- I'm Lynn Elmhirst.

I'm a travel journalist with a deep passion for sailing the high seas.

My most cherished travel experiences have been by water, the spectacular scenery, fascinating ships, and maritime traditions you can only experience when you cruise.

When the world went into dry dock, I bided my time by diving into my library of footage to relive some of my favorite travel memories on the "World's Greatest Cruises."

(bright music) (water splashing) (upbeat music) Today on "World's Greatest Cruises," we're sailing in the wake of the Vikings.

Some travel colleagues and I are on a North Sea odyssey, from Scandinavia's coastal capitals to Scotland's highlands and islands.

And we're sailing it aboard the Seabourn Ovation.

Seabourn is a small-ship cruise line.

The Ovation's actually one of its larger Encore class of ships, built for 600 guests, and nearly 400 crew.

Like her sister Seabourn ships, in any port, you can easily identify the Ovation by her circular skylight, reminds me of an oculus of classical architecture.

This modern nautical version illuminates the interior of the Seabourn Ovation, whose spiral staircases leads to decks with a variety of restaurants, from classic to casual, bars and lounges where the atmosphere inside competes with the view, and guest suites, which all have verandas for guests like me and my friends who like Seabourns' caviar and champagne service in the fresh sea air.

(gentle music) This is an epic, historic, northern European seafaring route.

It takes us to Scandinavia and Scotland, and the North Sea's shores, shaped by the stories of rugged folk and their legendary cultures.

in some of Europe's northern-most cities and coastal communities, with remote landscapes and spectacular wilderness, with some irresistibly adorable local residents.

We experience local lifestyles and take in world-famous cultural events.

(bagpipe music) We embark our cruise in Denmark's coastal capital.

Copenhagen's colors stand out against the harbor and sky, in a celebration of Scandinavian style and lifestyle.

What I want to learn about is a traditional Danish approach to life, that's taken the modern world by storm, for its calm ways.

H-Y-G-G-E, what is that?

- Huh, how long do I have to describe?

- Well, first of all, how do I pronounce it right?

- So you pronounce it hygge.

Hygge is, it's sort of the Danish way of living.

It's a philosophy, a little bit equal to mindfulness.

I also sometimes think it's similar to cozy, except it's also much more.

- [Lynne] How did Danish hygge become this international sensation?

- Well, I think in many, many ways, the world is looking to Denmark to see how is it being done here.

Imagine a country that works the least hours per week and still being one of the most productive countries in the world.

And personally, I think hygge is a big deal of it, because if you're able to relax, and you're able to hygge, then you're also able to be much more effective in those few hours that you actually have to work.

Chocolate is absolutely hygge, and this is also the reason we're the happiest people in the world.

For me, sitting down with a cafe latte with my friends or going out for dinner with my husband, sitting on our balcony and watching the sunset.

Because hygge is really subjective.

So hygge is what you need to feel good in the space that you're in.

- Now, I know what to call that feeling I always have on a sail away.

My personal hygge is embarking on a new cruise.

Sail away is always one of my favorite times and places and moments of cruising, on the top deck, waving farewell to your port of embarkation, meeting fellow guests and crew you'll be sharing this new adventure with.

That's one of the experiences that defines cruising, coming together with a group of new people in a shared experience on the water.

(upbeat music) Our first port of call is Gothenburg, along Sweden's west coast, just about 120 nautical miles from Denmark's capital.

Our shore excursion along Sweden's west coast takes us along dramatic modern bridges to idyllic coastal scenery, where recreational sailing and boating today takes place alongside the more traditional fishing and shipping activities in these wind swept coastal communities.

Traditional pursuits are still going strong.

One community still has over a half a dozen herring processing factories.

So there's no avoiding one common northern European coastal culinary tradition, pickled herring.

So this is how they eat the herring here.

So you have the pickled herring, but also with potatoes, sour cream on the bottom, and some onion and dill on the top, which should make it a completely different flavor here in Sweden.

Cream, herring, potato, all in one bite.

(upbeat music) The thing about herring is, it always tastes better than you think it's going to, which is a good thing.

(Lynn laughing) You should try it.

(upbeat music) In many places, like the capital of Norway, on the Oslo Fjord, on a smaller ship like the Seaboard Ovation, we can dock right in the traditional heart of town and stroll off our ship into one of Oslo's most famous attractions, its picturesque harbor.

This historic section of Oslo's harbor, with its 14th century fortress and castle, is now just one section of a new six-mile harbor front promenade that links historic and brand newly transformed neighborhoods of the city.

