Normandy, Burgundy & Loire Journey

Paris – Giverny – Étretat – Honfleur – Bayeux/Caen. Your journey kicks off at 08:00 with a pick-up from your hotel in Paris, then you set off by Mercedes minivan for Giverny – about 70 km and 1 hour 15 minutes. Your guide will welcome you and share background on French history and Impressionism en route. Around 09:15–11:00 you visit Claude Monet’s house, studio and flower gardens in Giverny to see the settings that inspired the founder of Impressionism.

At 11:00 you depart for Étretat – about 150 km and 2 hours – arriving roughly 13:00–15:30. You take a short walk to the beach and the famous chalk cliffs so you can admire the three natural arches and the Needle rising 70 metres above the sea. You have free time for lunch in this classic seaside resort once favoured by Impressionist artists including Monet.

Continue to Honfleur at 15:30 – about 46 km and 50 minutes – arriving around 16:30–19:00. You explore the historic port on a guided walking tour and enjoy a Calvados tasting. Once a key Norman defensive harbour that later prospered through trade with the American colonies and attracted 19th‑century artists. Honfleur today is known for its picturesque waterfront. At 19:00 you transfer to the Bayeux or Caen area – about 80 km and 1 hour – arriving around 20:00–20:30 for hotel check‑in.

Caen – Arromanches – Colleville-sur-Mer – Omaha Beach – Pointe du Hoc – Mont Saint-Michel. Your day begins at 10:00 with a visit to the Caen Memorial and Museum in the Sword Beach sector, one of France’s leading museums on the Second World War. You watch a 19 minute film using original wartime footage.

Continue to Arromanches‑les‑Bains at 12:00 – roughly 30 minutes through countryside and small villages. In Arromanches, you have free time for lunch and a look around the small seaside town, noted for the remains of the Mulberry Harbour. At the heart of the Gold Beach landings, this temporary port enabled the Allies to land vehicles, materials and troops at scale.

At 13:30 you continue to the Normandy American Cemetery and Visitor Centre at Colleville‑sur‑Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach – a journey of around 20 km, about 30 minutes. The cemetery contains 9,387 graves, with a Wall of the Missing naming 1,557 soldiers. Along the cliffs you can still see elements of German defences. You also visit the memorial colonnade with the sculpture Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves and large operational maps.

Take a short drive to Omaha Beach at 15:20 – about 5 km, 10 minutes. Here you pause to reflect on the scale of the D–Day landings and the sacrifice made by the 34,000 men who came ashore here.

At 16:00 you drive to Pointe du Hoc – around 10 km, 15 minutes. From 16:15–17:30 you visit Pointe du Hoc, the high ground between Utah and Omaha Beaches. Once a German gun battery within the Atlantic Wall, it was stormed by the US 2nd Ranger Battalion on 6 June 1944. Many original fortifications and bunkers remain, including the fire control casemate topped by the Rangers’ monument.

At 17:30 you depart for the Mont Saint‑Michel area – about 140 km, approximately 1 hour 45 minutes.

Mont Saint-Michel – Cancale – Pointe du Grouin – Saint-Malo – Angers. Explore Mont Saint‑Michel from 09:00–12:30. Follow your guide up through the medieval lanes to the Benedictine Abbey at the summit. Entry includes audio guides. The island and its sweeping bay are UNESCO listed, with wide views over the Atlantic coast. You then have free time for lunch and to wander the village and shoreline.

Afterwards you drive for about one hour to Cancale, arriving around 13:30. Here you visit the oyster market, where you can taste fresh local oysters, and you have free time for lunch. At 14:30 you take a short drive to nearby Pointe du Grouin, arriving at 14:45. This rocky headland marks the last outcrop before the Bay of Mont Saint‑Michel and offers far‑reaching views over the Normandy coast, the bay and the Emerald Coast, with a lighthouse dating from 1861.

At 15:45 depart for Saint‑Malo. From 16:00–18:00 you take a guided walking tour of this historic Brittany port on the English Channel, once home to French corsairs and the birthplace of Jacques Cartier and the poet Chateaubriand. You explore the walled old town with its ramparts, cobbled streets and buildings from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

At 18:00 you depart for Angers – about two and a half hours’ drive (200 km) – arriving around 20:30 for hotel check in in the city centre.

