Paris takes three days. France takes the rest of the trip.
Which Louvre ticket really skips the queue. What an afternoon in the Saint-Émilion vines costs. Whether Mont-Saint-Michel survives the coach ride from Paris. Reviews of every tour you can book in France.
from $17
from $23A gallery morning, a river at night, an abbey in the sea, a coast road.
The four bookings a first French itinerary hangs off. What each one costs, and what the travellers who took it say.
01The gallery morningLouvre Museum Masterpieces Guided Tour with AccessA guide walks you to the Mona Lisa, the Venus and the Raft in ninety minutes flat. The rest of the Louvre is then yours, at your own pace.
02The river after darkSeine River Panoramic Views Dinner CruiseParis from water level with dinner served as the bridges go by. Ask for a table on the port side, facing the tower.
03The day out westDay Trip to Mont-Saint-Michel from ParisLeaves Paris early, crosses Normandy, and drops you under the abbey at the hour the tide is worth watching.
04The coast dayFrench Riviera in One DayÈze, Monaco and a corniche road out of Nice in one run. The drive is half the reason to take it.
The vineyard afternoon, the market morning, the cellar under Reims.
In France eating is the itinerary, not the interval. Four kinds of table day, what it costs to sit down at each, and the part of the country it belongs to.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · Afternoon Saint-Emilion Wine Tasting & snack
Bordeaux château afternoonsSaint-Émilion or the Médoc, two estates and the tasting between them.
Champagne cellarsChalk galleries under Reims and Épernay, six glasses deep.
Paris market morningsCheese, charcuterie and a bakery stop before the queue forms.
A kitchen with a chefCroissants, macarons or a full menu, and then you eat it.
All 162 days at a French table →
Paris first. Then the coast, the vines and the valleys.
A capital you can walk, a corniche road above Monaco, two estates and a cellar door outside Bordeaux, kayaks into white limestone east of Marseille, a granite island with no road to its best bay, and half-timbered Alsace. Six starting points, and the best day out in each.
Four monuments carry half the bookings in France.
The Louvre, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and the Orsay all run on timed slots, and the difference between a good morning and a wasted one is which ticket you hold when you arrive. These three are the ones travellers take most.
Paris: the gallery before ten, the river after dark.
All of Paris →
Take the first timed slot of the day while the rooms are still quiet, spend the afternoon on the hill where the painters were, and put the evening on the water. These three carry more travellers than anything else in the city.
Dinner on the Seine, or just the hour loop
The plain sightseeing loop leaves every half hour and costs about what a coffee on the Champs-Élysées does. The dinner boats want three hours and a jacket, and the good tables are the ones facing the tower.
Montmartre, past the caricaturists
The square at the top belongs to the portrait sellers by ten. A guide takes you up the back lanes instead, through the vineyard and the last two windmills, and gets to Sacré-Cœur from the quiet side.
Moulin Rouge, Crazy Horse, Paradis Latin
Three very different rooms: feathers and a champagne bucket at the Moulin Rouge, light and choreography at the Crazy Horse, a Baroque theatre at the Paradis Latin. All three sell the good seats out first.
What the most people in France actually book.
Every French tour we have reviewed →Ordered by how many people have actually been, and spread across the country so one monument cannot take the whole list.
1
Louvre Museum Timed-Entrance Ticket
Use a $26 timed ticket to enter the Louvre within a 30-minute window, then explore the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions on your own. There is no guide or audio guide included. Plan your route before arrival, allow time for airport-style security, and expect crowds around the Mona Lisa.
From · $26
Read our review →
2
Disneyland® Paris 1-Day Ticket
from $61
3
Versailles Palace and Gardens Full Access Ticket
from $17
4
Eiffel Tower Entry Ticket with Optional Summit Access
from $29
5
Eiffel Tower Summit or Second Floor Access
from $59
6
Louvre Guided Tour with Reserved Access & Boat Cruise
from $81
7
Moulin Rouge Cabaret Show Ticket with Champagne
from $115
8
Seine River Panoramic Views Dinner Cruise
from $64
A hull reaches the parts of France the road misses.
