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Green contrasts the Sea
Along the harbors of the Atlantic Alliance, most are characterized by the sea, but there are still other surprises awaiting you a couple of kilometers inland. And then the gardens and the parks: Astonishingly diverse and sometimes ancient, but always ambitiously designed and passionately maintained. Allow your guests to leave for home inspired and dive into the green paradise along your cruise route!
Lisbon (Portugal)
Here, you can visit the westernmost point in Europe at the Cabo da Roca near Sintra. 144 m deep, the cliffs plunge more or less straight down into the sea. www.aerial-pt.com. Near Portinho da Arrabida south of Lisbon, there is the Serra da Arrabida Nature Park with its wooded heights. A foot path leads to the 500-m-high Monte Formosinho which offers an unbelievably beautiful view.
Santander (Spain)
One of the largest dune areas along the Cantabrian coast with rich types of fauna and flora is offered in the Parque Natural de las Dunas de Liencres. It lies along the left side of the mouth of the Pas River upon a type of peninsula. Numerous bird colonies use this park as an intermediate station. Furthermore, it has substantial numbers of lizards, snakes and amphibians. The astonishing landscape of the Parque Natural de Peña Cabarga, with its rocky peaks, slopes, steep cliffs, and a labyrinth of mountain passes was created through iron mining since Roman times in conjunction with the subsequent erosion. A walk reveals the landscape’s beauty.
Vigo (Spain)
Gerez is a small spa at the end of the wooded ravine in the Serra Do Gerez Nature Park, an ideal starting point for hikes. Or travel by boat to the Cies Islands which are part of the Parque Nacional de las Islas Atlanticas. The national park has four groups of islands which offer diverse seabirds and is home to the largest forest of laurel trees in Europe.
Bordeaux (France)
In addition to the Jakobsweg, a section of which leads to Paris via Bordeaux into the Pyrenees, hikes in the vineyards in the surrounding areas and south of Bordeaux, a walk in Les Landes, the largest forested area in France, it is worthwhile to take a side trip to the Dune du Pilat which, at up to 115 m, is the highest sand dune in Europe. Or remain in the city and explore the Jardin Public which was designed at the end of the 18th century and is modeled after English gardens. The Musée d´Histoire Naturell provides a good overview of the fauna of southwestern France.
La Rochelle (France)
North of La Rochelle along the Gulf of Biscaya, there extends a swamp and wooded region that was once notorious: Le Marais Poitevin. Today, the region serves less as the hideout for convicts, but rather as the La Venise Verte National Park. The name “Green Venice” makes reference to the many canals and drainage ditches and the landscape reminds one of the Spree Forest in Germany. Accordingly, you can rent a canoe or enjoy a ride through the canals in wooden boats.
Nantes (France)
It is worthwhile to take a side trip to Vannes. In the almost circular, protected bay, oysters are harvested and one can find out everything about all of this in the Maritime Museum. Drive on to Carnac to the gigantic megalithic graves and more than 3000 menhirs which were placed next to one another in several rows extending for kilometers up to 5000 years ago. Or go on a guided tour along the mouth of the Loire near St. Nazaire through the conservation area called Parc Régional Naturel Brière with its water birds in the swamp, marsh and heath landscape.
Cherbourg (France)
Around Cherbourg in Normandy, you will find diverse parks and gardens with tropical plants. The Liais Park, right in the middle of the city with an observatory tower, is particularly beautiful and Emmanuel Liais, a major of Cherbourg, had it built in 1886. The tropical garden has many unusual plants from diverse parts of the world and its greenhouses house a unique floral heritage. Furthermore, the Cotentin Peninsula has a nature park which is suitable for hikes, cycling tours, horse riding and animal watching.
Le Havre (France)
Normandy, the Garden of Eden: From the archetypal Norman countryside to hedge-framed meadows, quiet rivers and exquisite pretty villages to formal or informal gardens, constant changes of scenery provide something for everyone to enjoy. With over 700 hectares of greenery, Le Havre is one of the greenest cities of France. The Hanging Gardens of Le Havre are so named in reference to one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. In this fort, which dates back to the second half of the 19th century, a tribute is paid to the Norman explorers who, since the 19th century, have enhanced our European gardens with their discoveries.
Southern England is a paradise for garden lovers. The greatest art in the gardens appears as if it were created from a whim of nature – different than the French Baroque gardens which have been designed rigidly and geometrically. Owing to the mild Gulf Stream climate, even palm trees and other subtropical plants can grow here. However, the region offers a lot more!
Portland Port (Great Britain)
The coast between Poole and Exmouth, with its rock formations, documents approximately 190 million years of the Earth’s history and is known, above all, as being a place where a lot of fossils have been found. The so-called “Jurassic Coast” has been declared a protected world cultural heritage site by UNESCO. Upon the small island of Portland, there are diverse limestone quarries in which you can also find notable fossils. In Lyme Regis, at the beginning of the 19th century, the fossilized skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus was found. However, a hike to the Golden Cape, with its approximately 190-m-high cliff, is worthwhile. Lulworth Cove has the Fossil Forest with the Heritage Center.
You can find protected nature reserves, for example, upon Brown Sea Island, an island with a seabird reserve in the Bay of Poole with hiking paths. The Isle of Purbeck is an area of outstanding natural beauty, a paradise for nature lovers. You can comfortably bumble with the Swanage Steam Railway through the peninsula’s heath landscape or hike the terrain upon the Dorset Coast Path. The Chesil Beach connects the Isle of Portland with the mainland. Behind it, there lies the lagoon called “The Fleet”. In the brackish water area of the lagoon which is subject to conservation, unusual types of water birds breed such as sea ravens and sea herons. Near Bournemouth, you should hike in the so-called Chines, ravines in the hilly coastal landscape which are appealing with their pine trees and rhododendrons. Particularly beautiful are the Alum Chine and Durley Chine.
