Lyon Tours in April 2027

Itinerary for me was perfect. Our guide and driver are more than excellent. We had an outstanding vacation because of them. Trafalgar does not disappoint on this trip. Nothing to complain about.

It was 13 days of amazing places to visit little towns you would never think of with such beautiful scenery and history. Travel guide and bus driver were amazing. As always, Trafalgar gives a Great experience. Food was excellent. Really enjoyed staying in the French Château and absolutely loved the boat ride on the seine river the last night of the trip..

There was too much time spent in travel on the bus. Avignon was a disappointment as we did not enter the papal palace. Apart from the walls that many other towns have, it's just a tourist trap. We could have used some of the time to visit the Pont du Gard aqueduct (UNESCO) near by. I'd suggest either adding a couple of days to the tour to visit more without long bus rides: OR take a high-speed train from Paris to Monaco city. This skips Lyon, but some other stop location could better show variations of France. Most stays were at Mercure hotels, but not the one near Mont St. Michel

The itinerary was reasonably fast paced but not frantic and necessary to travel distances to visit all the attractions and sights. Tour director was well organised and supportive. The Coach was close to full capacity with 47 passengers but travel comfort was ok with regular rest stops. Satisfied in general with accommodation and meals however included dinners were rushed with little time for social banter. Optional tours which are offered on most days add significantly to the cost factor and in some cases due to location and itinerary there were limited alternatives to occupy time. A prime example was in Bordeaux when the alternative was to loiter in the small town of Saint Emilion for 2/3 hours. There was also a similar scenario in Carcassonne and whilst optional tours are encouraged and not enforced the decision to participate is virtually dictated.

It was an interesting and well-led journey. However, the pace was torrid, and could have been relieved by adding a couple of days. I would gladly have traded Grenoble for Monaco. And especially for Canadians, a short hop from Mont St-Michel to St-Malo would have been interesting, since Jacques Cartier set out from there in 1534 to what would become New France. Finally, some redundancies in Paris could have been eliminated. (For example, we paid visits to Place de la Concorde and the Tour Eiffel at both the beginning and end of the trip.)

Wow! This tour, in so many ways, exceeded my expectations. We saw so much of France. Obviously it's a bit of a whirlwind but we even went into Spain for 1 day and to the principality of Monaco. I can't say enough good things about our tour guide and our driver , by far 2 of the best we have ever had. There is so much to see in Paris that I would suggest you do a pre and post stay in Paris. The hotels were very nice and the food unbelievable. I only did 4 stats though because of optional tour in Biarritz that I feel should be an included tour because of logistics and I would have liked to have had more time in Normandy and possibly see nor of that historic area. All in all though I would recommend this tour.