THE BEST OF FRANCE in 11 days
This Best of France tour distills the country to my top destinations in and around Paris. We’ll begin (and end) with the very best of Paris. Sandwiched in between are some of the best sites, food, wine, and experiences in the country: the vineyards and cathedrals of Burgundy, the Loire Valley’s elegant châteaux, Brittany’s quaint villages, Normandy’s magnificent Mont St. Michel, and the D-Day battlefield beaches.
Your Adventure Starts Here!
| PRICE FROM | DATES | |
|---|---|---|
| $4489 + air | Apr 22-May 2, 2026 |  |
| $4589 + air | Jun 3-13, 2026 | |
| $4589 + air | Sep 16-26, 2026 | |
| $4489 + air | Oct 7-17, 2026 | |
Paris – 3 nights
Beaune – 1 night
Loire Valley – 2 nights
Mont St. Michel – 1 night
Normandy – 2 nights
Paris – 1 night
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Single Room Additional Cost ~$910
ITINERARY
DAY 1: Welcome to Paris – Meet your Exploring Europe guide at 3:00 p.m. in your hotel lobby for introductions and a tour overview. Then, let’s focus on Paris’ historical center surrounding our hotel neighborhood. On our short walking tour, you’ll discover the wonder and history of the Notre Dame Cathedral and the opulence of the nearby Ile St. Louis and reflect on the atrocities of WWII at La Mémorial des Martyrs de La Déportation. Cap off your day with a dinner at one of David’s favorite restaurants and a sightseeing cruise on the Seine River. Sleep for 3 nights in Paris. Dinner.
DAY 2: Paris – Enjoy an ascent up the Eiffel Tower this morning for far-reaching vistas of the sprawling metropolis of Paris. Then we’ll head up to the artsy neighborhood of Montmartre to experience this quaint bohemian village and the nearby Sacré Coeur church. Enjoy a free evening on your own. Your tour leader can suggest activities ranging from shopping, museums, catacombs, church towers, and more.
DAY 3: Paris and the Louvre – Enjoy the morning at the Louvre museum to experience what some consider the world’s best collection of art. Armed with David’s “Louvre Destination Guide,” you will have several hours to explore the art, history, and wonder of this magnificent museum. Following the tour, stroll through the adjacent gardens ending on the famous Champs Elysées, where you can enjoy the evening and dinner on your own.
DAY 4: Burgundy – Today, we will leave Paris and head to Burgundy. Vézelay is a small hill town known for its Abbey and as a major starting point for pilgrims on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela. Later, we will travel through the vineyards and villages of Burgundy (which read like famous wine labels) and set up in Beaune for the evening. Following an orientation walk and a little independent time, we will meet for a grand feast featuring fresh specialties from Burgundy. Sleep 1 night in Beaune.
DAY 5: The Loire and Amboise – After a peaceful morning in town, we will load up and head through the French countryside to the Loire River Valley. In Amboise, you have time on your own for sightseeing and dinner. You can choose to visit Leonardo da Vinci’s home (Clos Lucé), tour Amboise’s castle, or wander the cobbled pedestrian-friendly streets. Sleep for 2 nights in Amboise.
DAY 6: Chateau Chenonceau and Amboise – This morning, we’ll visit the Château de Chenonceau, an elegant, river-straddling, 16th-century castle. After an audio-guided tour, you’ll have plenty of free time to roam through the gardens and pathways. Later, return to Amboise for a group dinner. Dinner.
DAY 7: Brittany and Mont Saint Michel – We will do a little driving today. Once in Dinan, enjoy a walk through the town surrounded by half-timbered houses and learn about the Bretons’ Celtic heritage. Later, arrive at the Abbey Mont St. Michel. We will arrive just in time to wave goodbye to all the tourist crowds, leaving Mont for us to enjoy in relative peace. Sleep 1 night on or near Mont St. Michel.
DAY 8: Normandy and Bayeux – After breakfast, enjoy a walking tour of Mont St-Michel and its hilltop abbey. Then, we will travel to Bayeux to have a look at the famous tapestry, embroidered with detailed scenes of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Sleep for 2 nights in Normandy.
DAY 9: The D-Day Beaches of Normandy – We will spend the day touring the Normandy beaches. It was here, in June 1944, the Allied D-Day landings took place. Through the course of the day, we’ll visit Pointe du Hoc and the Normandy American Cemetery, where 9,389 white crosses and Stars of David, and 1,557 names of those lost in battle, memorialize the Americans who gave their lives in the quest to liberate Europe. Later, we will make a stop at Sainte Mère Eglise, the airborne parachute site made famous by “The Longest Day” and “Band of Brothers.” Returning to town, enjoy some free time and dinner on your own.
