This Cruise Line Is Known for Polar Expeditions—and Is Taking Its Approach to Europe With Cultural Tours and Insider Access

For more than 35 years, Aurora Expeditions has been taking travelers to places like Antarctica and Greenland for wildlife encounters and rugged adventure.

Now, they're taking that same thrill-chasing mentality to a place more familiar to most T+L readers: France, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

Aurora is launching a new series of European adventures it's calling Cultural Expeditions, which will debut in 2028 but are open to book starting today, the company tells T+L exclusively.

"Our cultural expeditions are new, which we're very excited about, and what they're meant for is to add a new experience for our curious travelers—those that want to learn about the interconnected stories between destinations," says David Tanguay, head of global sales for Aurora Expeditions.

The idea is to blend the active and go-with-the-flow elements of expedition travel with destinations that are extremely popular—but increasingly difficult to see in fully immersive ways given the crowds that descend on Europe every summer.

"We are expanding our offering to people who really want to leverage the benefit of being on a small ship," Tanguay says. The company has three vessels, and two of them, the 86-cabin Douglas Mawson and the 71-cabin Sylvia Earle, will be offering these Cultural Expeditions.

Guests on these trips will go to less-visited corners of popular destinations, in smaller groups.

In Northern Europe, guests on the Douglas Mawson will spend plentiful time in the fjords of Norway, while also transiting the Kiel Canal of Germany and visiting both Copenhagen and Oslo.

In the U.K., for example, Sylvia Earle will venture to the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Skye, and other evocative destinations that are not often visited by cruise ships.

"One of the advantages of traveling on a small ship is the ability to reach places that larger vessels just can't access," Tanguay says. One example, he notes, is the island of Sark, in the English Channel, which is home to only about 500 permanent residents and has no automobiles. "We'll be using our Zodiacs to bring our passengers to these places."

In all, the company is launching seven distinct Cultural Expeditions, which start at $10,346 per person. These trips are in addition to a full slate of polar and "discovery" trips, both new and existing itineraries, in places such as Scotland, Iceland, and Central America.

"We are launching an active West Greenland itinerary, which is a first for us in 2028," he notes. That trip will visit the glaciers of Disko Bay and other rarely seen corners of the country, which has seen a surge of interest in the past couple of years. "I think Greenland is still a destination that people are learning about," Tanguay says. "And we want to invite more passengers to travel with us and explore it."

Sailings for Aurora Expeditions' 2028 season open on August 7 and can be booked at www.aurora-expeditions.com .

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