Europa, Europe’s Blossoming Fire Islands ex Lisbon to Hamburg – 31 May 2021

16 Night Cruise sailing from Lisbon to Hamburg aboard Europa.

Please note that your choosen cruise is conducted in German only. All printed matters are available in German. Nevertheless our crew is fluent in English.

In the early summer, Portugal’s islands in the Atlantic bloom in the most beautiful colours. Experience Madeira’s pristine riches and explore the Azores. The archipelago remains an insider tip with wonderful natural scenes and stunning gardens.

Highlights of this cruise:

Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal. a lively and multicultural place. Pre World War I wooden trams clank up steep gradients, past mosaic pavements and Art Nouveau cafés, and the medieval, village-like quarter of Alfama hangs below the city’s castle.

Modern Lisbon has kept an easy-going pace and boasts a vibrant, cosmopolitan identity from large communities of Africans and Asians. In 1994, Lisbon was European City of Culture, while in 1998 the city hosted the last great Expo of the millennium.

There are few monuments and little art in Lisbon, largely due to the 1755 earthquake. There is one building from Portugal’s golden age – the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos at Belém – that is the equal of any monument in the country. More modern developments include the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian museum complex and the Tómas Taveira’s amazing postmodernist shopping centre at Amoreiras.

Funchal
Funchal is the centuries old capital of Madeira, an island in a Portuguese Archipelago consisting of Madeira, Porto Santo and the uninhabited islands of Selvagens or Desertas. Funchal is located in an absolutely unique area. The almost ‘amphitheatre’ like formation it rests in begins on the beach and rises almost 1200 metres on gentle slopes.

Funchal is an enchanting town set on a glittering bay against a background of soaring green mountains. Its historic core overlooks the harbour and features some fine government buildings and stately 18th century mansions.

Attractions include the botanical gardens located on the edge of the city, and after that the famous Monte toboggan ride back into town. East of the city and rising to a height of almost 600 metres is Cabo Girão, the world’s second-highest sea cliff. The rest of the island is easily reachable from Funchal, including the characteristic triangle-shaped houses at Santana on the north coast, and the secluded deep-valley location of Curral das Freiras, where nuns sought refuge from invading pirates in the mid 16th century.

Horta
The development of whale hunting brought whaling fleets to Horta during the whole 19th century. The whalers would take shelter at Porto Pim to rest their crews and recruit Azorean harpooners and rowers, famous for their courage and skill. In those days the streets of Horta were full of sailors who would break the peace of the night with their shouts and lively songs. The construction of a pier, started in 1876, attracted steamships which took on coal at Horta.

A new phase in the life of Faial began in 1893 with the laying of a submarine cable linking Horta to Lisbon and from there to the rest of the world. This was followed by other cables which transformed Horta into one of the main telegraphic communications centres of the first half of the 20th century. The first transatlantic flight stopped over at Horta in 1919, as did the majestic Pan American clippers from 1939 to 1945. A naval base in the two world wars, Horta was one of the ports used by the Allied fleet at the time of the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

One of the centres of the Regional Administration and the seat of the Azorean Parliament, Horta is a white town framed by the blue sea. Yachts from all over the world are anchored here, the present reflection of its age-old vocation to serve as a cosmopolitan port where the paths of men of different races and languages meet.

Hamburg
Hamburg is a major port city and second largest city situated on the Elbe River in northern Germany. Two-thirds of Hamburg is occupied by parks, lakes or tree-lined canals, giving a refreshing rural feel to one of the country’s major industrial and media centres.

Sightseeing is concentrated in two main areas, the city center and the harbor. Hamburg’s historical center is mostly modern with only a few ancient houses and churches surviving the 1841 fires and WW2 bombings. The city center looks onto the Alster Lake, of which the outer section (Aussenalster) is particularly attractive.

The other principal sightseeing center is the harbor and the adjoining red-light district of St Pauli with its infamous main street, the Reeperbahn. St Pauli is the city’s leading nightlife area, with numerous theaters and respectable nightspots. The harbor is the second biggest in Europe and provides visitors with boat tours, museum ships, the Speicherstadt warehouse museums and the colorful comings and goings of any major port.