Cross to Mont Saint-Michel and explore its hilltop abbey with a Local Expert. Move through vaulted halls and passages above the compact island village, with views across the surrounding tidal sands.

For centuries, the abbey drew pilgrims to this striking point on the Normandy coast. Its buildings rise in tiers above defensive walls, combining religious purpose with remarkable medieval engineering. Guided insight helps reveal the history behind the island’s instantly recognisable silhouette.

Tour Chartres Cathedral with a guide and discover one of France’s great Gothic landmarks. Its soaring architecture and celebrated stained glass convey the skill and religious vision of its medieval builders.

The cathedral rises above the surrounding town and the agricultural plain of Beauce. A guided visit helps reveal the meaning of its sculpted portals and luminous windows, and why the building has long been a major destination for pilgrims and admirers of medieval art.

Join a local vintner for a guided tasting in Saumur and sample wines from the Loire Valley. Learn about regional grape varieties and the methods that shape the wines produced around this historic riverside town.

The Loire’s vineyards benefit from varied soils and a relatively cool climate, yielding styles that can range from fresh whites to elegant reds and sparkling wines. Conversation with a local producer adds a personal dimension to the flavours in the glass.

Enjoy a farm-to-table dinner in the Dordogne, prepared with locally sourced ingredients and accompanied by wines from the region. The meal is designed around the produce and flavours of southwest France.

Eating food rooted in nearby farms and producers offers a direct connection to the Dordogne’s rural landscape. Regional wine and a shared table make this more than a routine hotel meal: it is a dedicated introduction to local culinary traditions.

• 10 Dinner (D)
• 21 Breakfast (B)

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

• Saint-Paul-de-Vence: Join a pétanque player to learn the secrets behind this traditional French discipline. Steady your hand and get ready to test your newfound skills in a game. End with a glass of pastis, a French apéritif.

Insight Vacations

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over dinner at a local Paris restaurant. Share a first taste of French cuisine inspired by fresh, home-style recipes while getting to know the people travelling with you.

The meal offers a convivial introduction to the capital’s dining culture, where conversation is as much a part of the occasion as the food. It is an organised welcome experience rather than an evening left to arrange independently.

Walk through Rouen’s medieval streets to see its Gothic cathedral, the ornate Gros-Horloge and the Old Market Square. Half-timbered facades and narrow lanes evoke the Normandy city’s long history as a trading centre on the Seine.

At Place du Vieux-Marché, reflect on the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431 and see the modern church built in her memory. The cathedral’s changing appearance famously inspired a series of paintings by Claude Monet.

Explore Honfleur’s historic harbour, where tall, narrow houses frame the Vieux Bassin and fishing boats lend colour to the waterfront. Wander the streets of this Normandy port and take in the maritime atmosphere that has drawn visitors for generations.

Honfleur’s shifting coastal light attracted artists including Claude Monet and Eugène Boudin. Its harbour remains a distinctive place to appreciate the connection between Normandy’s seafaring heritage and the development of Impressionist painting.

Meet a family-owned apple producer in Normandy’s cider country and learn how orchard fruit becomes juice, cider and Calvados. Taste each drink while hearing about the growing and distilling practices behind these regional specialities.

Apple orchards are integral to Normandy’s rural landscape, and Calvados production carries traditions passed down through generations. Comparing the fresh fruit, fermented cider and apple brandy reveals how one harvest can produce remarkably different aromas and flavours.

Follow the route of the US Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, visiting wartime bunkers and the Rangers Memorial above the Normandy coast. The site preserves a powerful sense of the terrain confronted during the D-Day landings.

On 6 June 1944, Rangers scaled the cliffs to assault German positions between Omaha and Utah beaches. The surviving fortifications and cratered ground help make the scale and difficulty of that mission tangible without losing sight of its human cost.

Visit the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer with a Local Expert and spend time reflecting among its rows of white grave markers. The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach, one of the principal Allied landing sites of 6 June 1944.

Personal stories and historical context give meaning to the coastal landscape below. This is a contemplative visit that honours those who died during the Normandy campaign and helps travellers understand the lasting significance of the landings.

Choose a visit to the D-Day Museum in Arromanches-les-Bains and look out across the bay at surviving sections of the artificial harbour. Exhibits explain how Allied forces established a supply route across the Channel after the Normandy landings.