Angers – Chenonceau – Amboise. You leave Angers at 08:00 for the Loire Valley – around 160 km, about two hours’ drive. From 10:00 to 12:00 you tour the Château de Chenonceau with a guide. Known as the ladies’ castle, it is celebrated for its elegant arches over the River Cher and its links to figures including Catherine de Medici. You receive a brochure explaining each room, and you have free time to wander the Renaissance gardens planted with more than 130,000 flowers.

At 12:00 you continue to Amboise – 14 km, about 20 minutes – arriving for a lunch break from 12:15 to 14:00. The main pedestrian street near the château has plenty of cafés and restaurants.

From 14:00 to 15:30 you visit the Royal Château of Amboise with a HistoPad. This grand 15th century residence of King Charles VIII illustrates the shift from Gothic to Renaissance architecture, and you also see the chapel where Leonardo da Vinci is buried.

You then walk about 400 metres to the Château du Clos Lucé for a visit from 15:45 to 17:30, including the Parc Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo spent the last three years of his life here, and the site was named among Time magazine’s 100 extraordinary destinations in 2021. After the visit, you have free time in Amboise.

From 17:30 to 18:30 you stop at a local family winery for a tasting, learning about longstanding winemaking traditions and sampling local red, rosé and white wines. At 19:00 you check in to your hotel in Amboise.

Amboise – Chaumont-sur-Loire – Blois – Chambord – Chablis. Start the day with a guided visit to the Château de Chaumont from 09:00–11:00, founded in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 15th century by Charles I d’Amboise. Protected as a monument historique since 1840, it is state owned and open to the public. In 1559 Catherine de Medici exchanged Chenonceau for Chaumont with Diane de Poitiers, who spent her final three years here. You then continue to Blois, where you have a lunch break from 12:00-13:30.

From 13:30–15:00 you tour the Royal Château of Blois in the city centre, once home to several French kings. Joan of Arc came here in 1429 to be blessed by the Archbishop of Reims before departing to fight the English. The complex unites four architectural styles and counts 564 rooms – 100 of them bedrooms, each with a fireplace – and 75 staircases.

Continue to Chambord at 15:30 to explore the Château de Chambord, built from 1519 to 1547 for Francis I and celebrated for its French Renaissance architecture. Our guide explains the history and construction of this vast residence, which has 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces and 84 staircases. Inside, we see the open double spiral staircase whose two flights rise three storeys without meeting – Leonardo da Vinci may have inspired the design.

At 17:00 you depart for the village of Chablis, around 231 kilometres away – approximately a 2.5 hour drive – arriving in the early evening for hotel check in.

Chablis – Pommard – Beaune. You begin at 09:30 among the vineyards of Chablis with a guided cellar visit and tasting at Jean-Marc Brocard, sampling five wines with cheese as the team explains the winemaking process and key differences in style. At 11:30 you continue in the village for a second tasting with a local producer, comparing five to nine wines across Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru.

From 12:30 to 14:00 you have free time for lunch and a stroll through Chablis.

At 14:00 you travel 135 km to Château de Pommard near Beaune – around 1.5 hours. From 16:00 to 17:30 you join a professional sommelier for a guided tasting of five wines from Château de Pommard and Famille Carabello-Baum focused on the Route des Grands Crus, exploring how Pinot Noir and Chardonnay express different villages and terroirs, the five subregions of Burgundy, the influence of natural factors on taste and Burgundy’s classifications. Around 18:00 you arrive in Beaune for hotel check in.

Beaune – Paris. Beaune rounds off our journey in style. From 09:00–10:30 you visit the Hospices de Beaune, a charitable almshouse founded in 1443 and a superb example of 15th century Burgundian architecture.

From 10:30–12:30 you continue to Caves Patriarche for a sommelier‑led tasting in their historic cellars – a 5 kilometre network of tunnels beneath the town, founded in 1780 in a former convent. From 12:30–14:00 you have free time for lunch.

In the afternoon, 14:00–15:30, you enjoy a second Burgundy tasting at a respected local wine house, then from 15:30–16:30 you have free time to explore Beaune or pause for a coffee.

At 16:30 you depart for Paris by motorway – 312 kilometres, around 3.5–4 hours – with a comfort stop en route, arriving 20:00–20:30 for drop off at your hotel.