Oslo was founded in the 1000s at the end of the Viking era, and our excursion in Oslo takes us even farther back in time to the incredible seafaring world of the Vikings.

- This is the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, and it displays three Viking ships.

These ships were put into grave mounds in the ninth and 10th centuries, adjoining them where lots of other fantastic items, which are displayed here.

A Viking is a Scandinavian warrior, often seabourne.

The Scandinavian population had, of course, many professions and many activities.

People did lots of things, but some young men went Viking.

They went across the sea, plundering, ravaging, and ultimately settling and forming communities.

Going Viking was sort of a normal period of a male life.

Many, not all, but at least those who had some resources, they were trained warriors, and they went plundering.

This was political.

It was economical.

It was a way of surviving and a way of getting rich.

Lots of resources, both human and economical, were put into this activity of ship building because having the best ships was the way to gain control.

Because if you could surprise your enemy with swift ships and swift attacks and overwhelming force, you won.

The Oseberg Ship is sort of a display ship.

It's amazingly shaped.

It's fantastically curved.

And there's also a lot of nice carvings on.

It was used for sail, but not across open sea.

It was a coastal ship.

It was built to impress.

That's a very special ship.

And then there's a much more functional ship, the Gokstad Ship, built some 70 years later in the late ninth century and buried around 900.

You can see that ship building has advanced a lot in those decades.

It's very, very functional.

It's built for swift overseas sailing, across the North Sea, carrying armed personnel, of course and some cargo, but not much cargo.

It's built for swiftness.

And the third ship, which is called a Half Ship.

It's more like a quarter of a ship, I think.

It's the bottom.

The good thing about that is that you can see it inside, so you can see how it was built, how it was constructed, all the details of that can come up very close and see how the mast was attached to the ship and every detail of the construction.

Some have this idea of Vikings being savages.

Well, they were brutal, but life was brutal at the time, but they weren't savage.

It was a very sophisticated culture and there was also lots of poetry.

There's the myths, there's the stories.

I think it appeals to the very deep sort of fear in all of us, what's lurking in the darkness, what's coming for us.

- Sailing on a small ship that gets to dock in the heart of destinations like Oslo also means when we have a late night sail away the whole city scape becomes like a theater, with us on our ship against a dramatically lit backdrop.

To make the most of an evening under the Northern stars, next to the illuminated medieval castle and fortress in Oslo's harbor, the crew of the Seaborn Ovation planned an event on the top deck, starting with a moonlight performance by the ship entertainment's team, and ending with guests dancing the night away in an outdoor northern mid-summers evening in port, one of those experiences you remember forever, and you never recapture the moment.

(upbeat music) Sailing into Arendal, a regional center farther along the Norwegian coast, brought most of my fellow passengers onto the top deck for the quintessentially Scandinavian coastal views of our scenic approach.

Arendal's so picture-perfect, it's a favorite summer coastal holiday destination for Norwegians themselves.

Outside of Norway, Arendal's perhaps best known for its music festivals.

And although our cruise call in port in Arendal didn't coincide with one of the area's famous music festivals, Seabourn arranged for us to be serenaded by local performers in the harbor.

(Scandinavian music) (passengers clapping) The North Sea isn't exactly famous for tropical weather, but this North Sea crossing was calm and sunny, and perfect for dinner under the Northern midnight sun on the pool deck that's transformed nightly into Seabourn Ovation's open air restaurant, Earth and Ocean.

(gentle relaxing music) Anything that comes out of the smoke box, is always my favorite thing on the table.

Oh, asparagus.

You might call Earth and Ocean rustic.

Every course reflects the elements, but presented with a twist.

(gentle relaxing music) So have two big reveals.

Oh - Wow, le appetit, yes.

Where do you start here?

- I was envious of your lamb shake, but in fact I think you should be jealous of my steak.

(gentle relaxing music) You want the chocolate don't you?

And the bombe, yeah.

- And the bombe, you want that, too?

- And the chocolate ice cream, too.

- Wow, you don't ask for much, do you?

- No.

- Okay.

I do want to try this.

- All right, I'll concede that to you.

- Thank you, you're too kind.

- Thank you.

(gentle relaxing music) (upbeat music) (bagpipe music) - On the western shores of the North Sea, Scotland.

Sail due west from Norway, and you reach Scotland.

The Seabourn Ovation docked in Inverness, the jumping-off port for the surrounding Scottish Highlands.

On a wind-swept moor outside of Inverness, we plunge into history and poignancy at the battlefield memorial Culloden, the Highland Scots' last stand against the English and the last battle fought on British soil.

