No one ever really thought cruises would become as big a thing as they have in Britain of all places, and no one (least of all me) could have guessed an adventure travel writer would be writing about them, but the funny thing about cruises is that they do actually take you to some places that you would otherwise never go (who goes to London and hangs out in Tilbury, or spends their time in Scotland in Greenock (for Glasgow) or Invergordon (for Inverness)?
The traditional answer would have been: very few people.
But the unlikely (and pretty unexpected) surge in cruises around the fair shores of the British Isles has totally redrawn Britain’s typical tourism map. Visitors to Greenock, for example, are expected to hit the one million mark in the next five years from cruise passengers alone. The otherwise off-the-map Orkneys are, by numbers of cruise vesssels stopping by, Britain’s number one cruise destination.
So that’s the interesting thing for me about cruise travel, apart from its sudden spike in popularity. The weird and wonderful places it suddenly catapults into the public eye. Truth be told, formerly offbeat places…
Why a Cruise is the Best Way to Explore the British Isles
Move Over Southampton: These Six Cruise Ports Want to Steal Your Crown
I also recently wrote this guide to Bratislava as experienced from the Danube: good for those who prefer river to sea cruises… the only river to link three capital cities in the world, no less…
Bratislava: A Cruise Port Guide
Categories: Eastern Europe Travel, Luxury Travel, UK Travel
