If your idea of a perfect vacation involves flopping from beten (stomach) to gav (back) on a sunny pool deck while a waiter brings you umbrella drinks, before you head off to the casino or the go-carts, you can stop reading now because this isn’t about that kind of trip.
If, however, you’re a fan of Outlander, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, windswept cliff-tops, castles (ruined and otherwise), botanical gardens, and/or cozy pubs, then Swan Hellenic’s “Spirit of the Celts” voyage may be perfect for you.
The Jerusalem Post first reported on the launch of the Swan Hellenic Diana in June 2023. The Scandinavian-inspired expedition ship hosts up to 192 guests and targets smaller and more remote ports. At every stop, we were the only cruise ship in sight – avoiding the crowds that plague some popular destinations.
On this particular trip, there were only 62 passengers aboard – about half Swiss-German and half English-speakers (mostly from the United States).
One guest likes the ship so much he’s lived onboard almost full-time for the past two years.
British novelist had a vacation home in this village
British mystery novelist Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn) had a vacation home in the village starting in 1926 and wrote her first novel there. She’s celebrated by a baleful “Rook with a Book” statue in honor of her short story “The Birds” (later adapted as a movie by Alfred Hitchcock).
A small smuggling museum commemorates the village’s criminal heritage.
The next stop was Tresco, the second largest of the Isles of Scilly, 45 km. from the Cornish coast. This island is privately owned and a popular vacation destination due to its usually clement weather.
Only about 100 people live on the island full-time, but the population swells to several thousand in the summer. The British Royals have a six-bedroom vacation home on the island (very popular with the Prince of Wales and his family), which they rent out to the public when not in residence.
The main attraction of the island is the Tresco Abbey Garden, established in 1834 at the site of a 12th-century priory.
Twenty-five hundred species from Mediterranean climate zones thrive in the terraced garden, which the Diana’s guests had to themselves for most of the morning.
Next up was Bantry, on the southern tip of Ireland. It’s a small town with a population of about 3,000 and a rather unexpected Brutalist library built next to a still-functioning 100-year-old waterwheel.
A tiny ferry boat took us to the 15-hectare Italianate gardens of Garnish Island, which (thanks to the Gulf Stream) has an almost subtropical climate and supports a variety of exotic plants.
We were stuck in Bantry for another day due to inclement weather at our next planned port – a common cruise risk. But this gave passengers time to visit nearby Whiddy Island, which hosted a US Navy seaplane base during World War I.
At the local pub, Tim (who is also the island’s postman), assisted by his wife Caitlyn and cat Jeffrey, welcomed passengers and taught them how to prepare the bay’s world-famous mussels and bake soda bread.
Five passengers took advantage of the chance to try kayaking.
Sitting in a kayak involves putting your body and legs into an “L” shape, with your knees gripping the insides of the kayak in a frog position. Comfortable, it is not.
As we paddled along the leeward shore of Whiddy Island, our expedition team escorts identified sea birds and helped us spot harbor seals.
We proceeded (by ship, not kayak) up the Irish coast to Galway, a city of 80,000 with a well-preserved Medieval old town. After a walking tour in the rain, we warmed up in a pub with mugs of Irish coffee.
Onward to Killybegs and the wild Sliabh Liag cliffs, rising 600 meters above the Atlantic.
Then to Portrush, on the northern coast of Ireland, and the Giant’s Causeway – a volcanic formation of basalt columns like those in the Nahal Meshushim (Hexagon Stream) in Israel’s Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights – stopping at the cliff-top ruin of Dunluce Castle on the way back to the ship.
At Craignure on the Isle of Mull we visited the rebuilt Duart Caste – the oldest still-inhabited house in Scotland – where the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger classic I Know Where I’m Going! was filmed.
It’s a smallish castle but fully equipped with the essentials – including a dungeon for imprisoning shipwrecked survivors of the Spanish Armada.
It’s still the seat of Clan Maclean and the private residence of the current chief, who came out to complain that our bus was early.
The castle has a history worthy of Game of Thrones. In 1519, the 11th chief (known as “Lachlan the Shaggy”) marooned his wife on a tidal rock after she failed to produce an heir. She was rescued by passing fisherman and returned to her own family. Four years later, her brother murdered Lachlan in his bed.
Next, we anchored off Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. Mary Anne MacLeod, mother of US President Donald Trump, was raised three miles away and immigrated to the US in 1930 to work as a housemaid.
In the evening, we paid a private visit to yet another botanical garden – Inverewe, created from barren land in 1862.
At the same latitude as Moscow, it benefits from the Gulf Stream and from the shelter of imported California redwoods.
From the Scottish port of Oban (known for its single-malt whisky distillery founded in 1794) , we set out for Inverary Castle, an 18th-century blend of baroque, Palladian, and gothic styles with extensive gardens, both formal and wild. (The Scottish episode of Downton Abbey was filmed there.)
The trip ended in Dublin. In addition to being the ancestral home of Israel’s President Isaac Herzog (his grandfather was the first chief rabbi of Ireland), it also has a small Irish-Jewish museum and even a kosher deli and grocery store.
Swan Hellenic hasn’t yet announced the dates for its next “Spirit of the Celts” cruise but its “Iceland and British Isles” cruise in August 2026 will go to some of the same ports.
The writer was a guest of Swan Hellenic.