Countdown To Gilly's Grand Tour
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On the 23rd February I will be setting off on my ‘2024 Grand Tour’, with Brian in tow! We will be heading to Mahe, the largest of the 115 islands of the Seychelles, spending two nights on the island before embarking the Silver Spirit for a 16-night cruise to Dubai, completing our trip with 4 nights in Abu Dhabi.
The Silver Spirit is one of our favourite ships with around 600 guests, it’s perfect for us. Here we are, in the photo above, in December 2022 when we transitted the Panama Canal on our way to Peru.
Gilly Bachelor
We will be flying with Emirates from Birmingham, which we find easy, with a short connection in Dubai. There are currently no direct flights to the Seychelles. British Airways previously offered a direct flight but this stopped in 2020 and has not been resumed.
On Mahe we will be staying at the L'Escale Resort Marina & Spa part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection.
The L’Escale Resort has just 25 luxurious guest rooms, with either a lush mountain or picturesque ocean view. It’s the perfect location for us as it’s centrally located between the airport and the cruise port in Victoria.
Whilst on board Silver Spirit we will be visiting two other islands – La Digue and Praslin, then on to Muscat (Oman) and from here exploring the United Arab Emirates of Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, plus the independent sovereign states of Qatar and Bahrain.
Our cruise will be finishing in Dubai however, we’ll be taking a private transfer from the cruise terminal back to Abu Dhabi for the final 4 nights of our tour.