Known as a Mulberry harbour, the immense temporary port was assembled to bring equipment and supplies ashore. Seeing its remains in the water connects an ambitious engineering project with the wider story of the liberation of France. This is one of two included Normandy choices.

Choose to visit Bayeux Cathedral and admire the Norman and Gothic architecture of this historic place of worship. Explore the building associated with the Bayeux Tapestry, which was originally displayed here.

The cathedral’s layered design reflects centuries of rebuilding and devotion in a town closely linked to the Norman Conquest. This included alternative to the Arromanches D-Day Museum offers a different perspective on Normandy’s heritage, centred on medieval art and architecture.

Explore Saint-Malo’s walled old town with a Local Expert, walking the streets of Intra Muros towards its cathedral. Granite buildings, narrow lanes and nearby ramparts express the character of this Breton port on the Rance estuary.

Known as the City of the Corsairs, Saint-Malo was home to seafarers including explorer Jacques Cartier. Stories of voyages and maritime trade bring context to its formidable walls and its long-standing relationship with the sea.

Pause to admire the Château d’Angers, a moated fortress whose massive towers stand above the Loire Valley city. View its imposing exterior and consider the defensive role it played in medieval Anjou.

The stronghold’s dark-and-light stonework gives its walls a distinctive striped appearance. This is an exterior sightseeing stop rather than a tour inside the château, offering a clear introduction to the region’s history of powerful counts, royal ambition and fortified residences.

Explore the gardens of Château de Villandry, moving among formal flowerbeds, water features and a working kitchen garden. The terraces offer striking views of the geometric patterns that define this Loire Valley estate.

Villandry is celebrated for gardens designed in a Renaissance spirit, where ornament and productive planting sit side by side. Their careful maintenance, including sustainable practices, makes the visit as much about living horticulture as historic château design.

Explore the Royal Château of Amboise with a Local Expert and look over the Loire from its terraces. Visit the chapel where Leonardo da Vinci is buried while learning about the château’s place in French royal life.

The residence reflects a period when court culture absorbed new artistic ideas from Italy. Its elevated setting and surviving buildings bring together Renaissance ambition, Loire Valley scenery and the story of one of history’s most influential artists.

Dine at Le Domaine de la Tortinière, a historic château hotel surrounded by French gardens. Enjoy a three-course farm-to-table dinner featuring produce from the estate’s gardens and nearby suppliers.

The menu draws on family-style French cooking and the agricultural abundance of the Loire Valley. Dining in the château setting makes this a destination-specific culinary experience, with local ingredients and the estate’s warm hospitality at its centre.

Discover Paris with your Travel Director on an orientation featuring Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. These grand public spaces offer an introduction to the scale and spectacle of the French capital.

Place de la Concorde witnessed pivotal events of the French Revolution, while Napoleon commissioned the Arc de Triomphe to honour France’s armies. Seeing the landmarks together helps place centuries of national history within the city’s elegant streetscape.

Gather with your Travel Director and fellow travellers for an included dinner with wine at a Paris restaurant. The shared meal offers an easy introduction to your travelling companions over French food.

Restaurant dining is a familiar part of Parisian social life, shaped as much by conversation as by the dishes served. This organised dinner provides a hosted occasion in the city rather than an ordinary meal to find independently.

See the half-timbered streets of Troyes and pause to taste Champagne in the region that gives the sparkling wine its name. The old town’s colourful facades recall its medieval importance as a centre of trade.

Champagne’s vineyards and long-established production traditions have made the region’s wines known around the world. Pairing a look at Troyes with a tasting brings together two sides of local heritage: its historic townscape and its most celebrated export.

Explore Dijon with your Travel Director and learn about the architecture and history of Burgundy’s capital. Its handsome streets reflect the wealth and influence of the Dukes of Burgundy.

Beyond its famous mustard, Dijon sits at the heart of a region closely identified with exceptional wines and food traditions. This orientation gives context to the city’s historic buildings and the distinctive Burgundian culture that surrounds them.

Explore the streets of Chamonix, the Alpine resort beneath Mont Blanc. Mountain architecture, outdoor cafés and views of steep peaks give the town a character shaped by life in the high Alps.

Chamonix has long attracted mountaineers and visitors drawn to its dramatic setting near Western Europe’s highest mountain. Time in the town offers a close view of its Alpine atmosphere without requiring a cable-car ascent or a strenuous hike.

Visit a perfumery near Èze and discover how French fragrances are created. Fragrance specialists introduce different scents, offering a chance to consider the notes that make up a personal favourite.

