The south of England boasts a dramatic coastline that encloses some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. The landscape of hills and heaths, downs and forests, valleys and dales, is without rival. Southampton serves as your gateway to the countryside – and to a wide variety of historic sites, national landmarks and charming. And of course, London is a two-hour drive by modern highway. The United Kingdom’s premier passenger ship port, Southampton was home for many years to the great transatlantic liners of yesteryear.

Bergen has played a crucial role in Norwegian history and culture since Olav the Good founded the city in 1070. Perched between the sea and seven hills, Bergen has witnessed Vikings setting sail on voyages of exploration, trade and war. In the Middle Ages, its old port was a major trading hub for the Hanseatic League, the band of Germanic merchants whose trading empire encircled the Baltic and North Seas. In the 19th century, Bergen was home to such cultural luminaries as the virtuoso violinist Ole Bull and the composer Edvard Grieg. The city retains much of its 18th- and 19th-century charm. Visitors to Bergen will encounter a city that offers a heady blend of natural beauty, history and culture.

Like the spear it’s named for, Geirangerfjord thrusts nine miles into Norway’s mountains. Over 900 feet deep, the narrow fjord is lined by sheer cliffs that rear some 2,000 feet above its surface. Waterfalls, such as the Seven Sisters and Bridal Veil Falls, plummet from cliff to fjord. At the head of this magnificent spectacle sits the tiny village of Geiranger. No wonder travelers have come to call for over a century and a half.

Geirangerfjord is often described as the “most beautiful fjord in the world.”

The small village of Hellesylt is an old Viking port located at the head of the Sunnylvenfjord on the northwest coast of Norway. Here, glacier-fed streams cascade over towering granite cliffs and descend to the calm waters of the fjord. The thundering waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, lakes and crystalline glaciers, inspired Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic masterpiece, “Brand

By the mid-19th century, European travelers were cruising the waters of the Nordfjord and visiting the village of Olden. The Romantic Movement inspired this new taste for dramatic landscape – and Norway had plenty of dramatic landscape. Then as now, travelers were impressed, moved, and not frequently overwhelmed by the stark contrast between peaceful rural farmsteads and a towering wilderness of mountain peaks and glaciers. For many years Olden was home to American landscape artist William H. Singer (1868-1943). Scion of a Pittsburgh steel family, Singer provided Olden with a road and a regional hospital.

Stavanger is blessed with history and natural beauty. It boasts an advantageous location on the southwestern coast with some of Norway’s best weather. From the old port, the city radiates across a network of islands interlaced with graceful bridges.

The south of England boasts a dramatic coastline that encloses some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. The landscape of hills and heaths, downs and forests, valleys and dales, is without rival. Southampton serves as your gateway to the countryside – and to a wide variety of historic sites, national landmarks and charming. And of course, London is a two-hour drive by modern highway. The United Kingdom’s premier passenger ship port, Southampton was home for many years to the great transatlantic liners of yesteryear.