17 Night Cruise sailing from Harwich roundtrip aboard Black Watch.

Delightfully relaxed in mood and reassuringly human in scale, resplendent Black Watch offers you the best of cruise worlds.

Featuring 423 cabins and suites with balconies to make cruising to every destination that much more special. Having undergone a refit in Spring 2007, her sophisticated decor looks fresher than ever, with many traditional cruising features.

Highlights of this cruise:

Harwich
HARWICH, on the northeastern tip of the peninsula and at the estuary of the rivers Stour and Orwell, has a long history as a port, sending out Elizabethan mariners like Drake and Hawkins on their voyages and providing the dockyards that built the Mayflower, the ship which took the Pilgrim Fathers to America.

Today Harwich is best known as Britain's main North Sea ferry terminal, though since ferry traffic goes no further than Parkeston Quay, this has left the old town, to the east, relatively undisturbed. The old town is a conservation area containing many historic buildings. If you find yourself with time to kill, there's enough to keep you amused for an hour or so, starting with the brightly painted Electric Palace, on King's Quay Street, a purpose-built cinema, fashioned in Edwardian Baroque in 1911 and still going strong.

Tallinn
Tallin, Estonia's capital city, is located at the north-eastern extremity of Europe on the shores of the Baltic Sea. It has been hailed as the 'New Prague', though it is more compact and easier to get around.Tallinn's old town is very pretty, all cobblestones, castles and church spires with an eye-catching smorgasbord of medieval and baroque architecture.

On the fringes of the old town, a new district is emerging with gleaming new hotels and offices as Estonia celebrates the EU membership it attained in 2004. Half the fun in Tallinn is just walking around the old town streets viewing the layers of history with Russian orthodox churches, Dominican monasteries, old merchant houses and medieval meeting halls. In Tallinn art and culture are taken very seriously and there is a fun filled local nightlife scene.

St Petersburg
Situated in the west, on the Baltic Sea, St Petersburg is a city of magnificent palaces and elaborate churches in grandiose Baroque and neo-classical designs. Highlights include Trezzini's gold-spired landmark of St Peter and St Paul, the bright color, domes and gold of the Church on Spilled Blood and the carved and gilded extravaganza of St Isaac's Cathedral. On Nevsky prospekt, St Petersburg's main thoroughfare, the styles of three centuries, from classical to Baroque to Style Moderne, have created one of the most beautiful streets in the world.

Adding to the beauty of the buildings are the canals and rivers, which cross Nevsky prospect and have been compared to Venice. The winding waterways lead to the broad River Neva, at the heart of St Petersburg. Although the capital moved to Moscow after the revolution, St Petersburg is certainly Russia's first city in terms of beauty. It is also the center for classical culture - from opera to ballet to music - with historic venues, such as the Mariinsky Theater.

Copenhagen
Modern Copenhagen is an attractive, well-kept city and the largest city in Scandinavia. It has a provincial, small-town atmosphere, gabled houses, narrow streets and a skyline that is dominated by delicate spires. Copenhagen is also the greenest capital in Europe with much of the city center reserved for pedestrians, strict anti-pollution laws, and bikes often outnumbering cars on the streets. There are many green spaces (including the world-famous Tivoli) and in the summer, cafes and restaurants occupy the pavements.

Copenhagen boasts theaters, museums and a lively, surprisingly cutting-edge nightlife scene. The best the country has to offer can be experienced in the capital city, where there are design studios, ultra-hip bars, and modern architecture amongst the 17th-century buildings. A road bridge to Sweden was completed in 2000, making Copenhagen a key focal point for Scandinavia, the Baltic and the rest of mainland Europe.