The Eiffel Tower

Arc du Triomphe

Notre Dame Paris

Burgundy Vines

Hospice of Beaune

Château de Chenonceau

Amboise Loire River

Mont Saint Michel

Normandy American Cemetery

Pont du Hoc - Normandy

THE BEST OF FRANCE in 11 days

When I think of France, my mind always wanders to food!  Those tasty dishes are always accompanied by lots of sauce which have been distilled to a rich and silky essence.  Hence, the name of this tour distills the country down to my top destinations in and around Paris. We’ll begin (and end) with the very best of Paris, and sandwiched in between are some of the premiere 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!

MAP France 2019
PRICE FROMDATES
$3789 + airApr 22-May 2, 2025“Sign
$3789 + airSep 29-Oct 9, 2025“Sign

Paris – 3 nights

Beaune – 1 night

Loire Valley – 2 nights

Mont St. Michel – 1 night

Normandy – 2 nights

Paris – 1 night

——————————-

$3789 + air  = Double Occupancy

$4564 + air = Single Room

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.  Dinner.

 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 10,000 white crosses and Stars of David 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 a traditional Norman dinner together. Dinner.

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 six of your lunches or 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.

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

 by Rodgers and Amy Parrish, FL on David McGuffin's Tours to London and Paris
Personal, Fun and Amazing

This was our first trip to Europe and it was everything we hoped for! John and Audra were the tour guides. They went above and beyond to answer all questions and tailor the experience to our requests. The group dinners were very good and let us see things we could have never found on our own. John and Audra both took the time to make sure we understood the public transportation in both countries so we could fully enjoy our free days. They even researched places for us to go based on our wish list. I could not recommend David McGuffin’s Exploring Europe and more highly. Thanks to everyone for a great experience!

 by John from Denver, CO on David McGuffin's Tours to Ireland
Wonderful Trip

We traveled to Scottland & Ireland on a McGuffin tour. The tour group was small making it easy to navigate the two countries as compared to larger tour groups. He included tours to many “off the beaten path” towns which differentiated this tour from others we have done. Having a half-day to explore stops on your own every day also made this tour a wonderful experience.

Five Stars for The Best of Ireland

The Best of Ireland - September 2023

My wife and I just completed the Best of Ireland Tour and it changed our whole attitude about doing a tour. We loved being in a small tour group where everyone gets to know one another. We had a fantastic group and it was by far, one of the best and most informative trips we've ever been on.

From day one, each trip was carefully planned with an abundance of daily tours as well as needed downtime and though I have a hearing loss, David spoke louder to accommodate. We NEVER waited in lines for ANYTHING. Anytime we showed up for a reserved tour, we were immediately escorted thru.

Our dinner locations were chosen by David because of the charm, the history and the personality and DID NOT disappoint. The food was always outstanding with great selections available because of varying tastes, and we never expected wine and spirits to be included as part of the dining experience.

David also picked some out of-the-way locations to stop where the town was not overrun with tourists and where the larger buses were too big to travel. We had to endure some rainy days that required walking in the rain but that's just part of it. Unless we stopped to check into a hotel, the bags always stayed on the bus and if we couldn't check into the rooms early, the hotel had no problem storing our bags for us...at no charge.

We can't say enough about the quality of our tour guide and the entire tour itself. It has totally changed our opinion about tour groups and well never visit another city in Europe unless it's a small group tour!!!!!!!

 by Amber from Texas on David McGuffin's Tours to Ireland
Ireland - We had the Best Time!

The Best of Ireland  - September 2023

My husband and I just traveled to Ireland with David for 12 days along with our friends and we had the best time. Every detail is streamlined in advance so you have no surprises. You receive an email or WhatsApp update every evening with your detailed schedule for the next day, so easy. Breakfast is included every morning, lunch on your own with plenty of options and fun group dinners half the time. David always listened to our opinions about what we wanted and didn't. We loved how he didn't bog us down with nonstop activity and gave us free time to explore on our own. We were so impressed with his company we immediately booked another tour with him. This is a no brainer for us because all you have to do is pack your bags, book a flight and he does everything else simple as that. If you can't have fun with EE,Inc you're not trying.

 by Doriane, Frederick, MD on David McGuffin's Tours to Greece
Greece Tour

David provided a private tour for my family and myself. Our tour included Athens, Santorini and Mykonos. My favorite location was Mykonos. The Villa we stayed in Mykonos was gorgeous.

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David McGuffin Exploring Europe: Tour Operator & Travel Information
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