Members save more on over 100,000 hotels worldwide
Unlock member discounts
Unlock exclusive discounts and inclusions
Members only pricing
Bonus hand-picked inclusions
Highlights of France - 09 Apr 2027 to 24 Sep 2027
Operated by Trafalgar
Tripcode: 4FHIGM27
Overview
Destination:
France,
Monaco,
Duration:13 days
Type:Group tour (max 45)
Travel Period
April 2027 - September 2027
Across 13 days, your route runs from Paris into the Loire Valley, where vineyards pattern the land. In Carcassonne, you pass between narrow streets and fortified walls, hear voices brush against the stone and the medieval city seems to answer in faint echoes. Between Beaune and Bordeaux, patterned rooftops and stone courtyards give way to 18th-century façades and the hum of city streets. Further south, on the French Riviera and in Monaco, the Mediterranean breeze slips along elegant boulevards, private yachts dot the water and sleek cars flash along the coast. In Normandy, you’ll see the shore where Allied soldiers first reached France, sand and sea carrying the weight of WWII history.
Iconic Experience
- Paris: With your Travel Director, you’ll wander through the heart of Paris along its grand boulevards, ornate balconies overhead as cream-stone buildings and tree-lined avenues stretch towards the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées.
- Beaune: Join your Travel Director for an orientation walk through Beaune’s medieval centre. Pass wine shops, timber-framed buildings and lively market squares as you get a feel for this historic Burgundy town. Along the way, hear how wine, trade and tradition have shaped daily life in one of France’s best-loved wine capitals.
- Lyon: Take in panoramic views of Lyon from Fourvière Hill and explore the city's cobblestone streets on a sightseeing orientation.
- Monaco City: Bask in the stunning views on your Monaco Orientation.
- Arles: Get your bearings in Arles, a Provençal city shaped by Roman history and artistic spirit. See its honey-stone streets, lively squares and ancient landmarks as you discover why this atmospheric city inspired Vincent van Gogh. From its amphitheatre to its cafe culture, Arles offers a vivid introduction to southern France’s rich heritage.
- Pont du Gard: See the ancient Roman aqueduct bridge of Pont du Gard, spanning the Gardon River.
- Avignon: View the Pont d'Avignon and walk the medieval narrow streets of the Old Town to the Palais des Papes.
- Lourdes: Explore Lourdes, globally renowned as a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site and attracting over three million faithful visitors every year.
- Bordeaux: See Bordeaux’s boulevards, squares and 18th-century architecture on an orientation drive through the city. Set on the Garonne River, Bordeaux has long been shaped by trade and winemaking, with a historic centre that reflects its place as one of France’s best-known wine capitals.
- Chateau Chenonceau: Visit Château de Chenonceau or commonly known as 'Ladies Castle' which got its name from the many women who influenced its construction.
- Mont-Saint-Michel: Savour your first sight of the fortified island of Mont Saint-Michel and cross the causeway to explore the tidal island town.
- Omaha Beach: Join an emotive journey tracing the story of the D-Day landings and visit Omaha Beach.
- Honfleur: Admire the harbour town of Honfleur and its beautiful colourful storefronts.
Highlights:
Standard inclusions
- 12 Breakfast (B)
- 3 Dinner (D)
- An expert Travel Director and professional Driver
- Cherry-picked hotels, all tried and trusted
- Many meals and daily breakfasts included
- City orientation tours
- Audio headsets are provided throughout your holiday to enhance your included sightseeing experiences
- Luxury air-conditioned coach with Wi-Fi in most countries
- Extensive variety of Choice Experiences
- On occasion, hotels of similar standard and location may be utilised.
Itinerary
Expand all 
Collapse all
Collapse allBonjour Paris
You begin in Paris, where past and present weave through Haussmann boulevards, cafe terraces, museum doors and the quays of the Seine. After check-in, there is time to head into the city, where cafe conversations spill out onto the pavement and quieter corners wait just beyond the main avenues. You might catch the scent of a croque monsieur warming on the grill or glimpse your first view of the monuments that shape the capital. Today’s Optional Experience will pair a cruise along the Seine with a scenic drive taking in many of the city’s main sights from the sculpture lined Pont Alexandre III to the towering ironwork of the Eiffel Tower.