The battle itself lasted only an hour in 1746, but it lives on even today in popular novels and TV series.

And the battle of Culloden Moor is brought poignantly to life here where stone mark mass graves of clans who died in battle, thistles and purple heather bloom like grave flowers, and visitors walk on the very land where souls lost their lives for their Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Culloden's museum explains the bigger context of a battle that changed history, events that ultimately led to so many Scots fleeing their home for the Americas, where they became ancestors to millions of us today.

Driving through the countryside around Inverness, we feel transported back in time, with scenes that look taken straight from British period films.

Castles made famous by Shakespeare's Scottish Play.

Even a lake with a legend.

But at least on this day, even though we stared hard into its deep, dark waters, Loch Ness kept its secrets.

(bagpipe music) If we thought the Scottish Highlands felt remote, that was nothing compared to our ship arriving at Scotland's subarctic isles.

The Shetland Islands are over 100 miles north of the Scottish mainland.

They're actually not much farther away than that from Norway across the North Sea.

The sea is pretty much the only way to reach the Shetland Islands.

There is a small airport.

If you're driving at all, you'll see it.

Its only runway has to cross the island's only main road, so they stop traffic if there's plane's due.

Having just sailed from Scandinavia, a lot of aspects of the dramatic and misty, rocky landscape seemed so very familiar.

I'm sure that's exactly what the Vikings said, too.

To wandering, seafaring Norsemen, the Shetland Islands must have felt a lot like home.

In fact, the Shetland Isles were home to Norsemen.

The Isles were even annexed by Norway for a while about a thousand years ago.

But the history of people living in the Shetland Islands goes back all the way to the Stone Age.

Evidence of very early ancestors of Shetlanders is everywhere, in the form of remarkable, 2000-year-old stone buildings and settlements, hundreds of brochs, or stone roundhouses like these, still standing.

Today, even North Sea oil hasn't really changed traditional life on the Shetland Islands, which still seem untouched, even as the Isles become an increasingly popular cruise destination on North Sea cruise itineraries.

Many residents still make their living fishing off the windswept shores.

Others farm small crofts.

Their Shetland sheep still grazing year round in stone-fenced fields, and yielding their famously fine-textured Shetland wool to be spun up and then woven or knit in a rainbow of colored sweaters, scarves, wraps and mittens, perfect souvenirs from our trip.

Of course one other famous Shetland resident I was eager to meet, Shetland ponies.

Like the people, they've been here thousands of years and also have some Norse as well as Celtic blood in them.

Also like the people, they're renowned for their strength and resilience, intelligence, and hard work.

I also just think they're adorable.

They can make even a bad hair day look good!

(upbeat music) You never forget your first glimpse of Edinburgh's dramatic, medieval skyline.

The capital of Scotland, on the Firth of Forth that opens into the North Sea, is only about 30 miles from the border with England to the south.

But Edinburgh is unmistakeably one of Scotland's great treasures.

The city grew up around the 11th century castle, perched high on Castle Rock.

Still feels like a fortified medieval village, called Old Town, with cobblestones and passageways that transport you back in time, even as you take in a very modern city that's host to a whole calendar of world-famous cultural events.

From Old Town, The city slopes down the hill along the Royal Mile to another regal residence, Holyrood Palace.

Once you leave Old Town on the rock, you're in New Town, which is newer than Old Town, but still dates back to the 1700's, with it's own world-famous and picturesque street, Prince's Street.

This is probably the third best address in Edinburgh.

The first two spots are taken up, of course, by Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile and at the bottom of the Royal Mile by Holyrood Palace.

That's where the queen lives.

You can't stay with the queen.

But you can stay here.

This is number One Prince's Street, the anchor of the main street of New Town, and it's above the train station.

This Victorian and Scottish baronial style building started life as Edinburgh's train station hotel.

It's now the Balmoral.

Balmoral is Scottish Gaelic for majestic dwelling, and yes, if you recognize the name, one of the queen's Scottish estates is called Balmoral, too.

You might wonder, since I'm on a cruise, why the interest in a hotel?

Even when I cruise I like to visit landmark, historic hotels where I find I get a real feel for a city's travel heritage, and I can recharge to continue exploring.

First, the famous Palm Room for tea.

You may think of tea as more English than Scottish, but here, they perform tea with great ceremony and a Scottish twist.

Thank you.

And of course, here in Scotland, shortbread.

I'm expecting this to melt in my mouth.

Mmm.

(gentle music) Next, crafted cocktails in the atmosphere of the hotel's French restaurant.

The Balmoral Bloody Mary.

Thank you, to the morning after the night before (laughing).

