Route of the Vikings: Greenland to Newfoundland Copenhagen - Boston

Rising from the harbour that Viking chieftain Absalon fortified in 1167, Copenhagen has evolved into one of Europe's most sophisticated capitals — a city where medieval spires and cutting-edge architecture coexist with effortless style. Savour smørrebrød at a century-old lunch counter, cycle across the harbour bridge to the revitalised Meatpacking District, and venture north to Kronborg Castle — Shakespeare's Elsinore. As one of Northern Europe's premier cruise homeports, it serves as the ideal gateway to Baltic and Scandinavian itineraries, best experienced from May to September.

Ilulissat sits beside the Northern Hemisphere's most prolific glacier — the UNESCO-listed Sermeq Kujalleq, which calves forty-six cubic kilometers of icebergs annually into a fjord of almost incomprehensible frozen spectacle. Visit June through August via Silversea or Hapag-Lloyd for midnight-sun zodiac cruises among hundred-meter icebergs, Knud Rasmussen's childhood museum, and the light show that transforms Greenland's ice into one of Earth's most transformative visual experiences.

Eqip Sermia is one of Greenland's most actively calving tidewater glaciers, its three-kilometer face producing spectacular iceberg births in Disko Bay. Must-dos include Zodiac cruising among freshly calved icebergs, witnessing million-ton ice falls, and photographing the ice face in midnight sun light. July and August offer the warmest conditions and continuous Arctic daylight for this extraordinary glacier encounter.

Sisimiut is Greenland's adventure capital, a colourful Arctic town of 5,500 people just north of the Arctic Circle on the west coast. Must-dos include hiking the Arctic Circle Trail, whale watching for humpbacks and narwhals, and exploring the colonial-era museum. Summer brings midnight sun and hiking conditions, while winter offers dog-sledding, skiing, and northern lights.

Evighedsfjorden is Greenland's 'Fjord of Eternity' — a seventy-five-kilometer passage flanked by ice-capped peaks and tidewater glaciers that provides one of expedition cruising's most profound Arctic landscape encounters. Navigate July through August via Ponant or Seabourn for midnight-sun glacial photography, humpback whale encounters echoing off cliff faces, and a passage so vast it transforms the concept of eternity from abstraction to sensory reality.

L'Anse aux Meadows is the UNESCO-listed site at Newfoundland's northern tip proving Vikings reached North America around 1000 AD — five centuries before Columbus. Visit June through September via Seabourn or Viking for reconstructed Norse buildings, Parks Canada interpretive programs, and the haunting experience of standing where medieval Greenlanders made landfall on a windswept coast still visited by icebergs from their homeland.

Bonne Bay lies at the heart of Gros Morne National Park in western Newfoundland, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where ancient mantle rock, landlocked fjords, and boreal forests create one of Canada's most extraordinary natural landscapes. Must-dos include the Western Brook Pond fjord cruise, hiking the Tablelands' Mars-like terrain, and tasting pan-fried cod tongues with local bakeapple jam. June through September provides snow-free trails and the longest days for exploration.

Louisbourg is the site of North America's largest reconstructed eighteenth-century fortified town on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, where costumed interpreters bring the French colonial era to life within meticulously rebuilt barracks, taverns, and residences. Must-dos include dining on period-recipe meals inside the fortress, exploring the immersive historical interpretation, and driving the spectacular Cabot Trail through Cape Breton Highlands. Visit July through August for the fullest programming, or June and September for dramatic Atlantic fog and fewer crowds.

Halifax, the historic capital of Nova Scotia, is a refined Atlantic port where centuries of maritime heritage meet a flourishing culinary scene anchored by Digby scallops, donairs, and one of North America's oldest farmers' markets. Visitors should not miss the star-shaped Citadel Hill and the harbourfront boardwalk's constellation of galleries and tasting rooms. The ideal season stretches from late June through October, when autumn's blazing foliage transforms the entire province into a masterwork of colour and the cruise terminal welcomes the world's finest vessels.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is a UNESCO World Heritage town whose colourful waterfront of 18th-century wooden buildings and distinctive "Lunenburg bump" dormers represents the finest surviving example of a British colonial settlement in the Americas. Must-dos include the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, sampling legendary chowder and lobster, and strolling the painted streets that launched the Bluenose schooner. Visit June through October, with August for the Folk Harbour Festival and September-October for spectacular autumn colour.

Boston is America's revolutionary birthplace and intellectual capital, a supremely walkable city where the Freedom Trail connects sixteen historic sites past Italian North End bakeries and Beacon Hill's gaslit streets. Must-do experiences include walking the Freedom Trail, eating a lobster roll at the Union Oyster House, and exploring the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. September and October bring peak fall foliage; spring brings the Marathon and blooming gardens.

Portland, Maine, is America’s most exciting small food city, perched on a Casco Bay peninsula where the Old Port’s brick-and-granite streets house more restaurants per capita than nearly any U.S. city, fueled by legendary Maine lobster and Gulf oysters. Must-dos include a lobster roll on the working waterfront, browsing the Portland Museum of Art’s Winslow Homer collection, and a ferry ride to Casco Bay’s car-free islands. Visit September and October for New England’s spectacular fall foliage and the finest weather.