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Feel the enchantment of the North. The snap of a sail and the scent of the sea on a summer’s day when dusk falls at midnight. Archipelagos where brightly-painted holiday cottages cling limpet-like to rocky skerries. Richly saturated colours that seem to come from a Flemish master’s palette in landscapes that evoke medieval folklore and fairytales. The plaintive strains of Grieg and Sibelius played in a royal palace where kings and queens once listened and lived. These are the sights and textures of Northern Europe, a multi-hued and layered tapestry that reaches out to be touched, tasted and savoured in a thousand mind pictures. From Germany and the Low Countries to the Baltic lands of the Vikings and the Eastern Empire of the Tsars, Northern Europe is a territory of vast and vivid variety.

Reaching into the heart of Northern Europe is the Baltic – Mare Suebicum in the Latin of ancient scribes. It was the Vikings who first braved the crossing of this brackish sea to venture from Denmark, Norway and Sweden eastward into the lands we now know as Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, eventually finding their way to the Black Sea. Not content with just going east, they also sailed and rowed westward through the Straits of Denmark to Scotland, England, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. Southward they ranged as far as Spain and North Africa, and traversed the Mediterranean to Byzantium and even Baghdad. Their longships were the fastest vessels on the water, and their Kings and captains, such as Harald Hardrada, Canut the Great, Eric the Red and Leif Ericsson, fearless. History has focused on the Vikings’ reputation for raiding and pillaging, but in reality they founded towns, built fortifications, made dynastically opportune marriages and created immensely profitable trade routes that linked them to important cities in Europe and Asia. After the introduction of Christianity, the Hanseatic League inherited or took over many of these settlements and routes and became even more all-powerful in the Baltic.

Today Star Flyer will trace the Vikings’ extraordinary voyages, following the routes of those passionate explorers to storied lands and places. Along the way, Star Flyer will also participate with other magnificent tall ships in celebratory sailing parades in the German ports of Kiel, Hamburg and Rostock (Warnemuende). And with great pride in our Swedish sailing heritage, we invite you to join Star Flyer’s Captain and crew in the thrilling experience of standing at the rail and passing by crowds of onlookers with all sails set and flags dipped in salute!