Canals to Chateaux: cruise from Amsterdam to Bordeaux

Amsterdam combines the unrivaled beauty of the 17th-century Golden Age city center with plenty of museums and art of the highest order, not to mention a remarkably laid-back atmosphere. It all comes together to make this one of the world's most appealing and offbeat metropolises in the world. Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam is known as the City of Canals—but it's no Venice, content to live on moonlight serenades and former glory. Quite the contrary: on nearly every street here you'll find old and new side by side—quiet corners where time seems to be holding its breath next to streets like neon-lit Kalverstraat, and Red Light ladies strutting by the city's oldest church. Indeed, Amsterdam has as many lovely facets as a 40-carat diamond polished by one of the city's gem cutters. It's certainly a metropolis, but a rather small and very accessible one. Locals tend to refer to it as a big village, albeit one that happens to pack the cultural wallop of a major world destination. There are scores of concerts every day, numerous museums, summertime festivals, and, of course, a legendary year-round party scene. It's pretty much impossible to resist Amsterdam's charms. With 7,000 registered monuments, most of which began as the residences and warehouses of humble merchants, set on 160 man-made canals, and traversed by 1,500 or so bridges, Amsterdam has the largest historical inner city in Europe. Its famous circle of waterways, the grachtengordel, was a 17th-century urban expansion plan for the rich and is a lasting testament to the city’s Golden Age. This town is endearing because of its kinder, gentler nature—but a reputation for championing sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll does not alone account for Amsterdam's being one of the most popular destinations in Europe: consider that within a single square mile the city harbors some of the greatest achievements in Western art, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. Not to mention that this is one of Europe's great walking cities, with so many of its treasures in the untouted details: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, hidden garden courtyards, shop windows, floating houseboats, hidden hofjes(courtyards with almshouses), sudden vistas of church spires, and gabled roofs that look like so many unframed paintings. And don’t forget that the joy lies in details: elaborate gables and witty gable stones denoting the trade of a previous owner. Keep in mind that those XXX symbols you see all over town are not a mark of the city's triple-X reputation. They're part of Amsterdam's official coat of arms—three St. Andrew's crosses, believed to represent the three dangers that have traditionally plagued the city: flood, fire, and pestilence. The coat's motto ("Valiant, determined, compassionate") was introduced in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina in remembrance of the 1941 February Strike in Amsterdam—the first time in Europe that non-Jewish people protested against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime.

Once a retreat for European nobility, Oostende's charm lies in its sandy beaches, boardwalk, racetrack, 19th-century Belle Époque architecture, beachfront cafés and a harbour with seafood stalls. The Atlantikwall, a network of WWI and WWII bunkers, is now an open-air museum. Other museums include the Ensor Museum with James Ensor's maritime artworks, the Mercator aboard a 1930s three-masted ship, and Mu.ZEE, displaying Belgian art from the 1830s

Honfleur in Normandy has attracted artists for centuries, including Impressionist Claude Monet, with many works on display at The Eugène Boudin Museum. Set on the Seine estuary in the department of Calvados (known for apple brandy), this picturesque harbour town has cobbled streets and colourful 16th- to 18th-century townhouses around the Vieux Bassin (old harbour). The 15th-century St. Catherine's Church is built entirely of wood by shipwrights

The medieval coastal city of Saint-Malo is a labyrinth of streets. Dating back to the 12th century, Saint-Malo was once a haven for pirates and a stopping point for merchant ships. Today, colourful shops sit alongside aromatic markets, cafes and restaurants serving oysters, crêpes and cider. Intra-Muros, the ancient walled town, forms the heart of Saint-Malo, where the striking Gothic and Romanesque Cathédrale de St Malo dominates the skyline

The charming French port of Roscoff sits on a peninsula at Brittany's tip. Despite a history of privateers and smugglers, the little city is known for its richly decorated merchants' houses. Near the port, a local hotelier created an exotic garden growing more than 3,500 species of plants from the Southern Hemisphere. Roscoff is also the origin of Onion Johnnies, Breton farmers who crossed to England to sell Roscoff pink onions on their bikes

Belle-Île, the largest Breton island and second largest in mainland France, is known for its mild climate, rugged cliffs and stunning panoramas. The island features preserved moors, dunes and diverse flora and fauna. In the main town, Le Palais, is Citadelle Vauban, a star-shaped fortress. Other notable sites include the historic water tank Aiguade de Vauban, a museum on Sarah Bernhardt and the Grand Phare lighthouse overlooking Donnant Beach

Bordeaux as a whole, rather than any particular points within it, is what you'll want to visit in order to understand why Victor Hugo described it as Versailles plus Antwerp, and why the painter Francisco de Goya, when exiled from his native Spain, chose it as his last home (he died here in 1828). The capital of southwest France and the region's largest city, Bordeaux remains synonymous with the wine trade: wine shippers have long maintained their headquarters along the banks of the Garonne, while buyers from around the world arrive for the huge biennial Vinexpo show (held in odd-number years).Bordeaux is, admittedly, a less exuberant city than many others in France, but lively and stylish elements are making a dent in its conservative veneer. The cleaned-up riverfront is said by some, after a bottle or two, to exude an elegance reminiscent of St. Petersburg, and that aura of 18th-century élan also permeates the historic downtown sector—“le vieux Bordeaux"—where fine shops invite exploration. To the south of the city center are old docklands undergoing renewal—one train station has now been transformed into a big multiplex movie theater—but the area is still a bit shady. To get a feel for the historic port of Bordeaux, take the 90-minute boat trip that leaves Quai Louis-XVIII every weekday afternoon, or the regular passenger ferry that plies the Garonne between Quai Richelieu and the Pont d'Aquitaine in summer. A nice time to stroll around the city center is the first Sunday of the month, when it's pedestrian-only and vehicles are banned.