Star Pride, Norwegian Fjords & German Gems ex Amsterdam to Bergen

17 Night Cruise sailing from Amsterdam to Bergen aboard Star Pride.

Highlights of this cruise:

Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands is built around a concentric network of canals spanned by over 1000 bridges.One of the most attractive ways of viewing the city is on a canal tour. Many of the houses date back to The Netherlands' golden age in the 17th century. These narrow-fronted merchants' houses are characterised by the traditionally Dutch ornamented gables. The oldest part of the city is Nieuwmarkt, located near the first canals - Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht - built to protect the city against invasion.

Amsterdam is famous for its liberalism regards soft drugs and its thriving sex industry. The city has also long been a centre of diamond cutting and it is still possible to see diamond cutters at work. Boasting 53 museums, 61 art galleries, 12 concert halls and 20 theatres, Amsterdam also has a booming cultural life.

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.

Copenhagen
Modern Copenhagen is an attractive, well-kept city and the largest city in Scandinavia. It has a provincial, small-town atmosphere, gabled houses, narrow streets and a skyline that is dominated by delicate spires. Copenhagen is also the greenest capital in Europe with much of the city center reserved for pedestrians, strict anti-pollution laws, and bikes often outnumbering cars on the streets. There are many green spaces (including the world-famous Tivoli) and in the summer, cafés and restaurants occupy the pavements.

Copenhagen boasts theaters, museums and a lively, surprisingly cutting-edge nightlife scene. The best the country has to offer can be experienced in the capital city, where there are design studios, ultra-hip bars, and modern architecture amongst the 17th-century buildings. A road bridge to Sweden was completed in 2000, making Copenhagen a key focal point for Scandinavia, the Baltic and the rest of mainland Europe.

Bergen
Bergen is located on the south-western coast of Norway, in the county of Hordaland, in between a group of mountains known as De syv fjell ("the Seven Mountains"). It is recognized as the unofficial capital of the region known as West Norway, and also recognized and marketed as the gateway city to the world famous fjords of Norway.

The oldest part of the city is on the north side of the bay of Vågen. Here you find Bryggen, a number of old, wooden houses dating from the early 18th century.

A popular tourist attraction is the open air fishmarket on the harbour. Further down you find the main shopping area, rebuilt after a fire in 1916 in art nouveau and functionalism, around the main square Torgalmenningen. Several old quarters of white, wooden houses surround the centre, notably Nordnes, Marken and Sandviken.

Visitors should not miss the ride with the funicular up to Mount Fløyen, where one is rewarded with a splendid view over the city and the fabled seven mountains.