Swan Hellenic spotlights 34 extraordinary destinations worldwide in its 2025-2026

Announcing its final 2025-2026 itineraries, Swan Hellenic has revealed that its exclusive cultural expedition cruises will be exploring a full 34 off-the-beaten-track destinations, many not reached even by other expedition cruise lines.

Just one example is Hermanus in South Africa, a fascinating town southeast of Cape Town that has never been visited by any cruise company to date. Swan Hellenic’s SH Diana will be making her maiden call here in November 2025 and returning in 2026, enabling her lucky guests to explore deep into its breathtaking landscapes, vibrant marine life, historic fishing village and old harbor. The expeditions offered include the Fernkloof Nature Reserve in the Kleinrivier Mountains, famed for its flora, and a 12 km cliffside pathway with views of seasonal whale migrations and bustling penguin colonies.

The announcement of these out-of-the-ordinary destinations came as SH Vega reached Brazil, where it will be exploring the unique beauties of Trancoso, Itacaré, Morro de São Paulo and the Abrolhos Archipelago for the very first time. The uninhabited Abrolhos Archipelago stands out as an extraordinary natural paradise with an unparalleled marine ecosystem and lush vegetation rich in many endemic and typically tropical species. These unmissable gems will be visited again in 2025, with more unique destinations on the Brazilian coast to follow in 2026.

But we’re not just talking Brazil and South Africa. Thanks to the compact dimensions of the luxury, ice-class expedition ships SH Diana and SH Vega, the list of desirable destinations spans the globe. That’s in no small part also due to the intrepid determination of Swan Hellenic’s experts to take their guests to the most extraordinary places on earth. As a result, there are eight more fascinating destinations in its 2025-2026 itineraries that are simply not visited by any other cruise company. These stretch from Vaeroy (Lofoten, Norway), the Donana National Park (Spain) and Elmina (Ghana) to Baie des Tortues, Loango National Park and Mayumba (all 3 in Gabon), and Ilha Baia dos Tigres (Angola).

Highlights of Swan Hellenic’s lesser-visited destinations include Kalso (the Faroe Islands), Kinsale (Ireland), Batz-sur-Mer (France), Pantelleria island (Italy), Datça (Turkey), the Bijagos Archipelago (Guinea Bissau), the Aldabara Atoll (the Seychelles), Kilwa Kivinje (Tanzania), Nosy Vao island (Madagascar), Niebla (Chile), Guanaja Island (Honduras), Georgetown (Guyana), and – last but definitely not least – the Cajari and Aquiqui rivers and Gurupa ecoregion on the Amazon.

Full details of these exceptional exploration opportunities and their exclusive cultural expedition cruises are available from Swan Hellenic and its network of expert luxury travel advisors, including Virtuoso. For a 2025-2026 beyond ordinary, seeing what others don’t.

Photos: from left, Abrolhos Archipelago(Brasil), and Bijagos Archipelagos (Guinea Bissau).