Bateaux under the Paris bridges after dark, kayaks into the white limestone east of Marseille, and the Scandola reserve in Corsica, which has no road to it at all. The best hour of a French day is often spent afloat.
Every boat day in France →
What a French day out costs, honestly.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what you pay. A good number of the best French days come in under the price of dinner for two in the 6th.
Timed entry tickets, old-town walks, the hour on the river and a morning round a market.
The full-day standards: Versailles with a guide, the Loire châteaux, a Bordeaux estate, the D-Day beaches.
Private guides, Champagne days with lunch, dinner cruises and the once-a-trip splurge.
Three days that are worth the early train.
Every European capital has galleries and a river. A coast that changed the century, a plateau that turns purple for six weeks, and a valley of châteaux built for hunting are harder to come by.
The D-Day beaches
Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword run for eighty kilometres along the Calvados coast, with the American cemetery above Colleville and the remains of the Mulberry harbour still standing off Arromanches. Most tours leave Paris before seven and return after eight; going from Bayeux instead buys you two extra hours on the coast and a smaller vehicle.
- 1Normandy D-Day Sites & Cemetery Day Trip from Paris with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 6,877 reviews
- 2Normandy D-Day Small-Group Day Trip with Omaha Beach, Cemetery & Cider Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,786 reviews
- 3Normandy D-Day Beaches and American Cemetery Day Trip from Paris★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,673 reviews
The lavender plateau
The fields on the Valensole plateau flower from the last week of June to roughly the third week of July, and the cutting starts as soon as the oil peaks. Come outside that window and you are looking at green stubble. The same day usually takes in the Verdon gorge, which is worth the drive on its own.
- 1Gorges of Verdon and Fields of Lavender Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 1,975 reviews
- 2Half-Day 4×4 Camargue Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,772 reviews
- 3Camargue: Half-Day 4×4 Guided Safari Adventure★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 846 reviews
The château run
Chambord is the enormous one, Chenonceau the one built across the river, Amboise the one with Leonardo buried in the chapel. A day trip from Paris fits two properly or three badly; the tours that include a Vouvray tasting on the way back are using the drive well.
- 1Loire Valley Castles Day Trip from Paris with Complementary Wine★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,907 reviews
- 2Entry Ticket to the Castle★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,841 reviews
- 3Loire Valley Castles Day Trip With Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,727 reviews
Four things you cannot leave until the morning.
Most of a French week can be arranged over breakfast the day before. These four run on timed entry, closing days and a tide table, none of which care when your flight lands.
- 01Eiffel Tower Summit or Second Floor AccessThe lift to the summit is capped per slot and sells out days ahead in summer. The stairs ticket is the fallback, and it only reaches the second floor.
- 02Louvre Museum Timed-Entrance TicketEntry is by half-hour slot, and the museum shuts on Tuesdays. The first slot of the day is the only quiet one.
- 03Versailles Palace and Gardens Full Access TicketThe palace closes on Mondays, and the fountains only run on set days between April and October. Both decide which day you go, not which ticket you buy.
- 04Moulin Rouge Cabaret Show Ticket with ChampagneTwo shows a night, one room, and the tables nearest the stage are spoken for weeks in advance.
Half the museums in France are shut on the day you planned them.
The Louvre closes on Tuesdays. The Orsay, the Orangerie and Versailles close on Mondays, and most municipal collections pick one or the other. Those two days are what kitchens, markets, river boats and a decent pair of shoes are for.
By place — capital, coast and country
By kind of day — gallery, table, water or road
Paris, Versailles, the D-Day coast, the Loire, then south to Nice.
Versailles
The Loire
AvignonJust reviewed, straight off the pile.
Newer still →
Alsace Wine Route Wineries & Tasting Small Group Guided Tour from Strasbourg
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Alsace Wine Route Small Group Half-Day Tour with Tasting from Strasbourg
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Small-Group Half-Day Languedoc Pic Saint-Loup Wine Tour from Montpellier
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Bertrand Bosc wine and food tour in Pic St Loup
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Taste Wine in Lyon: Burgundy, Beaujolais, Rhône, and more
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Tailored Wine Tasting Experience in Top Wine Shop
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From Aix: Cassis Boat Ride & Provence Wine Tasting Day Tour
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