DAY 1 - Paris (D)

Your tour commences this evening with a welcome drink and dinner in your first class hotel. This is an ideal chance to meet your Tour Manager and fellow travellers.

Your Paris hotel – Marriott Rive Gauche

Paris - Place de la Concorde

Chateau Chenonceau

Chateau Chambord

DAY 2 - Loire Valley - Amboise (B)

Today we make our way to the verdant Loire Valley where, during the 15th and 16th centuries, the Kings of France and their courtiers had their holiday palaces.  Our first stop will be in the grounds of Chambord to view the magnificent Chateaux. This enormous chateau was created by King Francois I as a hunting lodge within the surrounding grounds, which consisted of over 5,000 wooded hectares. Lunchtime today is in Blois, known for its historic castle and old town with narrow cobbled streets.

Your Loire Valley Hotel – Hotel Le Vinci

DAY 3 - Loire valley - Amboise (B, D)

This morning we drive to the town of Usee with its 16th century Chateau overlooking the Loire and Indre River Valley. Accredited as the castle in Charles Perrault’s story ‘Sleeping Beauty’ it is also sometimes called the ‘Castle of Dreams’. We then visit the charming village of Azay-le-Rideau with its graceful chateaux, which sits on the lakeside. Later we visit the gardens of Chateau Villandry. Inspired by the classic gardens of the 16th and 18th century, different levels of the gardens include ponds, topiary, ornamental hedges and an extraordinary kitchen garden covering 12,500 square metres. Your afternoon is free to explore Amboise with its Royal Palace and the famous Manor House ‘Le Clos Luce’- where Leonardo da Vinci once lived as a guest of King Francois 1st.  Dinner tonight is included in a local restaurant.  
 

Chateau Azay-le-Rideau

Chateau d'Usee

Angers's Cathedrale

DAY 4 - Loire Valley - Amboise (B)                                                                                 

Driving west along the river valley our morning stop will be in Saumur, one of the most charming towns of the Loire Valley, dominated by the fairytale turrets of her famous 14th century chateaux. We then visit the city of Angers, where we spend lunchtime and much of the afternoon. We have included entrance to the 13th-century granite Chateaux d'Angers which houses the carefully restored medieval Apocalypse Tapestry with its magnificent glowing red, blue and gold threads.

Your Bordeaux Hotel – Hotel Burdigala

La Rochelle

Medoc vineyards

DAY 7 - Bordeaux (B)

Your day is entirely free to explore Bordeaux at leisure. The city’s waterfront on the River Garonne makes an attractive spectacle and there is a stately 18th century town centre with its Place du Parlement, Place de la Bourse and medieval quarter. The perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy a baguette and a glass of wine in a sidewalk café!

Bordeaux - Place de la Bourse

Perigueux


Dordogne valley

Sarlat la Caneda

DAY 8 - Sarlat la Caneda in the Dordogne (B, D)                                                                                  

Heading east we spend the morning in Perigueux, on the River L'Isle, with its Cathédrale St Front looming large over the red roofs of the medieval market town.  Later we reach the Dordogne region with its sleepy villages, medieval chateaux, meandering rivers and lush landscape that so epitomises French rural life. Enroute to Sarlat we stop at Les Ezyies-de-Tayac which was made famous by the local discovery of 20,000 year old Cro-Magnon skeletons and the pre-historic Lascaux cave paintings. 

Here we visit the fascinating National Museum of Prehistory located in the chateau which is embedded in the cliffs. The views from the terrace across town are excellent.

Later we arrive at perfectly preserved Sarlat la Caneda, one of the most stunning towns in France, where we stay for the next two nights.  Dinner tonight is included in a local restaurant.

Your Dordogne Hotel – The Hotel Renoir

DAY 9 - Sarlat la Caneda in the Dordogne (B)

Your morning is completely free to explore the old town centre. Your tour has been specially timed to be here on a Saturday for the fantastic Sarlat markets, renowned as being amongst the very best in all of France.  Enjoy the experience of sampling the myriad of local cheeses, foie gras, truffles, walnuts and wines. Time to buy some crusty bread and tapenade for a delicious picnic! This is the real France at its best! In the afternoon we will take a leisurely drive down the Dordogne river road past lush countryside, medieval castles and the incredibly picturesque villages including Bezenac, Beynac, La Roc Gageac and Domme.

La Roc Gageac

Lyon

DAY 10 - Lyon (B)

Crossing the ‘Massif Central’ we arrive into Lyon mid afternoon and enjoy an orientation tour. Lyon is the gastronomic, as well as the commercial, heart of south central France. Our hotel is in the centre and we stay here one night. There are more restaurants, and more Michelin stars, per square kilometre in the Lyon area than anywhere else in Europe. We have left this evening free for you to dine out in one of the "Bouchons" - small restaurants where you can enjoy excellent brasserie style food.

Your Lyon Hotel – Hotel Lyon Metropole 

DAY 11 - Beaune in Burgundy (B, D)

This morning we have arranged a visit to one of the silk factories located in the amazing quarter of Croix Rousse. The rest of the morning is at leisure to enjoy Lyon.  Make sure you visit the Presqu'île, the narrow strip of land between the River Saône and the River Rhône, with its outstanding buildings and museums. In the early afternoon we drive north and make a stop in the village of Solutré-Pouilly to visit L’Atrium Cellar. Located on the village square, we will enjoy a wine tasting and sample the local Pouilly Fuisse wines.

Later we continue to the old town of Beaune, capital of the Burgundian wine industry, where we visit the fascinating Hospices de Beaune.  Covered with multicoloured glazed roof tiles the 'Hotel Dieu' was built over 550 years ago to help the town's folk in a time of poverty and famine. Your hotel for the next two nights is centrally located within walking distance of all the major sights.

Your Beaune Hotel – Henry II Hotel

Hospice of Beaune

Chateau Chasselas

Dijon

DAY 12 - Beaune in Burgundy (B, D)

DAY 13 - Bergeres Les vertus
Champagne region (B, D)

Mid morning we stop in the historic town of Troyes. Originally settled on the junction of several Roman roads, Troyes became an important religious and cultural regional centre. Nowadays the old town, set near the ornate façade of Cathédrale St Pierre et St Paul, is an architectural time capsule. The pedestrianised Rue Roger Salengro is lined with fine 16th century timber and brick houses, jutting out over the street, and on Rue Champeaux, the houses facing each other in the narrow alleyways virtually touch at the top. 

Later we enter the rolling limestone hills of the central Champagne Region where we take the famous Champagne Road to visit the wine ‘caves’ of Mercier, the largest champagne producers in the world.  We stay the night in the nearby village of Bergeres Les Vertus, where we enjoy a farewell meal in our family run hotel.

Your Champagne Hotel – Hostellerie de Mont Amie

Troyes

Champagne vineyards

Reims' Cathedral

DAY 14 - Paris (B)

This morning we visit nearby Reims, capital of the Champagne region, and the cathedral city where France crowned so many of her kings.  There will be time at leisure before we depart for nearby Paris where your tour ends on arrival mid afternoon.