The Côte d’Azur has close ties to France’s perfume industry, particularly the traditions of nearby Grasse. This visit turns an everyday luxury into a sensory introduction to blending, ingredients and the craftsmanship behind a finished perfume.

Drive along part of Monaco’s Grand Prix circuit and explore the principality’s old town with your Travel Director. See the exterior of the Prince’s Palace and take in views towards the yacht-filled harbour.

The street circuit winds through an exceptionally compact urban setting, making Monaco’s motor-racing history inseparable from its everyday streets. The old town provides a contrasting perspective, with historic lanes high above the modern waterfront.

Step inside Monaco Cathedral in the principality’s old town. The cathedral is the burial place of members of the Grimaldi family, including Princess Grace.

Its pale stone exterior and interior offer a quieter perspective on a destination often associated with yachts and motor racing. Visiting the cathedral adds the story of Monaco’s ruling family and religious traditions to the sights of the historic district.

Choose to visit the Prince’s Palace and admire its State Apartments and Italian Renaissance frescoes. The residence stands above Monaco’s old town and offers insight into the ceremonial world of the Grimaldi family.

Rooms decorated across different eras reflect the principality’s long dynastic history. This is one of two included Monaco choices, providing an art-and-heritage alternative to the marine science displays at the Oceanographic Museum.

Choose to explore the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, including aquariums devoted to Mediterranean and tropical marine life. Displays also introduce scientific research and the challenges of studying polar environments.

Perched above the sea, the museum reflects Monaco’s long association with ocean exploration and conservation. This is one of two included Monaco choices, offering a science-focused alternative to the State Apartments of the Prince’s Palace.

Walk through Saint-Paul-de-Vence, a hilltop village of stone lanes and fountains, and learn to play pétanque with a local player. Test your aim in a game and finish with a glass of pastis, the anise-flavoured French apéritif.

The village’s light and setting made it a haven for artists, while pétanque remains a familiar social pastime across Provence. Together, the walk and game offer a lively introduction to local scenery and everyday culture.

See the mansions of Cours Mirabeau, the broad, lively thoroughfare at the heart of Aix-en-Provence. Its elegant facades and plane trees offer a glimpse of the city’s refined Provencal character.

The avenue links the older streets with later, grander quarters and has long been a place for strolling and café life. Viewing it provides an architectural introduction to Aix without implying entry to its private mansions.

See the Pont du Gard rising above the Gardon River. The three-tiered Roman aqueduct bridge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most striking surviving examples of ancient engineering in France.

Built nearly 2,000 years ago as part of a water system supplying Nîmes, its precisely fitted stone arches still demonstrate the Romans’ command of scale and construction. The riverside setting makes its extraordinary height especially apparent.

Walk Avignon’s medieval streets and see the Palais des Papes and the famous Pont d’Avignon. The city’s surviving walls and monumental buildings speak to its period as a centre of papal power.

Popes resided in Avignon during the 14th century, leaving a Gothic palace that dominates the old town. This sightseeing walk focuses on the historic setting and exterior landmarks; entry to the palace is not specified.

Meet the owners of an organic olive mill near Les Baux-de-Provence, stroll through the groves and taste artisanal olive oils. Learn how cultivation and production choices influence their aromas, colours and textures.

The estate’s sustainable farming practices support biodiversity and responsible production. Hearing directly from the people behind the oils connects a familiar Provencal ingredient with the land, labour and environmental care involved in making it.

Stroll through Arles with a Local Expert and view its Roman Arena and theatre. The town’s streets also reveal scenes and qualities of light associated with Vincent van Gogh’s time in Provence.

Roman monuments stand close to the lived-in streets of this Rhône-side town, making its layers of history unusually visible. Expert commentary connects the classical remains with the artistic heritage that continues to shape how visitors see Arles.

Explore the fortified Cité de Carcassonne on an orientation that takes in its walls, towers and imposing medieval setting. The UNESCO-listed citadel is one of southern France’s most recognisable historic landmarks.

Successive periods of fortification shaped its layered defences, while 19th-century restoration influenced the silhouette seen today. An orientation helps distinguish the site’s genuine medieval history from the later work that preserved and reshaped it.

Discover Albi’s key landmarks with your Travel Director, including views of its monumental cathedral and the museum dedicated to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The artist was born in this Tarn-side city.

