Swan Hellenic Discovery Cruises View Basket

See the World from a Different Point of View

Mediterranean, Black Sea, Northern Europe & UK, Baltic & Norway, Red Sea, Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, Far East

The original pioneers of discovery cruising, Swan Hellenic has been offering cruises to intriguing destinations for more than 50 years, combining the stimulation of discovery with the ease of comfortable travel. Our cruises offer a deeper, more enriching experience, with the expertise of our Guest Speakers illuminating the past and helping to explain the present.

A Swan Hellenic cruise offers exceptional value with so much included - a full programme of shore excursions in each port and all gratuities on board Minerva and ashore.

Minerva is a small ship, carrying 320 like-minded passengers, in a congenial country house environment. Soft, subtle lighting and carefully chosen fabrics extend to the cabins, all recently refurbished. A wide range of accommodation includes suites with private balconies, deluxe and superior outside cabins with picture windows, comfortable inside cabins that include essentials like ample storage space and refinements such as bathrobes, binoculars and books.

Each day you spend aboard Minerva promises to be as memorable as the days you'll spend ashore. You are assured of a warm welcome and unobtrusive service that will ensure your every need is met.

One of the main attractions of a Swan Hellenic cruise is the calibre of Guest Speakers, each of whom is chosen for their expertise and for their passion in communicating their specialist subject. Swan speakers are respected historians, classicists, archaeologists, military historians, art historians, volcanologists, theologians, specialists in ancient jewellery, ambassadors, writers, broadcasters, natural historians and geologists - to name but a few.

This brochures spans three continents and demonstrates the breadth and depth of Minerva's cruising itineraries.

In April and May, Minerva cruises in Mediterranean waters - lower temperatures, a gentler pace of life and the chance to see the archaeological sites carpeted in wild flowers are.

Following this, the programme of cruises from Dover, England, includes the ever popular Norwegian fjords, the cities of France, the Baltic Sea, Iceland, the British Isles and Ireland.

Minerva then revisits traditional cruising areas including Iberia, Italy, the Adriatic, Greece, Turkey, the Black Sea, North Africa and the Levant. Sailing south in early December, she will follow in the wake of ancient traders and explorers around the coast of Arabia to Dubai.

At the end of 2010 and into 2011, Minerva returns to Asia, where she will bask in the warmer climates of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Hong Kong. These itineraries offer a number of pre- and post-cruise options: city stays include the intriguing cities of Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai while overland tours include the Golden Triangle of India, the 12th century fortified Cambodian city of Angkor Wat, and a tour to China that includes such highlights as Beijing, Xian, the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors.