to explore. Listen out for the Breton language of Britanny being spoken. The main town today is large and bustling and occupies the mainland of the harbour. The original old part of town, known as the Ville Close, is a different story. It was built on an island in the harbour for safety. A defensive wall around the town was constructed in the 14th century and upgraded in the 17th century. You can still patrol the ramparts of the wall today. The strategic safe harbour and town was fought over several times. One famous battle was in 1373 during the 100-year War when the Breton knight Bertrand du Guesclin, "The Eagle of Brittany", drove the English from the town. The inside of Ville Close is a jumble of timbered and gabled houses, often decorated with flowers, crowding cobbled streets. It is a tight fit, as the town is only 350 metres (1150 feet) by 100 metres (330 feet) in size. We can understand why the town overflowed to nearby shores. As you cross the bridge to Ville Close you leave much of the modern world and pass an old clock tower that perhaps symbolises a step back to a medieval time. White sand beaches and a turquoise sea attracts visitors to the Glénan Islands. A cluster of nine low islands and many rocky outcrops surrounds a central lagoon of protected waters. All the islands are tiny, with a total area of only 5000 hectares (12,000 acres). The islands are all visible at once from a high vantage such as a ship. The stunning white sands are produced from the break-up of Maërl, a calcareous marine alga, which makes the beaches look like a tropical coral shoreline. The islands are treeless, so there is little shade, but there are brightly coloured flowers such as the blue Borage and the rare Narcissus of Glénan. The Narcissus is a beautiful white flower related to daffodils. It produces a stunning mass display in spring, with a few flowers persisting to summer. As it is only found naturally on the Glénan islands, parts of the islands are a Nature Reserve to protect it. So please don’t pick the flowers! Day trippers reach the main island of Saint Nicolas from the mainland of western Brittany 16 kilometres (10 miles) away by ferry or yacht. There are few facilities on the islands and visitors only flock to the island in summer weather. Visible from all points of Glénan is a lighthouse on Ile de Penfret, and Cigogne, a fort built on an isle by the French in 1756. The fort could hold 80 troops and was installed to protect the region from English pirates and prevent them using the lagoon as shelter. From our point of view today, it does not look like a hardship posting.

The idyllic town of Douarnenez has been a favourite of artists for 200 years, and continues to colour people’s memory. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the narrow streets, quaint harbours and the legend of the lost city of Ys, said to lie beneath the waters of the bay. Douarnenez developed as a prosperous port in the 16th century, through the export of fine cloth and sails, that were made in the nearby village of Locronan (voted one of the most beautiful villages in France), a trade that was only surpassed in the 19th century by the sardine fishery. Taking the “Sardine Trail” is one of the best ways to explore the town - it consists of 17 information panels that explain the key points of interest: start (or finish) at the maritime museum at Port-Rhu, where you can play skipper on 5 different boats in the harbour. Narrow cobbled streets with traditional fishermen’s houses and their workshops add immeasurable charm to the town. Many of these have been given a new lease of life as craft shops, galleries, cafes and restaurants - why not linger over a glass of cider or give in to temptation and try the local cake, Kouign-amann (described in the New York Times as "the fattiest pastry in all of Europe”). To walk off those calories, head up to the cliffs and to the village of Les Plomarch, a favourite spot of artists and also where you can see the remains of Roman era garum vats - tanks to make a fermented fish sauce - before letting the last of your cares dissolve away at the beach of Le Ris.

