Paris in Depth: a City Stay with Versailles, Giverny and Champagne

Arrive in Paris and Montmartre at dusk

Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly to the hotel, then Montmartre on foot

• Welcome dinner
• Stay in Paris
• Drive about 1 h

Evening

Dinner tonight is together, a welcome meal at a restaurant on the hill, and your guide walks the group back down to the Métro afterwards.

Included

• Private arrival transfer from Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly Airport, or a Paris station
• Guided walk in Montmartre: the Bateau-Lavoir, the rue Lepic, the Clos Montmartre vineyard and the Sacré-Coeur
• Welcome dinner in Montmartre

The Louvre at opening and the covered passages

The Louvre, the Tuileries and the Palais-Royal, then the Right Bank passages on foot

• Breakfast and lunch
• Stay in Paris

Afternoon

We come out through the Tuileries garden and cross to the Palais-Royal, with its arcades and striped Buren columns, for a sit-down lunch nearby. In the afternoon your guide leads a walk through the covered passages of the 19th century, glass-roofed shopping arcades that were the first of their kind: Galerie Vivienne with its mosaic floor, the Passage des Panoramas, opened in 1799 and full of stamp dealers and small restaurants, and across the boulevard Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau with their toy shops and old booksellers.

Evening

We finish on the Grands Boulevards by about 4 pm and the evening is yours.

Included

• The Louvre at 9 am opening with a licensed guide-conférencier, entry included
• The Tuileries garden and the Palais-Royal
• Sit-down lunch near the Palais-Royal
• Guided walk of the covered passages: Galerie Vivienne, Passage des Panoramas, Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau

Monet's Giverny, then the Musée d'Orsay

Paris to Giverny and back, then the Musée d'Orsay (November to March: Chartres)

• Breakfast and lunch
• Stay in Paris
• Drive about 2.5 h

Afternoon

Lunch is a sit-down meal in the village. We are back in Paris by about 3 pm and walk into the Musée d'Orsay on a timed entry at about 3:30 pm, the old railway station on the Left Bank, where your guide shows the group Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh and Cézanne. Thursday is the late opening, until 9:45 pm, so you can stay on. From November to March, when Giverny is closed, we go to Chartres Cathedral and its 12th and 13th-century glass instead.

Included

• Monet's house and gardens at Giverny at 9:30 am opening, entry included (April to October)
• Or Chartres Cathedral with your guide (November to March)
• Sit-down lunch in Giverny or Chartres
• The Musée d'Orsay with your guide, entry included

Versailles on a weekday, at opening

Paris to the Palace of Versailles, the gardens and the Trianon estate, and back

• Breakfast and lunch
• Stay in Paris
• Drive about 1.5 h

Afternoon

Then we go out into André Le Nôtre's gardens, down the terraces to the Latona fountain and the Grand Canal, and stop for a sit-down lunch on the estate. In the afternoon we walk or ride the little train to the Trianon estate, which opens at noon: the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, a mock farm village beside a lake.

Evening

The van brings us back to Paris by about 5 pm for a free evening.

Included

• The Palace of Versailles at 9 am opening with your guide, entry included: the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors
• The gardens, the Latona fountain and the Grand Canal
• Sit-down lunch on the Versailles estate
• The Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet, entry included

Optional experiences

• The Musical Fountains or Musical Gardens show supplement, on the days the gardens run it (price shown at booking)
• Hire a rowing boat on the Grand Canal (pay on the spot)

Champagne by TGV: Reims

Paris Gare de l'Est by TGV to Reims, the cathedral and a champagne house, and back

• Breakfast and lunch
• Stay in Paris
• By train

Morning

A short van ride takes us to Gare de l'Est for a mid-morning TGV to Reims, about 45 minutes across the plain of Champagne; the train is faster than the road and nobody has to drive after a tasting. In Reims your guide walks the group to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, where most French kings were crowned, listed by UNESCO with the Palace of Tau and the Basilica of Saint-Remi. Look for the Smiling Angel on the west front and the blue windows Marc Chagall designed for the apse.

Afternoon

Lunch is a sit-down meal in the town centre. In the afternoon we visit a champagne house, one of those whose cellars run through the chalk under the city, some in Gallo-Roman quarries; the Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars were listed by UNESCO in 2015. A cellar master's team explains how the bottles are turned and aged, and the visit ends with a tasting.

Evening

We take an early-evening TGV back and are at the hotel by about 7 pm.

Included

• Return TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est to Reims
• Guided visit of Reims Cathedral
• Sit-down lunch in Reims
• Cellar visit and tasting at a champagne house in Reims

The Marais on foot, a free afternoon and the Seine

A Marais food walk, the afternoon free, then the Trocadéro to the Pont de l'Alma and the Seine by boat

• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Stay in Paris
• By boat

Afternoon

At 10:30 am your guide leads a food walk that becomes lunch: the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris, for cheese and charcuterie; falafel in the rue des Rosiers, the old Jewish quarter; bread and pastry from a neighbourhood bakery; and a glass of wine or a coffee to finish under the arcades of the Place des Vosges, one of the oldest planned squares in Paris. The afternoon is free. Your guide hands out a short list: Sainte-Chapelle and its windows, the Musée de l'Orangerie for Monet's water lilies, the Rodin garden, the Picasso museum round the corner, or a slow walk along the Seine. At 6:30 pm we meet at the Trocadéro for the view of the Eiffel Tower, walk past the Palais Galliera to the river at the Pont de l'Alma and take a one-hour sightseeing boat past the Louvre, the Orsay and Notre-Dame.

Evening

The farewell dinner follows near the river.

Included

• Marais food walk with tastings, as lunch: the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the rue des Rosiers and the Place des Vosges
• Evening walk from the Trocadéro past the Palais Galliera to the Pont de l'Alma
• One-hour sightseeing boat on the Seine
• Farewell dinner

Optional experiences

• A pastry or macaron class on the free afternoon (price shown at booking)
• The Eiffel Tower summit or the Arc de Triomphe roof, on a timed ticket (price shown at booking)

Depart Paris

The hotel to Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly, or a Paris station

• Breakfast
• Drive about 1 h

Morning

Breakfast is at the hotel, and the morning is yours until checkout, usually at noon: a last walk to the bakery, the souvenirs you did not buy (many shops open late on Monday mornings), or a coffee in the square. A private driver collects you at the time your flight or train needs and takes you to Charles de Gaulle, about an hour away, Orly, about 45 minutes, or Gare du Nord or Gare de Lyon if you are travelling on by train to London, Brussels or the south. If you are continuing to Normandy or across France, this trip joins naturally onto our Paris and Normandy trip or our Paris, Burgundy, Provence and Riviera trip, and we can add hotel nights before or after at the same hotel.

Evening

Your guide says goodbye at breakfast and confirms each transfer time the evening before, so nobody has to sit in the lobby for hours waiting for a shared shuttle. Leave about three hours at the airport for an international flight home.

Included

• Private departure transfer to Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly Airport, or a Paris station