You can find magnificent gardens in Stourhead, Kingston Lacy, Abbotsbury as well as Poole. The Compton Acres Gardens are several gardens in various styles with sculptures, a water lily pond and a view of the bay towards the Portland Peninsula.
Dover (Great Britain)
Kent County is characterized by fruit and hops plantations with hedgerows that appear to be endless and is famous for its gardens: Sissinghurst Garden, designed beginning in 1930 by the author Vita Sackville-West and her husband, has often been called the most beautiful garden in England: 2.5 ha with currently ten different sections which radiate throughout the year in fascinating floral splendor such as, for example, the White Garden in which only white and grey blooms and perennials are permitted. Leeds Castle is surrounded by an artificial lake, a large park with a labyrinth of hedges, greenhouses and the “Culperer Garden” from Russel Page, one of the most outstanding landscape architects of the 20th century.
The white chalk cliffs of Dover are the symbol of the harbor city. On good days, one can even see the French coast. In addition, a walk above the chalk cliffs in an easterly direction upon the Saxon Shore Way can be charming.
Southwest of Folkstone, the Romney Marshes extend with ponds, canals, water ditches and sheep as well as unique bird species. An uncustomary means of transportation for exploring the area is the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, the smallest public railroad in the world. The trains of the steam engine railway run from April to September. Or visit the Sea Life Center of Hastings. It is below sea level and thus shows underwater life.
Or travel to the form garden called “Jardin Topiaire” near Durbuy. The largest section of the 10,000-m²-large park consists of box trees of which some are more than 100 years old. Of them, 250 different topiaries have been artfully pruned. www.topiairesdurbuy.be.
And come and discover the magnificent, 18th century water gardens of Annevoie, part of Wallonia’s main heritage that is located between Namur and Dinant.
Antwerp (Belgium)
In the center of Antwerp, you will find the Botanical Gardens, the Beguines Estate and the city park. Whoever would like to escape the hustle and bustle of the city can take an excursion to the “Nachtegalenpark” in Wilrijk in which historical and modern-themed gardens such as the “Dodoens- and Rubenstuin” are located in the “Hortiflora” or visit the “Rivierenhof” in Deurne. You shouldn’t miss the Middelheim Park, an open-air museum for sculpture.
Vlissingen (The Netherlands)
The Belgian-Dutch Het Zwin Nature Park, where you can observe the bird and plant worlds, is the largest conservation area on the Belgian coast. Het Zwin is particularly known for its large number of various local sea bird species.
Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
Take a bicycling tour to the mills in Kinderdijk-Elshout. Kinderdijk is a small city in the Netherlands which is approx. 15 km southeast of Rotterdam. The 19 windmills serve to pump away the accumulating water from the polders in order to make the ground usable for agriculture and are from the 18th century.
IJmuiden (The Netherlands)
Ijmuiden aan Zee has already been famous for many years for its migratory birds. Around the lake with the adjoining reeds and the dunes, along the beach south of the southern pier and around the piers, there extends one of the best areas for birdwatchers in the southern part of northern Holland. www.zuidpier.com. Between Amsterdam, Haarlem and Ijmuiden, there is the recreational area called Spaarnwoude, a typical Dutch marshland upon almost 3000 hectars. www.spaarnwoude.nl. The Kennemerduinen National Park and the Heerenduinen, with their diverse flora and fauna, are among the most beautiful nature areas in the Netherlands with the sea and inland dunes, the dune seas, the ancient oak forests and the well-designed park forests. There are numerous hiking and bicycling paths through these dune forests.
Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
The Hortus Botanicus is an oasis right in the middle of Amsterdam’s center and is among the oldest botanical gardens in the world. Already founded in 1638, it was actually intended to be an herb garden for doctors and chemists and today has more than 6000 species of plants, a rock garden, an orchid garden and a butterfly house. The Central Park of the city is the Vondelpark [name of park]: Designed by human hand with lawns for sunbathing, several small ponds and numerous playgrounds as well as cafés and restaurants.
Bremerhaven (Germany)
Speckenbütteler Park in the northern part of Bremerhaven has a diverse combination of offerings consisting of an open-air museum with farmhouses and a post mill as well as a park with a pond for boating. Or walk above the Weser Pond in the city between the harbors and the Geeste [coastal sandy heathland in northern Germany] and enjoy unique views. Here, the Weser is already almost the North Sea. And how about a hike through the tidelands from Cuxhaven to Neuwerk Island? You can comfortably complete the return trip by horse and carriage.
Hamburg (Germany)
Wonderful sites await you – whether Botanical Gardens, Planten un Blomen with the ramparts, the Jenisch or City Park with an observatory or the largest park cemetery in the world. Or go to see the cherry blossoms in the Alte Land [Old Land], visit the Saxony Forest, remnants of a gigantic primeval forest or visit one of the last tidal floodplain forests in Europe, only one of 29 conservation areas in Hamburg. A walk along the Elbe or a jog around the Alster is worth it as well as a visit to “Hagenbeck’s Animal Park” which doesn’t just have the word “Park” in its name for nothing. For a large city, Hamburg has more nature to offer than you could ever imagine!