Scottish Isles and Norwegian Fjords With W&L President Will Dudley

Duration:
9 Days, June 6 – 15, 2024 (waitlist)

Price:
From $5,970 from Bergen, Norway

Tour Operator:
Ponant

Spectacular fjords and glaciers, rugged islands with windswept monuments to another time, monasteries and medieval castles keeping their secrets—these are but a few of the wonders that draw travelers to Norway and northern Scotland. With the good company of W&L’s presidential couple Will Dudley and Dr. Carola Tanna and fellow W&L travelers aboard Ponant’s deluxe small ship Le Champlain, you know that this will be a remarkable cruise.

Following an overnight in scenic Bergen, our voyage begins with calls in the Norwegian village of Flam at the end of Aurlandsfjord for the legendary train ride from Flam into the coastal range, and then on to Olden, Norway’s gateway to majestic glaciers. In Great Britain’s northernmost islands, the Shetlands, we’ll explore the Neolithic Era settlement of Jarlshof, then continue to the Orkneys, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for the ancient mysteries of the Stones of Stennes, the Ring of Brodgar, and Skara Brae. On the Hebridean Isle of Skye, we’ll visit Dunvegan Castle, the seat of Clan MacLeod, as well as Castle Armadale, home to the rival Clan Donald. Our final port of call before Glasgow is Fort William, your gateway to Highland realms of whisky, the Caledonian Canal, and the fabled Loch Ness.  Passengers can continue their visit to Scotland with an optional extension to Edinburgh.

Le Champlain is one of a series of six new luxury Ponant Explorer ships, launched in 2020. These state-of-the-art vessels combine understated elegance with a spirit of adventure and feature Blue Eye, the world’s first underwater passenger lounge. Le Champlain is a small-capacity ship with just 92 staterooms and a crew of 118. We’ll be assured of attentive service, gourmet French-inspired cuisine, and a relaxed, congenial ambiance. Ponant Explorer ships are certified Clean Ships and meet the highest environmental standards for energy conservation and resource management.

With all excursions, meals, gratuities, and port charges included, this presidential cruise is an excellent value. 

Traveling With You

W&L PRESIDENT WILL DUDLEY William C. (Will) Dudley became the 27th President of Washington and Lee University on Jan. 1, 2017. Dudley came to W&L from Williams College, where he joined the philosophy department in 1998 and served as the Provost from 2011 through 2016. A native of Arlington, VA, Dudley received his B.A. in mathematics and philosophy, magna cum laude, from Williams in 1989, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy from Northwestern University. As an undergraduate at Williams, Dudley was captain of the water polo team and a member of the swim team. After college, he received a fellowship to study philosophy at Cambridge University and then worked in energy finance for AES Corporation before pursuing his graduate studies at Northwestern. Dudley received a gubernatorial appointment to the board of trustees of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in 2010 and served as the vice-chair in 2015-16. He currently serves on the boards of the Annapolis Group of Liberal Arts Colleges and the Associated Colleges of the South. He is married to Dr. Carola Tanna, accompanying him on this sailing, and is the father of two children, Cole and Ella.