Roscoff is regarded as “the most British of Brittany’s ports”, and is steeped in charm and character to enchant travellers and prolong their stay. Well-built houses of cut-stone granite reveal the prosperity of former times when the town’s mainstay was cross-Channel maritime trade. Their characteristic dormer windows look like extra eyes that peer out and survey the activity of the harbour, while the sloped cellar entrances prompt images of smugglers hurriedly storing their goods on thick foggy nights. The strangely named Onion Johnny Museum celebrates the cross-Channel trade link, and is well-worth a visit. Onion Johnnies were Bretons who crossed seasonally to the UK and sold their distinctive pink onions door to door from strings on their bicycles (in the early 19th century it was easier to sail to the UK than to take the roads to Paris). Other notable attractions around the town are the Jardin Exotique which contains over 3000 exotic plants, the ornately decorated church of Notre-Dame-de-Croas-Batz, and the contrastingly simple 17th century Chapel of Sainte-Barbe perched atop a cliff. For pure relaxation and pampering then why not indulge with a visit to one of the saltwater spa hotels. Roscoff became France’s first thalassotherapy resort in 1899, using saltwater to treat rheumatism and other ailments. Nowadays many hotels offer relaxation treatments based around hot saltwater pools, Jacuzzis and steam rooms, and is the perfect way to finish your Breton experience.

For many visitors Tresco is the most attractive of the Isles of Scilly. This is especially due to its Abbey Garden, which is home to thousands of exotic plant species from around 80 different countries. Plant collector Augustus Smith began the gardens in the 1830s on the site of an old Benedictine Abbey by channelling the weather up and over a network of walled enclosures built around the Priory ruins. He had three terraces carved from the rocky south slope and maximised Tresco’s mild Gulf Stream climate. Even in mid-winter there still are hundreds of plants flowering here. Another surprising attraction at the Abbey Garden is the collection of figureheads from ships that wrecked among the Isles of Scilly. The Atlantic swells hit and shape the western side of Bryher (bre-her), the smallest of the inhabited islands of the Scilly Isles. Bryher means ‘land of hills’ and the island has five hills of granite, linked by sandy necks. The flatter land is more fertile and habitable and is where the 80 or so inhabitants of the island live. A progression of people have sought to make a home on the Scilly Isles from the Bronze Age onwards. Many were religious figures seeking isolation from the mainstream of society. Bryher visitors often have that same idea today, even if only temporarily. Walking provides ready access around the island which is only 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) long, with a maximum width of 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) and an area of 134 hectares (330 acres). Hells Bay, to the north east, is a rugged coast where waves have shaped the granite coastline. Beaches of fine sand are found in the south. Shipman Head on the northern-most point supports seven types of breeding seabirds including three gull species. Bryher is washed by the Gulf Stream, a warm current that travels all the way from the Caribbean. This keeps the coastal waters and climate of the Scilly Islands mild and able to support plants not often seen in Britain. Many garden flowering species from sub-tropical climates around the world have been planted in gardens or near pathways. A local plant on Bryher to look for is the pretty Sea Thrift or Sea Pink which favours coastal conditions and can form carpets of pink flowers in summer

There is no calf on the Calf of Man. The name of this small island adjacent to the Isle of Man has nothing to do with cows. It is a mispronunciation of the Old Norse word kalfr, meaning a small island near a larger one. The Isle of Calf is only 250 hectares (618 acres) and is separated from its larger neighbour by a narrow stretch of water. Four lighthouses were built on the island and nearby rocks to warn seafarers. Ships hate rocks but Grey Seals love them for resting upon or swimming amongst. While there are no calves, there are a few sheep of the Manx Loaghtan variety, descendants of primitive sheep once found throughout Scotland and nearby islands. Manx means ‘pertaining to the Isle of Man’. Once a private sheep run, the island was donated as a bird sanctuary and is now owned by the Manx National Heritage. Wardens live in the island’s old farmhouse over summer to protect the wildlife, research birds, tend the sheep and look out for introduced Brown Rats. The rats arrived after fleeing a sinking ship in 1871 and became effective killers of seabird chicks. Seabird numbers have surged following a recent rat eradication program. Manx Shearwaters breed from about March to August. They are named after their presence at the islands and seas surrounding the Isle of Man. The birds only visit their island nesting burrows at night and so are easier to spot from the deck of a ship. They glide ever so close to the surface of the sea as if they are ‘shearing’ the water. A sheer delight to watch.

