Join a local guide to join a festive food walking tour celebrating French–German Alsatian cuisine. Taste regional specialties such as flammekueche, munster cheese, bredele biscuits and kougelhopf, and sample regional wines like Riesling or Gewurztraminer along the way.

Stroll atmospheric lanes near Petite France as stories of guilds, spice routes and winter traditions add depth to each bite. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

• 2 Dinner (D)
• 6 Breakfast (B)

• Paris: Take a dreamy jaunt around the city of romance. Fall in love with landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Champs-Élysées and Notre-Dame Cathedral.
• Paris: What could be better than sailing down the Seine with the Contiki crew, taking in all the chic Paris landmarks? Sign us up!
• Paris: Your chance to learn the art of fragrance at a Parisian perfume house. You know it makes scents! (soz).
• Tours: We’ll tour the Christmas markets in Tour where you’ll have the chance to pick up delicious goodies. Trust us, your taste buds will thank you.
• Dijon: Your Trip Manager will show you around the beautiful town of Dijon – the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy. Expect lots of art and architecture from the Renaissance & medieval eras. 
• Colmar: Welcome to one of the most popular Christmas markets in Europe! We’ll stroll by the canals and check out the illuminated markets in town. 
• Reims: If you were a French royal, you’d be crowned right here in Reims. Today, we’ll check out the medieval architecture of this town. Plus, your Trip Manager will tell you all about the pivotal role it played during Roman times and WW1. 

Tour Champagne’s heritage as you tour a historic champagne house and descend into ancient chalk crayères. Learn the Méthode Champenoise from pressing to riddling and disgorgement while walking past thousands of bottles maturing in constant, cool darkness.

Surface for a guided tasting that reveals terroir and style—perhaps a brut or blanc de blancs—paired with expert notes. The visit illuminates why Reims and Épernay’s cellars are considered cathedrals of celebration in France.

Walk the historic core as you follow the Owl’s Trail, a series of brass markers guiding you past timbered facades, the Palais des Ducs and market streets scented with Burgundy’s culinary heritage. Hear local tips from your Trip Manager on plazas and photo stops.

Encounter the carved owl on Notre-Dame’s buttress, a beloved city talisman, and trace centuries of ducal power in facades blending medieval, Renaissance and classical styles. Mustard shops and wine merchants hint at Burgundian traditions.

Explore Tours’ festive heart as you stroll the Christmas markets clustered around Place Plumereau and the cathedral quarter. Wooden chalets brim with handcrafts, while half-timbered houses frame cobblestone lanes glowing with garlands and lanterns.

Sample seasonal treats like pain d’épices and steaming vin chaud as locals gather beneath twinkling lights. Your Trip Manager points out photogenic corners and artisans to seek out, from Loire honey to classic rillettes de Tours.

Cruise into Parisian romance as you cruise the River Seine beneath glittering bridges and riverside facades. Watch the Eiffel Tower shimmer, sweep by the Louvre and Île de la Cité, and admire the ornate span of Pont Alexandre III from your warm, illuminated vantage.

Soak up a winter palette of reflections as Paris’ landmarks glow against the night. Gentle commentary and the hush of the water set the mood for city vistas and glittering bridges dressed for the season.

Step into a historic atelier to learn the art of fragrance at a genuine Parisian perfume house. Explore how top, heart and base notes combine, and sample raw essences from citrus to florals as a specialist explains accords and craftsmanship.

Trace the tradition of French perfumery from royal courts to modern couture, discovering vocabulary and rituals that define Parisian style. Expect hands-on demonstrations, expert tips, and a sensorial deep dive into aroma families and composition.

Visit the opulent 19th-century opera house as you visit the Palais Garnier, a masterpiece of Napoleon III’s Paris. Climb the grand staircase, admire glittering chandeliers, and gaze up at the celebrated Chagall ceiling crowning the crimson-and-gold auditorium.

Hear how architect Charles Garnier blended myth, marble and mirrors to create a temple of music and ballet. Seasonal garlands and soft lighting highlight gilded salons and mosaic-lined foyers, revealing a sumptuous world of Second Empire artistry.

Discover the jewel of the Loire Valley with a visit to the Château de Chambord, Francois I’s grand Renaissance hunting lodge set amid vast forests. Wander monumental halls and ascend the famed double-helix staircase, often attributed to Leonardo da Vinci’s vision.

Seasonal decorations transform galleries with towering firs, fragrant greenery and glowing hearths. Learn how royal emblems, rooftop lanterns and elaborate chimneys crowned a chateau designed to dazzle courtly guests in every era.

Wander Colmar’s storybook lanes through the Colmar Christmas Markets, where canals of Petite Venise mirror garlands and stars. Admire gabled half-timbered houses dressed with wreaths, nutcrackers and glowing window boxes as choirs and brass ensembles set a festive soundtrack.

Browse multiple themed markets across the old town, from artisans’ ornaments to regional delicacies like pain d’épices and Kugelhopf. The Alsatian blend of cultures emerges in timbered architecture, seasonal pastries and warm white mulled wine.

Explore the storied Strasbourg Christmas Markets spreading across the Grande Île UNESCO-listed center. Stalls cluster around the soaring Strasbourg Cathedral, its pink sandstone spire presiding over scenes of twinkling trees, wooden chalets and carols drifting through medieval streets.

Find traditional bredele biscuits, artisan glass baubles and both red and white vin chaud as French and German influences mingle. Established in 1570, the Christkindelsmärik blends cathedral grandeur with riverside squares draped in festive light.

Walk Reims’ historic heart with your Trip Manager, focusing on the parvis of Reims Cathedral, site of centuries of royal coronations. Admire sculpted portals and stained-glass light before continuing along Art Deco boulevards shaped by post-WWI reconstruction.

Hear how the city rose from wartime damage to become Champagne’s lively capital. Seasonal market stalls and sparkling decorations fill central squares, adding festive color to Gothic stone and 1920s facades.

Discover the City of Light as you join a guided panoramic tour taking in icons such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and Champs-Élysées. Glide past café-lined boulevards and lively squares for an inspiring overview of Paris’ elegant neighborhoods.

Gain a sense of the city’s layers, from medieval Île de la Cité to grand Haussmann boulevards, while hearing stories that bring monuments to life. Expect time to pause for photos and reflection at choice viewpoints during your time in Paris.

Contiki