London To Lisbon: Cruising Europe's Western Shores – With Smithsonian Journeys

London, located on the River Thames, is the capital city of England and the UK, and with over 14 million international visitors per year it’s the most visited city in Europe. It is an important hub for tourists, and the city is home to an array of famous attractions. The four World Heritage Sites include the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, the historic settlement of Greenwich at zero degrees longitude, and the site containing Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster, and St Margaret’s Church. Read more about London, Great Britain

London, located on the River Thames, is the capital city of England and the UK, and with over 14 million international visitors per year it’s the most visited city in Europe. It is an important hub for tourists, and the city is home to an array of famous attractions. The four World Heritage Sites include the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, the historic settlement of Greenwich at zero degrees longitude, and the site containing Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster, and St Margaret’s Church. Read more about London, Great Britain

Caen is a commune located on the Orne River in northern France, just 15 km inland from the English Channel. It is surrounded by lush, green countryside, not dissimilar to the south of England. During WW II, this key site of the Battle of Normandy suffered considerable destruction. Read more about Caen, France

St Malo (aka Saint-Malo, Sant-Maloù, Saent-Malô) on the English Channel in Brittany in the NW of France, is an amazing, historic, ancient walled city. With its tall granite mansion blocks lining the attractive lanes and squares, its numerous ramparts that offer amazing views, and its cobbled streets brimming with restaurants, bars and shops, it is considered to be the most attractive channel port in France. The Citadel, aka the Old Town, was originally built on a rocky island at the mouth of the Rance estuary, a strategic position for defence, but today the modern harbour connects the citadel to the mainland. Read more about St Malo, France

Bilbao, situated on the estuary of Bilboa in the north-central part of Spain, is a bustling city that epitomises the merger of the modern and the historical, as modern architects erect new buildings next to 19th-century structures. Thanks to its history and location, Bilbao is a magnificent ‘cocktail’ where architecture, tradition, character, and history, are blended to offer the visitor endless leisure and culture opportunities. With the railway connecting Bilbao and the coastal neighbourhood of Las Arenas, the city became a popular beach destination, but it was the inauguration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao - a true masterpiece - in 1997 that gave the tourism industry its real impetus. Read more about Bilbao, Spain

Located in the NW corner of Spain, La Coruna is part of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia. It’s a region of vast green landscapes with a rich Celtic and Roman heritage that keeps, to this day, a mystic and magic allure. Once protected by walls on three sides and by the sea on the other, the lively streets of the early medieval town with good examples of preserved Romanesque architecture, make for a fascinating visit. Read more about La Coruna, Spain

Vigo, the ‘Gateway to the Atlantic’, is the largest city in NW Spain. It is located on a 32 km long estuary and boasts beautiful beaches and outstanding water sports facilities. Built over both a hill-fort and a Roman settlement, today it boasts major historic buildings and wide tree-lined streets. Read more about Vigo, Spain

Located in the scenic estuary of the Douro River with swathes of vineyards clinging to the hills, Oporto - aka Porto - is Portugal's second largest metropolis, and one of Europe's most charismatic cities. The city is home to monuments by leading world architects from the past and the present, and some fantastic baroque carvings. Then there’s the world-famous sweet wine, and Ribeira - Its historical centre - that was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO. Read more about Oporto, Portugal

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, lies in the western Iberian Peninsula aside the Atlantic Ocean and the Tagus River. As one of the oldest cities in the world, it is rich in Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Modern and Post-Modern constructions. The city is also crossed by historical boulevards and monuments along the main thoroughfares. Read more about Lisbon, Portugal