Hello my husband and I are hoping to do our second tour with RS.This time we were thinking France tour May 2016. We are debating between the Southern Tour vs Eastern Tour. Both seem interesting but here are a few reservations: We are in our early 40's and active. From reading the descriptions on both tours, it seems they may be slower pace, almost too slow with not enough scheduled activities. Yes we can always find stuff to do but overall I love the group activities to keep us busy. Any comments on either trips would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7054 posts
Why not use the downtime as an opportunity to do some active things on your own? Or maybe pick a more active tour and just see France as a DYI trip? Being in your age bracket, I was an outlier on a Turkey trip but the pace was pretty brisk (not too much downtime) because the area covered was so large.
Posted by
Reno, NV, USA
2547 posts
The downtime is yours to do as you please - sightsee, shop, nap, check your email, etc. My husband and I just did the Eastern France tour and appreciated the time on our own as we are serious photographers and needed that time to shoot without being restricted to the timetable of the group.
Posted by
Ohio
2161 posts
Hi tm, I've done Paris in 7 Days, Paris & the Heart of France, Southern & Eastern France - enjoyed all of them.
Southern and Eastern focused more on food and wine, but there's also a lot of sightseeing and history included. There's really not much free time on any of the RS tours. In the limited amount of time we had, we hiked/walked and shopped. In both cases, we spent the week before the tour in Paris where we walked everywhere and put a lot of miles on our Fitbits. I was sort of looking forward to "kicking back" a bit on the tours.
You didn't mention an interest in Paris & the Heart of France, but I thought that tour was a bit more active/rushed.
Posted by
San Diego/Seattle
178 posts
What a tough decision Tara. I think both itineraries sound like loads of fun. I have gone on the Southern France Tour and one of the things that attracted me was the slower pace of the tour. 2 and 3 night stays in a village allows you to enjoy your time at a location. Both of these tours seem to travel at that pace. With that in mind it also allows you to have free time which can be used to hike or bicycle or walk throughout the town. I have taken 3 Rick Steves tours and I have always bonded with most if not all of the members of the group. When someone mentions that they are doing something such as going for a hike usually several members of the group will join along. South France enjoys a canoe trip along the Dordogne River which was a great highlight of this trip. In the Eastern France tour you have a day to hike in the French Alps. Both tours have many sights to see and like a previous poster stated they both have many food and wine highlights. One of the advantages of these tours is they have connections with wineries and you receive very personal tours which includes lunch at these properties. I guarantee that you will not be bored if you choose either of these trips.
Posted by
OP
17 posts
Thanks everyone!!! It is a tough decision but a good one to be made!!! I guess I will just have to do both of them :)
Posted by
5 posts
Dear Rana,
As a native of Moustiers Ste Marie I would suggest this area. Moustiers, which is called "One of the most beautiful village in France" is a gorgeous villages perched between two rocks. It is located between the Verdon Gorges: the deepest Canyon in Europe, St Croix Lake and the famous Plateau de Valensole. There is plenty of cultural/water/sports activities to do. It is also close by Les Alpilles (Lourmarin, St Rémy, Les Baux) and the Luberon (Gordes, Roussillon, Senanque Abbey, Fontaine de Vaucluse etc). It is the perfect location for a break in Provence!
If you need any further information, feel free to contact me in PM.
Best,
Auriane
Posted by
6 posts
Auriane is absolutely right - I have very fond memories of Moustiers when we passed through on our way to the Gorges de Verdon - which is a breathtaking area. And the Muscat wine in that area (which does not travel well, and tastes best drunk there) is wonderful.
I fell in love with the South of France myself, and I am partial to the combination of arid rocky landscape and complex historical tales - where all was not France, until relatively recently. It's a fascinating region.