Northern Europe has emerged as one of cruising’s most celebrated regions, and its appeal is easy to understand. The scenery is extraordinary — Norway’s fjords in particular, where sheer cliff walls rise thousands of metres from mirror-still water in UNESCO World Heritage landscapes like Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, offer some of the most dramatic coastal scenery anywhere in the world. Bergen, Flam, Alesund and the Lofoten Islands are the cruise highlights of the Norwegian fjord coast. The Baltic region offers a completely different but equally compelling experience: a circuit of the Baltic Sea connecting some of Northern Europe’s finest historic cities. Copenhagen, Denmark’s elegant capital of design, pastry and cycling culture, is one of Europe’s most liveable and likeable cities. Stockholm, spread across 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, is arguably the most beautiful capital in Scandinavia. Helsinki’s extraordinary design culture and the remarkable 18th-century fortress of Suomenlinna offshore add Finnish depth to the itinerary. Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, preserves one of the finest medieval old towns in Europe — a UNESCO World Heritage city of church towers, merchant houses and fortified walls that remained almost untouched through the Soviet era. Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania are equally beautiful and increasingly popular cruise destinations. Gdansk in Poland, birthplace of the Solidarity movement, has a magnificent reconstructed Hanseatic old town. Summer sailings (May to September) offer the advantage of the midnight sun in the far north, where daylight barely fades for weeks. The British Isles — the Scottish Highlands, the Orkneys, the Faroe Islands and Iceland — are increasingly popular additions to Northern Europe itineraries, bringing a wild, Atlantic dimension to the voyage.