DAY 10: Paris – We will return directly to Paris this morning. Your guide will be available to assist with sightseeing hints and suggestions such as museum entrances, shopping, and tours. This evening, we will meet for a grand farewell feast. Sleep for 1 night in Paris. Dinner.
DAY 11: Your tour over after breakfast – Paris’ airports is well connected by a network of taxis, shuttles, or public transportation. Your guide will help you with post-tour planning if needed. Au revoir!
Itinerary specifics are subject to change.
INCLUSIONS
Transportation by coach and minivan from your first hotel in Paris to your last hotel in Paris.
10 nights accommodation in traditional hotels, guesthouses, and B&B’s. All rooms have private en-suite baths.
All tips and gratuities to guides, drivers, restaurant, and hotel staff.
Strictly Small Group consisting of 6-18 participants.
All breakfasts and four of your dinners.
Traditional dining experiences at some of David’s personal favorite restaurants. Eating well is a priority and you’ll enjoy fine regional fare featuring the best the locale has to offer.
Water is included with all group meals. Sodas, beer, and other drinks are your responsibility.
All tours and admissions at no extra cost: Seine River Cruise, Eiffel Tower admission, Louvre Museum entrance, Paris historic center walking tour, Montmartre/Pigalle walking tour, Métro transportation in Paris, Champs Elysées orientation, Vézelay orientation, Beaune walking tour to the vineyards, Chateau Chenonceau tour, Dinan orientation, Mont St. Michel orientation, D-Day Beaches driving tour, and much more.
A full-time Exploring Europe guide and local experts dedicated to bringing to life the art, history, and culture of the tour destinations.
David’s tour handouts are delivered electronically and detail each day’s historical and cultural experiences.
Free luggage tags and David’s custom-designed drawstring backpacks.
Our Unconditional Tour Price Guarantee, once locked in, will never change.
$50 Tour Alumni discount for each David McGuffin tour you’ve taken prior to this travel year.
EXCLUSIONS
Comprehensive Trip insurance. We strongly recommend comprehensive insurance for tour.
Fee for passports.
Beer, wine, spirits, and soda during the tour.
Laundry, phone, internet, and personal items
Extras and optional activities.
Anything not mentioned in the itinerary.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
CANCELLATION POLICY
CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS:
Deposits- Deposits for tours are fully refundable for 30 days from your initial application and deposit date, unless otherwise noted. If you book a tour less than 90 days before its departure date, full payment is due immediately, and the entire tour cost becomes non-refundable after seven days. After these dates, deposits are not refundable and will be forfeited if you cancel your tour reservation.
Payments- Tour payments are due in full 90 days before your tour departure date. If you find you must cancel between 90-0 days before your tour departure, please contact us immediately. We will work with you to transfer your payments to another tour departing within 18 months. We strongly recommend that everyone purchase comprehensive travel insurance that covers tour cancellations, emergency medical, and other unexpected events.
Cancellations will be effective when the written notification is received at David McGuffin›s Exploring Europe by mail, e-mail, or fax.
SIGN UP BY EMAIL OR POST
If you do not want to sign up online:
You may download a tour application and send it to us with payment.
-OR-
You may return it by:
- FAX 1-800-570-1351
- Email – info@davidmcguffin.com
- email – take a photo of the form with your smartphone and attach it to an email
- TXT – take a photo with your smartphone and TXT to 904-612-8149
KEY TO WALKING & ACTIVITY
Walking and Physical Activity: We have planned this trip to provide maximum tour experiences. The basic nature of Europe does require some degree of physical activity to get out and see the sights, especially in the big cities. To help you plan, we’ve included a daily projection of physical activity. Here is the key for our walking activity ratings:
Light – Walking done on level surfaces with some hills and elevation gains. Two miles or less of required walking during the day.
Moderate – Walking done on paved and gravel paths and cobbled city sidewalks. To enjoy the full tour experience, some uphill and downhill walking is expected, as is standing while viewing sights or museums. Four to six miles of walking per day.
Strenuous – Walking done on rugged and rocky paths and city-cobbled sidewalks. There will be steps and stairs. Up to three hours standing in museums or experience sites. Up to eight miles of walking per day.
Your Choice – No matter what your walking ability, we will help you find alternative ways to enjoy and experience all Europe has to offer. To get the most out of our tours, you should be able to operate at the light level every day with spurts of moderate and strenuous.
PRE-TOUR RESOURCES
Now that you’ve decided to join this tour, we are sure you’ll have some questions. Don’t worry. We are here to help you through each aspect of your tour from start to finish.