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- [Bartender] Want another one?

- Oh, that's- - Is it good?

- Oh, it's terrific, thank you.

Next, the French martini most popular in the bar, and very pretty, as you can see.

It's almost too good to drink, but not quite (laughing).

(classical music) And I can see why it's the most popular drink in the bar.

And then of course, tapping into true Scottish culture, and my own Scottish heritage, ending my visit with a wee dram of whisky.

If you're a whisky lover, I think you can put this under the category of whisky dreams.

The Balmoral Hotel has the largest private collection of whiskys in Europe.

There are over 500 different whiskys available to drink here at the bar.

So the idea here is that when you do a whisky tasting at the bar here that you don't just taste the whisky, or a flight of whiskys, you, in fact, also smoked almonds and this chocolate, and the whole thing comes together.

I mean, what a combination to heighten your whisky tasting experience.

(upbeat music) This might be the best way to stretch out your sea legs on a cruise with a call in port in Edinburgh.

Arthur's Seat is a rocky hill created by volcanic activity over 300 million years ago.

It soars more than 800 feet above Edinburgh.

The peak is quite attainable if you like a good, stiff hike.

There are several routes that let walkers climb to the top in one of the most dramatic and natural urban parks in the world.

As you've probably already guessed by its name, Arthur's Seat is believed to have a royal connection, with links to the legend of King Arthur.

Turn your head to one side and you see ancient geology and nature.

Turn your head the other way, and you see a breathtaking panoramic view over the modern and historic city of Edinburgh.

We had spectacular views of the countryside, the sea, and the city landmarks, including the even more famous, ancient volcanic peak Edinburgh's Castle Rock.

That's where we head in the evening, to experience a cornerstone of Edinburgh's culture, its famous summer Tattoo.

(bagpipe music) - We're in front of a 400-year-old castle.

It's built on a volcanic plug from the prehistoric era.

There have been people here living on this place since the Bronze Age, but we now have a parade ground right at the very top of the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, of course, and this is a great place to fly military flags.

It's a great military headquarters.

It's got enormous history, and each year, the Tattoo, we put up these temporary stands, 16 million pounds worth of stands.

They take 9,000 people every single night, 220,000 across the season.

A tattoo is a 100-minute show.

It springs from a 17th and 18th tradition of soldiers going downtown with a drum to bring soldiers back to their barracks after a night of strong drink and relaxation.

And of course, when they've taken a bit of drink, they're a bit troublesome getting back to their barracks so the drummer would play a drum tap, (David speaking Dutch) in the old Dutch, which meant turn off the taps.

The supply of drink would be turned off, the soldiers would quickly become bored, and they would head back to their barracks.

So The Tattoo has come from that.

It's a piece of military theater.

We end the evening here with the drum tap as last orders here, but we have the mass pipes and drums.

We have the massed military bands.

We have the lone piper high up on the castle battlements.

(bagpipe music) (crowd applauding) And we have acts from all over the world who are represented here.

World class, spectacular, incredible lights, as you can see around.

Lasers, a sound landscape, which we lay over the top, and an amazing integrated score.

It's quite a spectacle.

(drum music) People are drawn to this show from all over the world.

Music is a universal language.

This is a music show from start to finish.

And when people leave this show in the evening, they will arrive as strangers and we hope they leave as friends.

I think that's the signal.

(fireworks popping) - [Lynn] Arrive as strangers and leave as friends.

That's how I feel about cruising.

(upbeat music) 600 guests embarked on the Seabourn Ovation as strangers, two weeks later, crossing the North Sea and exploring its shores, returning to our original port of embarkation, we leave as friends.

Seabourn's traditional send off is more than just a goodbye party.

Food and drink stations, each with a different local culinary delicacy, that the ship's chefs have gathered in markets throughout the trip, remind us of our voyage, and give us one last chance to reminisce about the high points our journey and mingle with crew members who helped make it so memorable.

(gentle upbeat music) (voices muffling) (crowd cheering) Until next time on "World's Greatest Cruises," wishing you fair winds and following seas More information about "World's Greatest Cruises," and the ship and ports of call featured in today's program on our website, at www.worldsgreatestcruises.com.

(upbeat music) Next time on "World's Greatest Cruises" another cool climate cruise, this time close to home in Alaska.

We take to the rails and sidle up to the bar to experience Gold Rush history.

A little striped sock action here.

The striped socks were a symbol back then that you were a workin' girl.

- [Lynn] Fancy.

We sail alongside a natural wonder you can only reach by sea and taste a cruise culinary tradition in its namesake destination.