From the Arc de Triomphe to the Champs-Élysées
Today, your Travel Director guides you along Paris’s grand boulevards, through the heart of the city towards the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées. The pavement stretches before grand avenues open out from the Arc like the points of a star. You may choose an Optional Experience to Montmartre, where you may catch the sweet buttery scent of crêpes wafting down cobbled streets and in Artist’s Square you explore neighbourhood once walked by Picasso and Dalí. An Optional Experience dinner will give you time to ease into the evening over food and conversation with your fellow travellers.
Burgundy Colour and Lyon Flavour
With Paris behind you, your route turns towards Beaune, a medieval town known for local wine, patterned roof tiles and centuries-old walls. You have time to explore the 15th-century Hôtel-Dieu, where patterned roof tiles echo the autumn colours of Burgundy vines and stone courtyards carry the sound of your footsteps between centuries-old walls. From Beaune, the focus will shift to Lyon, moving from local wine to a city known for classical French cuisine. An orientation tour with your Travel Director will help you get your bearings, with an Optional Experience offering the chance to follow Lyon through the flavours and traditions that helped make it famous.
Through the Rhône Valley, onto the Côte d’Azur
South through the Rhône Valley, Aix-en-Provence awaits you with worn stone streets, shaded corners and town squares laid over natural hot springs first known to the Romans. During free time, you can follow the town through gold-toned stone, shaded squares and the low murmur of fountains, with the thought of warm springs still flowing beneath the Roman foundations. The road stretches beyond inland Provence towards the Mediterranean coast as Aix-en-Provence’s golden squares give way to Monaco’s elegant boulevards and the Côte d’Azur.
Relax on the Riviera
With a free day on the French Riviera, you could breathe in the fresh sea air with a stroll along the beach or join an Optional Experience to Saint-Paul-de-Vence. In this walled hill town, stone streets, old façades and a quieter hillside setting contrast with the Riviera’s sleek cars, private yachts and waterfront life. It’s another side of the coast, felt through old walls, narrow streets and a softer sense of style.
Brushstrokes of Arles and the Stone of Avignon
In Arles, Roman heritage lingers in the stonework around you, from streets and squares to riverside places that helped inspire Van Gogh’s paintings. You may choose an Optional Experience that follows the artist’s time in Arles more closely, moving through the scenes that helped shape his bold brushstrokes. Avignon brings you into the heart of Provence, where the Palais des Papes stands in pale fortress stone. The old city circled by chapels, thick walls and medieval ramparts. At the Pont du Gard, stones placed 2,000 years ago tower over you as you take in the arches of this first-century aqueduct.
Journey From Carcassonne To Candlelit Lourdes
Ahead of you, the hillside hardens into Carcassonne’s fortified stone walls, 12th-century architecture and turreted medieval castle. From there, the foothills of the Pyrénées carry you towards Lourdes. Your visit follows in the footsteps of millions of pilgrims who have travelled here to honour St Bernadette and visit the basilica above the Grotto, where she is said to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary. You may also have the opportunity to join a torchlight procession with the pilgrims, warm candlelight flickering through the crowd around you.
Biarritz’s coastal elegance to Bordeaux’s hilly green
On the Atlantic coast, Biarritz sets you beside the ocean, with a resort-town elegance that has drawn European royalty since the 1800s. From the seafront, you might watch waves fold towards the shore or catch a glimpse of a local surfer gliding across the water. An Optional Experience into Basque Country takes you beyond sandy beaches towards lofty peaks. On the road to Bordeaux, the seaside gives way to rolling countryside as you travel through Les Landes.
Discover Châteaux across Saint-Émilion And Loire
At hilltop Saint-Émilion, château country spreads across the landscape below, with vineyards patterning the slopes beyond the village. You can choose an Optional Experience wine tasting at a French chateau, velvety tannins painting your palate while you hear the history of the vineyard. Later, you'll continue towards the Loire Valley, finishing at your hotel near Tours.
