The Best of France's Loire Valley and Normandy - Tour Specifics

TOUR DATES:    This tour is not running in 2024. Please check back for 2025 dates!

Cost: Check back for 2025 rates

Accommodations: 8 nights lodging in elegant, historic hotels (4 nights Saumur, 4 nights Honfleur).

Please note: Many cities in Italy and France have recently implemented tourism taxes on hotel stays in order "to ensure the quality of tourist, cultural and environmental services in addition to the efficiency of public transports." We are unable to include these taxes in the tour price as the majority of hotels require the tax to be paid in cash upon check- out. The tax is usually €1 per hotel star per person per night. (A four-star hotel will usually be €4 per person per night).

Historic properties often have rooms of varying sizes as they are former residences made into guest lodging. 

The hotel in Honfleur does not have air-conditioning, but we've never needed it.  Every time we have stayed there, we’ve needed an extra blanket!  The average lows are in the 50s.

Meals: All breakfasts, one full-course meal daily (either lunch or dinner), additional meals as scheduled. All meals -after breakfast! - include regional wines. We carefully choose the restaurants based on ambiance and quality of cuisine.

Transfers: All ground transportation during the tour subsequent to your arrival at the designated meeting point in Central Paris on June 18.  For the departure day on June 26, there will be a group shuttle departing Honfleur at 9:30 AM going first to Central Paris and then to Paris-Charles deGaulle Airport.

Wine tastings of various French varieties (including small local producers and larger well-known wineries).

Guided Tours with local authorized expert guides:  Saumur, Villandry, Chinon, Chambord, Chenonceaux, Chartres, Honfleur, Giverney, Calvados and cheese tastings, D-Day sites.

Admissions: Entrance fees for all planned visits to monuments, galleries and museums are included.

Small, Intimate Group: We limit the number of participants to a maximum of 16. We need a minimum of 12 guests for a tour to run.

Early Arrival/ Late Stay Options:  If you wish to make any add-on arrangements, we’d be happy to help you!  For trip extensions of 2 nights or less, we provide planning assistance on a complimentary basis. For extensions of 3-5 nights, there is a nominal fee of $150 to assist with trip planning including booking hotels, guides, drivers, etc.

Arrival and Departure: The tour begins at 8:00 AM on June 18, 2022. The group will meet at a designated meeting point in Central Paris to take a bus to Saumur (about 4 hours). On the final morning of the tour, there will be a group shuttle departing Honfleur at 10:30 AM going first to Central Paris and then to Paris-Charles deGaulle Airport. If flying out on June 26, we recommend departing flights be no earlier than 5:00 PM.

Luggage Allowance: Please be sure to have a luggage tag attached to the top handle of your luggage with your name printed clearly on each piece of luggage.  This helps the porters deliver your luggage directly to your room.

Tour Exclusions: Airfare; arrival airport transfer; hotel city taxes.

Experienced Tour Leaders: Tuscany Tours has been leading small-group tours in Europe since 1997. Tour Leaders for this tour are Dominique Waag and Ludovica Noviello. Dominique was born and raised in Normandy; he graduated in History and Geography (Rouen Univ) and Art History (Ecole du Louvre - Paris). He has been a full-time guide all over France for years now. His specialties are war history, medieval history, impressionism, cooking and traditions.  Ludovica is a native Roman and guides tours in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish. Check out our Meet the Team page online to learn more about each of these amazing guides!

Registration:

To reserve your place and register for this tour above.

There is a non-refundable deposit due of $500 per person at time of registration to secure your spot on the tour.

Please feel free to contact us via email or call us at (800) 634-3460 with any questions you may have about the tour or about traveling to Tuscany.

*Note: This itinerary is subject to change without notice based on availability of tour leaders and guides, opening hours of restaurants, hotels and venues.