Albi’s distinctive red-brick architecture gives its historic centre a character unlike many other French towns. This is an exterior orientation: it introduces the cathedral and museum in their urban setting without implying admission to either building.

Sample local flavours in a Cahors market and see the fortified Pont Valentré spanning the River Lot. Seasonal produce and regional specialities offer a sensory introduction to this part of southwest France.

Cahors is also known for its deep-coloured Malbec wines, historically nicknamed ‘Black Wine’. The market tasting and view of the medieval bridge bring together the city’s food culture and one of its most enduring architectural symbols.

Visit Lascaux II near Montignac to see faithful reproductions of the celebrated prehistoric cave paintings. The replica allows visitors to experience the scale, colour and animal imagery of the original decorated chambers.

The original Lascaux cave is closed to protect its fragile art. Its reproduced paintings offer a compelling way to encounter the creativity of people who lived in the region many thousands of years ago while supporting the original site’s preservation.

Discover Sarlat-la-Canéda’s historic centre, where tightly grouped lanes and golden limestone houses create one of the Dordogne’s most atmospheric townscapes. Take in the architectural details of this well-preserved settlement.

Sarlat’s buildings reflect the prosperity and changing styles of the medieval and Renaissance periods. A visit offers an opportunity to appreciate how the region’s warm-toned local stone shapes the appearance of its towns as well as its rural buildings.

Toast your journey through France over an included dinner of French cuisine and wine in Paris. Gather with fellow travellers for a hosted occasion in the capital.

The meal provides a chance to share impressions of the country’s regional food, landscapes and historic places. Rather than an ordinary dinner arranged independently, it is a dedicated farewell experience centred on good food and conversation.

Travel to Cancale for a seafood meal in a Breton coastal town renowned for its oyster beds. Taste fresh seafood and other regional specialities in a setting closely tied to the sea.

Cancale’s oyster-growing tradition gives this dinner a particular sense of place, connecting what is served with the waters nearby. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; menu details and inclusions should be confirmed locally.

Visit Château de Chenonceau, the Loire Valley landmark whose gallery stretches across the River Cher. Explore a château renowned for its graceful setting and association with influential women of the French court.

Its architecture brings Renaissance refinement into direct conversation with the river beneath it. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; the exact areas open to visit and any included admissions should be confirmed locally.

Explore Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years. Visit the manor house and gardens and discover working models inspired by his inventive drawings.

The visit offers a more personal perspective on Leonardo’s life in France, beyond his association with the nearby Royal Château of Amboise. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour.

Experience a Paris cabaret show for an evening of staged music, dance and theatrical spectacle. It offers a contrasting view of the capital’s nightlife beyond its monuments and museums.

Cabaret has long formed part of Paris’s entertainment culture, combining performance with a lively night-out atmosphere. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; the venue, programme and any food or drink inclusions should be confirmed locally.

Taste Burgundy wines and enjoy a traditional dinner in Fixin, a village associated with Premier Cru vineyards. Compare regional flavours in a setting shaped by generations of wine-growing.

Fixin lies in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits, an area especially known for Pinot Noir. Pairing a tasting with dinner provides a fuller introduction to local food and wine culture. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour.

Take a cable car above Chamonix for panoramic views of Alpine peaks and the valley below. The ascent offers a different perspective on the dramatic mountain landscape surrounding the resort.

Mont Blanc and its neighbouring summits have drawn climbers and sightseers to this region for centuries. A cable-car journey makes high-altitude scenery accessible without a demanding climb. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; the route and operation are subject to local conditions.

Try a pierrade in Chamonix at a local chalet-style eatery. This sociable meal centres on cooking food at the table on a heated stone, making dinner a shared activity as well as a taste of Alpine hospitality.

The chalet setting suits the mountain resort’s informal dining culture, where hearty meals bring people together. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; the venue and precise menu should be confirmed locally.

Explore medieval Èze, a hilltop village of steep stone lanes above the French Riviera, and visit its botanical garden for expansive views along the coast. The elevated setting reveals a different side of the Côte d’Azur from its seafront resorts.

The garden’s planting includes species suited to its sunny, exposed position. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; it is separate from the included perfumery visit.

Visit the hilltop villages of Puycelsi and Castelnau-de-Montmiral and finish at a traditional French market. Explore historic streets and take in the rural scenery of the Tarn region.

These fortified settlements reflect the area’s medieval past, while market stalls offer a glimpse of contemporary local food culture. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and can be booked on tour; market offerings may vary with the season and day of operation.