Following the Loire Through Château Country
At Château de Chenonceau, the Cher River passes beneath you, lapping softly against the stone as your Local Specialist guides you across the checkered floor of the Long Gallery, crossed by royalty and resistance alike. Inside the Château, tapestries, paintings and Renaissance furniture fill the spaces with fabric, wood and the sense of lives once lived within these walls. Outside, the landscaped gardens draw you down garden paths and into the open air. In Amboise, Leonardo da Vinci’s presumed final resting place, you can wander through the town's beautiful Château grounds or simply gaze out at the Loire Valley unfolding before you. The final Chateau of the day is one of the world's most remarkable. Chateau de Chambord's scale and detail are made to be taken in slowly. Back in Tours, you may choose an Optional Experience: a final evening in the Old Town over Touraine cuisine in a traditional restaurant.
Normandy Shores: Mont Saint-Michel To Deauville
Mont Saint-Michel meets you in salt air and stone, its medieval town rising from a rocky outcrop above the sea. Here, you can hear how the Archangel inspired the Bishop of Avranches to build a church at the summit, a story that still feels woven into the abbey walls and narrow streets. At the D-Day beaches, the sea breeze mingles with whispers of history at the spot where Allied soldiers first landed on the French shore. At the Normandy American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, white marble headstones stand in long rows across the grass, with the sea stirring quietly beyond the bluff. Later, Deauville offers another face of Normandy, with its harbour, racecourse and long association with international film.
Artists And Cathedrals: Honfleur To Paris
In Honfleur, you can follow the harbour’s edge past moored boats and water brushing the quay, catching the colour, reflections and harbour light Monet and other artists returned to on canvas. In Rouen, the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, your path runs through cobbled streets between Gothic churches and the carved stone of its cathedral, with rough walls, pointed arches and old city corners. Paris waits at the end of the day. You may choose an Optional Experience dinner and cabaret performance, with food, music and a sense of celebration.
Au Revoir Paris
This morning, your journey through France comes to an end. You’ll say a fond au revoir to your Travel Director and fellow travellers, taking the memories of the past 13 days with you as you begin the journey home.
Dates
Select a date or submit general enquiry
Operator
Trafalgar
The best of the world unlocked for you. Imagine unmissable experiences you’ve always dreamed of, getting to know the locals and having everything taken care of every step of the way. Here's what you'll experience: Must-sees to local secrets: Visiting bucket list sites are a highlight of travelling, however, travelling on your own can make them hard work. Don’t queue with other sightseers for hours, with Trafalgar our experts unlock doors – think exclusive access to the Vatican out of hours or a tour of Versailles and its grounds with an expert. This, coupled with the intimate glimpses and hidden gems our local specialists show you, are the life-changing experiences that make you feel like an insider, not a tourist. One-of-a-kind experiences: Thanks to our global network you’ll unlock local access to communities and people around the world. Our 100+ Be My Guest experiences are a signature Trafalgar exclusive, where you will enjoy the hospitality of locals as you are welcomed into their homes to hear their stories and learn about their cultures. In every destination, you’ll also enjoy unique “Stays with stories” accommodation: more than just a place to rest your head, they are part of the heritage and fabric of the communities you visit. Responsible travel at heart: When you choose Trafalgar, you are choosing to make your travels a force for good and support our goal to MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®. We recognise our responsibility to ensure we make a positive impact on the planet we call home, the people we visit, and the rich wildlife we find. We ensure that the impacts of our business and your travels are positive in two ways: through our TreadRight Foundation, and our 5-year sustainability strategy How We Tread Right.
Important Information
*Terms and conditions
Please note: We are proud to be an independent agent to travel providers of hotels, flights and other related services. We are not a tour operator. Details and information on the offer are provided by 3rd party businesses and although we do our best to verify the information, we cannot guarantee its accuracy on all occasions. These offers are not available in conjunction with any other offer unless otherwise stated. Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.
For more information, please see Terms of Use
Book now
Need help?
Price from
$3,750
$3,600
*
Member price from
$3,600*
per person twin share
12 nights
Check departuresCan't find the answer you're looking for? Get in touch with our friendly Travel Consultants.
Call 1800 850 888Speak to one of our friendly consultants, available during business hours.
Mon to Fri · 9am - 5pm AEST
Speak to an expert in-store
Prefer to plan in person? Make an appointment at our Travel Store to speak with one of our experts
d455a549ebd962f7a8600d8f495ac307
150270
Tour
© 2026 Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) All rights reserved.