What are the best British Isles cruise ports?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I know this is personal preference and sort of a vague question. But what are the must do ports on this type of cruise. There are different options and I am a little overwhelmed. 

[Cotswold Eagle]

I think you are going to have to work with us a little on this one 😀 What makes a port of call unmissable for some may leave others unmoved. 

 

What would YOU enjoy or look for? Walking around cities/villages/countryside, historic sites, castles, museums, art galleries, shopping, pubs, restaurants, music, coach tours, HOHO tours, steam railways, lake cruises, etc etc.?  

Edited February 7 by Cotswold Eagle

[onyx007]

Yeah, we will need more specific things to go with... I, for example like, when you can walk of the boat and right into town without having to use an (some-times expensive) shuttle and if there is a lot to do and see right around the pier and not beeing 100 km away from the main attraction and the reason to be at this port... for example Cork (Port of Cobh) is one which is great as the village of Cobh is very nice and there are two attractions right in walking distance, also Cork is only a train ride away and easy visited.... in compare Belfast Pier is about 3 km out of the city in the industrial area and even if Belfast is nice to visit...the logistic is far more harder to visit that port by yourself instead of a Shorex...

[John Bull]

Listed clockwise, starting with the usual start/finish ports. Not in order of "best" 'cos "best" is subjective but I've underlined the major ones..

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Dover, England An uninteresting town primarily for cross-Channel ferries to France, but excellent castle worth 4 hours & more via short uphill bus or taxi ride. Or by direct train to Canterbury, 30 minutes..

Southampton, England. Not a tourist city, but has enough to amuse visitors for the day.  A railway hub, lots of day trips by direct train to places like Winchester, Salisbury / Stonehenge, Bath, Portsmouth.

Both are misleadingly called "London", which is 90+ minutes away. London isn't sensibly feasible for a port-of-call visit from either, but most folk fly into London Heathrow (LHR) or London Gatwick (LGW) and spend few days in London pre or post-cruise.

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Portland, England. Secure port.  For rural England, needs either ship's shuttle to the Victorian seaside resort of Weymouth or pre-arranged full-day tour to a selection of worthwhile places.

Cork, Republic of Ireland (Cobh). We've not been there. For the more rural side of the Irish Republic

Dublin. Republic of Ireland (Dun Laoghaire) Lots to see, 25 minute journey on the DART  train from the port

Holyhead, Wales  Best port to see Wales, but needs a pre-arranged full-day tour (most comprehensive option) or train journey eg to Conwy.

Liverpool, England  Modern city, compact centre & easy walking from the cruise terminal. Tour options including pre-arranged to north Wales, or train to Chester.

Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sorry, not been there

Lerwick, Scotland (Shetland Isles) or Kirkwall, Scotland (Orkney Isles). Lerwick is the more remote, but both are wild & woolly and with unreliable weather

Invergordon, Scotland (often inaccurately listed by cruise lines as Inverness, 25 miles away). For the Scottish Highlands and/or Loch Ness - pre-booked full-day tour essential, the town is uninteresting

Edinburgh, Scotland. Historic, lots to see, easy public transportation (average 15 - 20 minutes) from the several possible ports. A favourite city of mine, IMHO a better and easier  port of call than Glasgow (Greenock)

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Also included in many British Isles cruises

Guernsey, Channel Islands. Tender port, unreliable due to sea-state The channel Islands are a laid-back semi-independent part of the UK, some French influence and remnants of *** fortifications (the only part of the UK invaded during WW2).

Le Havre (or sometimes Cherbourg), France. Paris is possible from Le Havre (mid-evening sailing) by ship's coach or by private tour or - for the more adventurous - by direct train, but makes for a very long & rushed day. Or the Normandy D-Day beaches & sights by pre-arranged full-day tour or well-researched D.I.Y by rental car.

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There are a lot of more-minor ports that I've not mentioned,  but don't dismiss them because I've not mentioned them - they include some gems.

 

JB 🙂

.

 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

WOW!  I can't believe I asked it that way as I would have also responded if some else posted it with "tell me what interests you".  🙂

 

Off to work but I will follow up when I get a chance.  

 

Also I will check out John Bull's post.

