Cruising the Historic Cities of the Baltic Sea – with Smithsonian Journeys

<p>In alliance with Smithsonian Journeys.<p></p>This cruise is part of a collection of PONANT voyages that are specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers who want to engage with the world. In addition to the usual elements of the PONANT experience, the listed price for these voyages includes transfers to and from the ship, talks and discussions aboard ship by world class experts, and a shore excursion or activity in each port of call that encourages guests to embrace the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the local environment and culture.<p></p>Join PONANT and Smithsonian Journeys for an extraordinary 8-day voyage through the Baltic Sea featuring a specially arranged, exclusive presentation and discussion aboard with former President of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize-laureate Lech Walesa while in Gdansk, Poland.<p></p>The Baltic Sea has been a thoroughfare of trade since the days of the Vikings. We will visit the great cities that ring its shores and experience a comingling of cosmopolitan life with centuries of rich history.<p></p>Begin in dynamic Helsinki. Located on a peninsula surrounded by almost 300 islands, the vibrant capital of Finland will charm you with its Art Nouveau architecture.<p></p>Le Champlain sails first to Tallinn, an important hub for the Hanseatic League in the Baltic Sea around the 13th century. Its Old Town is a UNESCO Heritage Site and retains remarkably well-preserved ramparts, public buildings, merchant houses, and warehouses.<p></p>You call next in cosmopolitan Stockholm, whose lively Gamla Stan (old town) located on a compact island showcases narrow cobblestone streets lined with 17th- and 18th-century buildings, including the Royal Palace.<p></p>On Gotland—the largest island in the Baltic Sea—you stop at the beautifully preserved medieval town of Visby, once a stronghold of the Hanseatic League.<p></p>Klaipeda is your gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Curonian Peninsula and an opportunity to learn the traditional art of beekeeping or to immerse yourself in the local food and folklore of Lithuania.<p></p>You sail next to Gdansk, a city with a 1000 year history whose shipyard served as the birthplace of the Solidarity Trade Union in 1980. The wave of dissent arising from the Solidarity movement helped lead to Polish independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.<p></p>Call at the small Danish island of Bornholm, whose lush farmland and rich herring fisheries share the land with the ruins of a medieval fortress and four of the ancient round churches for which Denmark is noted.<p></p>End in sophisticated Copenhagen, which displays 800 years of royal history at the stunning Christiansborg Palace, once home to kings and queens and now home to the Danish Parliament.</p>