Provence, French Riviera Adventure

Suspended for 2025

  * The price is per person based on double occupancy. Airfare is additional

Land package price: per person based on double occupancy. Airfare not included.

When spring returns and your wanderlust blooms, consider traveling in France! The country is never more beautiful than during this season. You can savor the gentle rays of the sun on charming terraces, stroll through parks and gardens bursting with blooms, and wander quietly along the seaside, in the mountains, or through picturesque countryside. Longer days allow for leisurely exploration. Let' us take you on this Riviera, Provence, Paris Adventure. It is filled with sunny days, fragrance, and flavors of the Mediterranean. This one is not to miss.

Your Tour Includes:

·      12 nights of lodging

·      Breakfast every morning

·      All day trips listed

·      Rail ticket to Avignon

·      All transfers listed

·      Several dinners and events

·      Services of tour director 24/7

·      Services of local historians/guides

Note that most lunches and dinners are not included, nor are Museum entrance fees during free time 

Single supplement TBD.

Your Adventure Awaits:

Day 1: Transatlantic flight to Nice, southern France. (May 20, 2025)

Day 2: Transfer to Juan-les-Pins, our home base for 4 nights on the sunny French Riviera.

Get together in the evening to get acquainted with our fellow travelers around a typical Mediterranean dinner.

Day 3: Leisurely day in Antibes, Juan-les-Pins’ sister city.

The little scenic train will take us through the two cities and delight us with commentaries. Visit of the Picasso museum. For those of you who have been to the one in Barcelona, this one will cover many other of his prolific works from paintings to ceramics. The building itself (a former Grimaldi castle), facing the Mediterranean, is a haven of simplicity, beauty and is just a few steps from the daily food market. Gather local produce filled with sunshine and flavor for a picnic on the beach, or sit at the terrace of a local cafe, the choice is yours. Meander through Antibes’ shaded alleys, and browse around. Enjoy “la joie de vivre”. Today is a gentle day to help your body clock readjust. Free evening in Juan.

Day 4: Nice

We will hop on the regional train with our day pass, and head 30 minutes away to Nice. Getting lost among the narrow, winding alleyways of Nice’s old town is a highlight. The layout has barely changed since the 1700s, and it’s now packed with delis, restaurants, boutiques and bars, but the center piece remains cours Saleya: a massive market square that’s filled with local finds. The food market  is perfect for fresh produce and foodie souvenirs, while the flower market is worth visiting just for the colors and fragrances.

The most famous stretch of seafront in Nice – if not France – is this vast paved promenade: Promenade des Anglais, which gets its name from the English expat patrons who paid for it in 1822. It runs for the whole 4km sweep of the Baie des Anges with a dedicated lane for cyclists and skaters; if you fancy joining them, you can rent skates, scooters and bikes.

 If a walk is not what you need at the moment, sipping an aperol at a cafe and savoring life, just might be. Free time to go to the Chagall museum if your heart desires.

Day 5: Eze, Fragonard visit, Monaco

The day will start with a visit of Eze. Our local train pass will come in handy once again. Eze village dates back to the middle ages and clings impressively to the mountainside above the Mediterranean Sea, between St Jean Cap Ferrat and Monaco. Panoramic views, ancient façades, and an unbelievable attention to detail are some of the most memorable features of this lovely village. Eze's cobblestone streets transport you to a bygone era, where medieval architecture whispers tales of centuries past. Wander through narrow alleys adorned with vibrant flowers, and you'll find yourself enchanted by the preserved authenticity that defines this beautiful village. For killer views, go up to the Cacti gardens, and let yourself be transported as far as the eye can see.

After free time in the village, we’ll visit the Fragonard perfume factory and learn about the “Nose” and his/her powerful 2 hour a day job. Fields of flowers have always graced the Riviera and the perfume industry has thrived in that location since the 1700’s.. Perfect weather, good dirt, heirloom varieties of flowers were the perfect combination for this perfume industry’s development.

