Custom France Vacations Designed by a France Travel Specialist
There is a difference between planning France from a catalogue and planning it from inside the country. I am an American travel advisor living in France, and every itinerary I write — Paris, Provence, the Riviera, Champagne, the Loire, Normandy — is built from roads I have driven, trains I have caught, and hotels I have walked through myself.
Most travelers arrive in France with a list — Paris, lavender, a château, the sea — and no sense of how those pieces fit into the days they actually have. That is the real work of a France travel specialist: not collecting highlights, but sequencing them so each region gets the pace it deserves and you are never spending a precious morning recovering from yesterday's transfer.
France is unusually generous to travelers who plan well. The train network makes a two-region trip realistic in ten days. The hotels range from family-run manor houses to grand palaces, and the difference between them is rarely the price alone. The food changes completely every few hundred kilometers. But it punishes guessing: a Provence week booked in the wrong village, a Riviera hotel chosen the week of the Grand Prix, a Normandy day with a rushed group tour instead of a private historian.
Below is how I think about each region, and what I would tell you in our first conversation.
Where to go in France, and why.
Paris
First visits, girls trips, honeymoons
Paris rewards structure. I build days by neighborhood rather than by monument, so you are never crossing the city twice: the Left Bank on a slow morning, the Marais when the boutiques open, the Louvre or Orsay booked for the hour the crowds thin. Where you sleep matters more here than almost anywhere — the 1st and 6th put markets, museums and dinner within walking distance, while the 8th suits travelers who want the grand hotels and the couture houses at the door. I reserve restaurants weeks ahead, pre-book museum entries, and arrange private guides who actually live the city rather than recite it.
Provence — Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Gordes & Saint-Rémy
Slow weeks, markets, couples
Provence is a driving region, and that changes everything about planning it. Avignon makes a practical base for the Rhône villages and is a straight train from Paris; Aix-en-Provence is the sophisticated one, with the Tuesday and Thursday markets worth building a week around. Gordes and the Luberon hill villages are the postcard, best in the two hours after sunrise before the tour coaches climb up. Saint-Rémy gives you Roman ruins, Van Gogh's landscapes and a Wednesday market I would plan dates for. Lavender is a season, not a guarantee — roughly late June into July, and I will tell you honestly when your dates miss it.
The French Riviera — Nice, Cannes & Monaco
Sea days, celebrations, private boats
Nice is the anchor: an international airport twenty minutes from your hotel, a walkable old town, and a coastal train that puts Villefranche, Èze, Monaco and Menton within half an hour without a rental car. Cannes suits travelers who want the beach clubs and the Croisette; Monaco is a striking half-day or a splurge night rather than a week. The Riviera at its best is a private boat morning out of Villefranche or Antibes, a long lunch at a beach club, and the hill villages in the late afternoon. Note the calendar carefully — the Film Festival and the Grand Prix reshape prices and availability across the whole coast.
Champagne
Anniversaries, add-on nights from Paris
Champagne is under an hour from Paris by TGV, which makes it one of the best value additions to a French itinerary. Reims and Épernay are the two bases: Reims for the cathedral and the grande marque houses, Épernay for the Avenue de Champagne and easy access to the grower producers who rarely see visitors. The tastings worth your morning are private and booked well in advance — a cellar visit with the family that farms the vines, not a bus tour with a glass at the end. Two nights is enough; one long day with a private driver also works beautifully.
The Loire Valley
Châteaux, families, gentle pacing
The mistake most travelers make in the Loire is trying to see six châteaux. Three is plenty: Chenonceau for the arches over the river, Chambord for the scale, Villandry or Cheverny for the gardens. Amboise and Tours are the sensible bases, both reachable from Paris by train in about ninety minutes. Add a hot-air balloon at sunrise if the season allows, a winemaker's cellar in Vouvray or Chinon, and leave an afternoon free — the pleasure of the Loire is the driving between villages, not the ticket queue.
Normandy & the D-Day Beaches
Family history, meaningful travel
Normandy is the most emotional travel I plan, and it deserves a private historian rather than a group coach. A full day covers Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery, Pointe du Hoc and the Bayeux area at a pace that allows silence where you need it. If a family member served, send me the unit and I will have the guide build the route around where they actually landed and moved. Bayeux is the right base — the tapestry, the cathedral and a walkable old town — and it pairs naturally with Honfleur, Rouen or a few days back in Paris by train.
Why planning France from France changes the trip.
Geography you can feel
Knowing that Gordes is an hour from Aix but feels like three in August traffic, or that your Riviera hotel is on the wrong side of the tracks for the beach, is the difference between a good itinerary and an exhausting one. I have driven, walked and mis-timed these routes myself so you do not have to.
Hotels seen in person
I visit properties, walk the halls, and ask which rooms face the courtyard. That is how I know which charming boutique has a lift and which asks you to carry luggage up four flights, and which rooms are worth the upgrade and which are not.
Rail and transit that actually connects
France runs on the train, and the details matter: which TGV routes require reservations, how tight a Paris station change really is, when a private transfer costs less than three separate tickets. I build travel days with realistic margins, not optimistic ones.
An American's expectations, a resident's perspective
I know what American travelers quietly expect — air conditioning, a real breakfast, a bathroom that makes sense, a guide who speaks easily in English — and I know which French properties deliver it without losing their character.
How long do you need in France?
Seven nights. One region, done properly. Paris with two day trips, or Provence with a car and the markets. Resist the urge to add the Riviera.
Ten nights. Two regions connected by train — Paris and Provence, or Paris and the Loire plus Champagne. This is the sweet spot for most first trips.
Fourteen nights. Three regions with real breathing room, or one region explored the way residents do: a base, a car, and no fixed plan for two of the days.
A France trip built for a couple looks different from one built for a group of friends. If you are planning a romantic escape, start with my European honeymoons. If you are rounding up your favorite people, see girls trips to Europe. For sample shapes and day-by-day structure, browse my itineraries.
Let's design your France.
Tell me your dates, who is traveling and what you want the trip to feel like. I will tell you honestly what fits — and what I would save for next time.
Start Planning My France Trip