If tiny islands that resonate with peace and tranquillity are your idea of travel heaven, then welcome to Iona. Almost 200 miles east of Edinburgh, set in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, this magical island has a spiritual reputation that precedes it. And luckily, more than lives up to. The island is miniscule. Just three miles long and only one and a half miles wide, this is not a place that hums with urban attractions. 120 people call Iona home (this number rises significantly if the gull, tern and Kittiwake population is added), although residential numbers do go up (to a whopping 175) in summer. The beautiful coastline is lapped by the gulf stream and gives the island a warm climate with sandy beaches that look more Mediterranean than Scottish! Add to that a green field landscape that is just beautiful, and you’ll find that Iona is a place that stays with you long after you leave. Iona’s main attraction is of course its abbey. Built in 563 by Saint Columbia and his monks, the abbey is the reason why Iona is called the cradle of Christianity. Not only is the abbey (today an ecumenical church) one of the best – if not the best – example of ecclesiastical architecture dating from the Middle Ages, but it also serves as an important site of spiritual pilgrimage. St. Martin’s Cross, a 9th century Celtic cross that stands outside the abbey, is considered as the finest example of Celtic crosses in the British Isles. Rèilig Odhrain, or the cemetery, allegedly contains the remains of many Scottish kings. The stunning Isle of Lunga is the largest island in the Treshnish archipelago. With volcanic origin the isle was populated until the 19th Century, and remains of black houses can be seen around this magnificent coastal jewel. Abundant plant life and exotic birdlife are now the main inhabitants of the area. Fortunate visitors view the magnificent array of birds, especially the great puffins that breed on the islands plateau. One can sit within just a few feet away without disturbing the avian ambassador’s peace. The 81 hectare island is home to many rare and endangered plants such as, primroses and orchids. Views over the landscape and across the ocean can be seen from the 300 foot high cliffs.

Portrush is adjacent to the stunning North Antrim coastline. Here lies the medieval Dunluce Castle ruins. Perched picturesquely at the edge of a rocky outcropping high above the sea, the castle is dramatically surrounded by terrifyingly steep drops, which the early Christians and Vikings would have considered a very important security feature. The castle and surrounding areas have been frequently used for the filming of “Game of Thrones”. Another attraction reached from Portrush is the Giant’s Causeway -40,000 hexagonal basalt columns that descend in a kind of pathway to the sea. Formed over 50 million years ago, visitors have marvelled at its majesty and mystery for centuries, and UNESCO has recognised this site with World Heritage status.

Atmospheric cobbled streets, with buskers scraping fiddles and characterful pubs inviting passersby inside, is Dublin in a snapshot. A city of irrepressible energy and lust for life, Ireland's capital is as welcoming a place as you'll find. Horse-drawn carriages plod along cobbled centuries-old streets, blending with an easy-going, cosmopolitan outlook. Known for its fun-filled gathering of pubs, any excuse works to enjoy a celebratory toast and chat among good company. Home to perhaps the world's most famous beer - slurp perfect pourings of thick, dark Guinness - cranked out for the city's thirsty punters. Learn more of the humble pint's journey at the Guinness Storehouse. Dublin has come along way since the Vikings established a trading port here, back in the 9th Century. In the time since, the city became the British Empire's defacto second city, and the Georgian imprint still adds oodles of historic character. Learn of 1916's Easter Uprising, when the Irish rebelled and established their independence here, as you visit the infamous, haunting Kilmainham Gaol. The uprising's leaders were tried and executed in these dark confines. Dublin's St. Patrick's Cathedral has immense history below its steep spire, which dates back to 1191. There's rich literary heritage to leaf through too, and the city's streets were rendered vividly in James Joyce's classic Ullyses. The Museum of Literature celebrates the full scope of Dublin's lyrical talents. Trinity College also has a prestigious roll-call of alumni - visit to see the Book of Kells, a beautifully illustrated bible of the medieval era.

Itineraries are subject to change.