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Day 1 DARTMOUTH
Board the M/V Polar Star in this town of palm trees.
Day 2 ISLES OF SCILLY
At the subtropical island of Tresco, we tour the Abbey Gardens. Next is the community of St. Mary’s for a lovely long stroll to Bant’s Cairn at a Neolithic village site.
Day 3 IRISH COAST
Reaching the lush southwest coast of Ireland warmed by the Gulf Stream, we visit Bantry and Bantry Bay House of Glengarriff and later, lovely Italianate gardens on Garinish Island.
Day 4 THE SKELLIGS
Today we explore the remote Skelligs – little more than rock pinnacles. One is a fantastic nesting area for gannets, while the other is crowned with monastery ruins perched at the very top where Puffins are often spotted. Time permitting, we will also visit Valentia and Dingle Bay.
Day 5 ARAN ISLAND
We start the day with a cruise by the Mohar cliffs, then call in at the Aran Islands. At Inishmore Island we explore the early Christian site of Dun Aengus, a dramatic stone fort.
Day 6 WESTPORT
Traveling north, we come to Clew Bay where we visit Westport and Westport House, one of the grandest homes of West Ireland.
Day 7 TORY ISLAND
Off the coast from Donegal, we sail to Tory Island – 150 or so Gaelic speakers welcome us with singing, dancing and story telling. We will also be on the lookout for the elusive Corn Crakes.
Day 8 ISLAY & GIGHA
In the wild and lovely Hebrides, we tour Bowmore Distillery and after lunch visit the subtropical gardens of Achamore House on the island of Gigha.
Day 9 IONA & STAFFA
Early Christianity spread to northern Europe from Iona. We visit the Abbey, then take a walking tour of Staffa, watching for Puffins. Staffa is noted for its basalt cliffs and deep sea caves, most notably Fingal’s Cave, that so inspired Mendelsshon.
Day 10 ST. KILDA
Continuing our glorious sail through the Outer Hebrides, we come to historic St. Kilda, home to vast numbers of seabirds including nesting gannets in the sea stacks. We plan to visit Hirta and then Zodiac cruise the shores passing Boreray.
Day 11 LEWIS
We land at Stornoway and visit a Harris Tweed factory, the ancient standing stones of Callanish, a traditional “black house” at Gearrannan and the ancient Carloway broch.
Day 12 SHETLAND ISLANDS
From Lerwick we explore the island with a focus on nesting areas of Guillemots, and rookeries for Puffins, Kittiwakes and Razorbills. We also visit the archaeological site Jarlshoff (4,200 old) and time permitting, Mousa Broch.
Day 13 THE ORKNEY’S
We explore the island’s archaeological sites including Standing Stones of Stennes, Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae and cairn of Maes Howe. This is also a day of bird watching and time permitting a visit to Kirkwall and its cathedral.
Day 14 LEITH
We dock at Leith, the port town of the lovely and historic city of Edinburgh. Disembark after breakfast.
Back to Top m/v Polar Star Cabin Plan
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