DAVID’S 60 SECONDS DESTINATION VIDEOS
Join David as he shares impromptu moments from his travels in the United Kingdom. Watching these short 60-second segments are a great way to experience David’s travel style and adventures. Watch David Explores France here.
David’s TRAVEL TALK TUESDAY almost-weekly broadcast and Video Series Blog.
Every week, when David is not traveling in Europe, he presents a LIVE broadcast on Zoom and Facebook. Check it out on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM Eastern Time.
Each Travel Talk Tuesday session is recorded. Watch them here.
DAVID’S BLOG ARTICLES
David and his team have answered many travel-related questions, and they are all tucked away on his blog. But, no need to go there. Just type in a keyword in the search box at the top or bottom of this page (it’s the gray rectangle with a small magnifying glass icon), and you will get results for your query.
PLEASE SEND US AN EMAIL OR GIVE US A CALL.
We are happy to answer your travel questions and give advice and suggestions. tours@davidmcguffin.com or 800-570-1351.
Testimonials & Reviews of our Tours
I’m quite pleased with my first experience with David McGuffin tour company. The itinerary was spot on - from sites (expected tourist highlights to less known treasures) to hotels (especially Barr Na Straide) & restaurants (Rinuccini❣️) to planned time balanced with free time. And our guide David Grey was THE BEST! David is respectful, thorough, flexible, & a wealth of knowledge and all the while just being plain fun. As my late mother would say, “he’s a keeper.”
We were a family of 5 with three adults and two children 7 and 9. In London we had great food, site seeing and special moments like tea at Harrods, seeing Wicked live and a trip to Harry Potter WB studio experience as well as a trip to Abbey Road for a photo moment. We rode The Eye, boats, busses and the subway. John and Audra guided us expertly . On to Paris via train and more wonderful sites and food. We absolutely loved the Eiffel Tower both from the top and from the river. Spectacular experience of seeing the lights coming on at dusk. Took a cooking class and it was fantastic. The macarons were delicious. Lots of walking. This hotel was convenient to transportation but room too small for a family. All the hotels had delicious breakfasts. Flew to Rome and the hotel there was very nice. Very hot here but enjoyed all the sites and food. No water in Trevi Fountain but lots of other things to enjoy. Had a wonderful memorable time. Came home exhausted but with lots of lasting memories. Thanks to David, Leslie John and Audra for a trip of a lifetime.
The trip to Ireland was just GREAT. David McGuffin Exploring Europe really provides a very nice itinerary and very comfortable everything, very nice hotels, great food, highlighted places and experiences. The part I liked best was David the personal full time tour guide, he was exceptional. The company took care of all of the details like where to go, where to stay, all attraction payments, the beautiful motorcoach. All we had to do is relax and enjoy. And what a great group of people. It couldn't have been better!
My wife and I traveled to Italy last month for David’s “Essence of Italy” tour and we had a great time. Traveling with David and Charlotte was so much easier not having to worry about our hotel, food, and transportation arrangements.
Due to the Jubilee and the Pope’s death, Rome was extremely crowded. We missed the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter’s Basilica because of the Conclave. We plan on returning to Rome with David to see these sites.
The train ride to Cinque Terre was fun with a lot to see. Once there, we were able to visit a few of the five villages using local trains. The views of the mountain villages next to the ocean were fantastic.
Our next stop was to the hilltown of Volterra in Tuscany. Now I know why David calls Volterra one of his favorite places. It’s really beautiful and has a lot of history. We would never have thought of visiting some of the locations David took us.
We finished our trip visiting Siena and Florence. The museums, Cathedrals, and famous historical sites were great to see.
Traveling with David, Charlotte and our group was very enjoyable. We have already booked our next trip with David in 2026.
Essence of Italy 10 days our first David McGuffin Tour and we were thankful to have David and Charlotte with us on this tour. Rome was quite the experience 2 full days of site seeing with the Vatican, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain to name a few all so beautiful, but a little over whelming with the crowds.
Our hotels in every location were quaint and lovely! Not having A/C is some of them was an adjustment , I definitely recommend you bring the portable fan that David mentions to bring we used it.
We really enjoyed our small group 10 people including our guides it was perfect. We had so much fun at our group dinners having a guide for the restaurants was definitely a plus, as well as what food to order.
Cinque Terre- Monterosso was my favorite village and Volterra the Tuscany area was also a favorite of ours! The tour guides in Rome (Guilai was amazing) and Volterra were informative and enjoyable as well as David and Charlottes information on each area.
We packed just like David suggested and we didn’t have any issues or problems handling our own luggage but we did do laundry once while there. David’s tour prep instructions were spot on.
We had the most enjoyable time making new friends and seeing beautiful Italy our next adventure is hopefully Greece!
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