Then it’s time to hop back on the train and go to Monaco, a small stretch of land, with more yachts per square meter than anywhere else in the world. We’ll walk up to the palace where we’ll have free time to visit the museum(optional), or the church where Grace Kelly got married, or have dinner…or all of the above. Return to home base before the last train.

Day 6: And off to Provence we go!

Provence can be tranquil or social, wise or wild, unpredictable or calm, stormy or sensible. The one thing we can promise is that you’ll never be bored. Today we’re heading to Avignon and its neighboring city Villeneuve-les-Avignon, our home base for the next 5 nights. Why Avignon and not Aix-en-Provence as our home base? Avignon is three times smaller, plus it is a designed UNESCO site, so Avignon it is. No worries, we will visit Aix too.

We’ll start with a walking tour after lunch, to catch the lay of the land and some of the city’s history. The Pope’s palace put Avignon on the map in the 1300’s.

Ringed by 3m-thick walls, its cavernous halls, chapels and antechambers are largely bare today – however, computerized renditions of what it was like so long ago are available with our entrance tickets.

Dinner together to celebrate Provence and the second leg of our France journey.

Day 7-8: The most beautiful villages of the Luberon and the Alpilles.

For the next two days, we’ll visit the countryside of Peter Mayle’s book ‘A Year in Provence’ and the perched villages he discovered. You will be inspired as he was in the beauty of the Luberon Natural Regional Park with typical stone houses that are part of the landscape. . Discover exceptional villages of Provence known as ” most beautiful villages of France ” : Gordes, Lacoste, Les Baux, St-Remy, Menerbes, Ile sur la Sorgue and more…

Day 9: History, wine and chocolate: Pont du Gard, Uzes, wine and chocolate pairing, plus hands-on chocolate treat making. Yum!

2000 years of history : walking tour on the famous roman aqueduc of Provence : le Pont du Gard, ranked as UNESCO world heritage site. The extraordinary three-tiered Pont du Gard was once part of a 50km-long system of channels built around 19 BC to transport water from Uzès to Nîmes. The scale is huge: the bridge is 48.8m high, 275m long and graced with 52 precision-built arches. It was the highest in the Roman Empire. Each block was carved by hand and transported from nearby quarries – no mean feat, considering the largest blocks weighed over 5 tons.

Visit of the antique theatre in Orange and its impressive scene wall, the most well preserved theatre of the roman world. We will finish our days’ adventures with a Bernard Castelain chocolate factory visit to include a chocolate and wine pairing experience, followed by a hands on chocolate making treat. Free evening at home base.

Day 10: Visit and walking tour of Aix en Provence followed by free time in Aix.

After the walking tour, meander through Aix at your own pace, shop, enjoy a leisurely lunch, look for signs of everyday life, such as the local gents playing a game of pétanque very seriously. It is a version of bocci ball, but played with steel balls. A favorite pastime of retirees, It takes place in a shaded public square, and a cafe is often nearby celebrate the winner afterwards. Quite often, the tape measure comes out to make sure there is no question as to who is closer to the cochonet (the little piglet). Maybe you’ll be invited to join in, accept and have fun.

Return to home base for a free evening with friends.

Day 11: High speed train to Paris and Heart of Paris walk.

Now that we have left the warm south and its leisurely pace, it’s time to lace up our walking shoes and meander through the highlights of Paris. We will follow La Seine to Notre Dame, the bird and flower market, the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was jailed before going to the guillotine. L’Hotel de ville, the Pompidou Center with Piazza Stravinsky, then through the Marais (Jewish quarter) and back to our hotel. Dinner together to celebrate our sunshine adventure. What a day!

Day 12: Tour over after breakfast: Aurevoir! Should you wish to continue on with us for our Paris, Loire Valley and Normandy adventure, please check our other tour. (May 31, 2025)