[onyx007]

So in addition to John Bull I can fill the two blanks (not been there with a cruise, but with an overland trip, ) but been on both cities at the cruise pier:

 

Cork (Cobh) : Pier is right beside the train station, having at least hourly trains into Cork; from Cork Station it's a 30 Minutes walk into the city center, probalby the Shorex with the highest demand might be going to Blarney Castle...but if you like you don't have to leave Cobh at all; it's a nice little village with a great church and three top class museums (one about the Titanic as this was here last stop to get passengers, the museum is housed in the old original waiting hall building of Star Lines Cruises)

the other nice one is on "Spike Island" (has to be booked in advance) which was a navy base AND a kind of Alcatraz...

 

Belfast: as above mentioned; Pier is in the industrial port about 2-3 km from the city center, which is not that interesting in my eyes, the two most interesting attractions in Belfast is the amazing Titanic-Museum which is right at the wharf where she and her sisters where built, the second thing you can do is going with a "Black Cab/Taxi Tour" to see the sights of the resent past with the IRA ...

Edited February 7 by onyx007

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, onyx007 said:

Cork (Cobh) : Pier is right beside the train station, having at least hourly trains into Cork; from Cork Station it's a 30 Minutes walk into the city center,

Thanks for the vote of confidence! 😉, If I could just mention a few things...........

Do ensure that the port is Cork (Cobh) and not Cork (Ringaskiddy).  Cobh is a lovely little town which is great fun during a cruise ship visit.  Bands playing on the green and people in old style dress.  Plenty of places to eat and even imbibe a local brew! 

The train is literally at the bottom of the ships gangway.

Ringaskiddy on the other hand is an industrial port and requires transport to get into Cork.

 

"original waiting hall building of Star Lines Cruises" - actually it was called the "White Star Line"

[onyx007]

Thanks for the correct spelling and you probably cannot see beforehand which port they use, as it probably depends if you are the only ship (then they probably will use Cobh) or if there are other ships there and there is no space in Cobh...the Titanic by the way did also not ancor at the pier and not even in the protected bay as she was too big...

 

And of course @Sox Fan Cruiser there are many more ports ( like for example Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands, which I will visit in June and cannot tell you yet about it or Aberdeen (same thing, visiting in June)

Edited February 8 by onyx007

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Wow!  Life suddenly got busy and I didn't have time to come back here.  Here are some things to give you an idea of the type of cruisers we are.  

 

For a cruise like this, we are going to learn as much about the history and culture of the area as well as scenic beauty.  We never do cruise sponsored tours but hire private tour guides in every port.  We like to stay away the overly touristy spots but will do the "must sees" that an area is known for.  We prefer to have lunch in a place where the locals eat.  

 

But we don't like tours to be 8 hours long so things that are a long drive from the port aren't of interest to us.  Small villages aren't really our interest either.  We appreciate natural beauty but want something more than just that. 

 

I guess my original question was more about if this is are only British Isles cruise ever, what are the places we should go to get the most experience of this area of the world.

 

I appreciate any and all answers!!

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Wow!  Life suddenly got busy and I didn't have time to come back here.  Here are some things to give you an idea of the type of cruisers we are.  

 

For a cruise like this, we are going to learn as much about the history and culture of the area as well as scenic beauty.  We never do cruise sponsored tours but hire private tour guides in every port.  We like to stay away the overly touristy spots but will do the "must sees" that an area is known for.  We prefer to have lunch in a place where the locals eat.  

 

But we don't like tours to be 8 hours long so things that are a long drive from the port aren't of interest to us.  Small villages aren't really our interest either.  We appreciate natural beauty but want something more than just that. 

 

I guess my original question was more about if this is are only British Isles cruise ever, what are the places we should go to get the most experience of this area of the world.

 

I appreciate any and all answers!!

 

Just MHO

 

Central London pre-cruise or post-cruise for 2 or 3 full days excl. arrival day and sailing day.

 

If you've got any budget left after that 😏............

Dublin, Holyhead or Liverpool or both, Belfast, Edinburgh.

Which conveniently also covers all the countries of the British Isles

 

JB 🙂

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Thanks for the feedback!
 

(Budget isn’t an issue.  Life is about experiences while you are here)

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I think what you are saying is that a British Isles cruise is all about small villages and dramatic scenery. I get it. And I am looking forward to that part and will get it with this cruise. But was just trying to figure which itinerary to do as there are so many different ones with different ports. Didn’t mean to offend. 
 

(and by “small villages” I meant some of the ones in Iceland and such with 10 buildings, not something like Cobh.)

Edited February 9 by Sox Fan Cruiser

[Cotswold Eagle]

I wonder if this thread, particularly the videos previous cruisers posted, might be of some use? 
 

 

Edited February 9 by Cotswold Eagle