Paris Reliable Day Tours

Relax , people tend to post negative reveiws more then positive. Thousands of people take these tours every month, but there are not thousands of reviews right? They are not as good as going on your own. You get transport and skip the line admissions. I have done two , Cityrama to Loire Valley. It was fine. Yes, you are on a big bus etc,, not white glove service, even if prices seem white glove service worthy.
Did ParisVisions to Brugges. Thought Brugges itself a bit boring( yes, yes, cute, but boring) but tour was what I expected. I think sometimes peoples expectations just aren't reasonalbe. Viatour is not a tour company, they are just a middle man agency that sells other companies tours .

Have you considered asking this question over on the Trip Advisor Paris forums? Get the truth about the various tour companies. See what they recommend, as many of the Destination Experts will have probably answered this question many times and will have 1st hand knowledge of the various companies. My experience is that when crappy reviews are posted on a consistent basis about a tour company or any other service be it a hotel or restaurant that they are mostly true.

Buy Rick's guide book for France. Rent a car with GPS guidance, and get a few Euro coins your first day, for parking. Two of you can drive to all of these places in a few days, and stay as long as you like, and see what you like, and not be surrounded by tourists. At most chateaux, you can follow a one-page map handout and get the main idea without a guide. Same for Normandy, MSM, and so forth. I also enjoyed Dinan (in Brittany), the coastline for the view and for eating mussels, and Bayeux for the tapestry and for a medieval festival happening when we were there. Basically, I did what I liked out of what Rick recommended, and I didn't find any places, experiences, or guides where there was anything negative. Be your own guide and you can't complain.
If I were doing it over again, I might consider skipping Mont St Michel just because it is relatively crowded with tourists, and I would rather spend the time on any or all of the other things in the area. But if you have your heart set on MSM, then I can see that it would be very enjoyable. Good luck.

We have used Gray Line tours in Paris and were very happy with them. You can book the tours here in the U.S. by going to Gray Line Tours.com

Grayline is Cityrama,, and Cityrama and Parisvisions are actually owned by same corparation.

Thanks all, I understand your point about the weight of negatives against those unheard positives. Still haven't made a decision what to do. Might venture out on our own for some of the trips, but definitely want a tour for the Normandy Beaches. I have read that they just look like ordinary beaches to the uneducated. This adjective would describe me.

Normandy is one of those places where one should think about booking a good tour company, of which many are mentioned here on the Helpline. This is not a place to go on a big bus tour. Pick one of the smaller companies for the best use of your time, and the most meaningful visit. Battlebus used to be the best, but now that they are no longer in business, many people recommend using one of their former guides. Of all the years I have spent living in Europe, our 2 days spent touring with Battlebus, were the most meaningful of all and the best use of vacation money ever.

For Normandy beaches, you should arrive in Bayeux the night before and take one of the specialized local companies, like Overlord Tours, which start in Bayeux around 8:30 in the morning. Others can add the names of the other recommended companies.

We were quite happy with both Cityrama and Paris Visions. In fact on some we had excellent caring guides (sometimes you get lucky). Tours are tours, with advantages and disadvantages

Yes I agree with Brian. We used Citirama. Actually we booked our tours here in the U.S. at Gray Line Tours.com. Gray Line subcontracts their tours out to Citirama. We took Citirama, to Normandy, Giverny, Versailles, around Paris, etc. They were great. Gray Line is the largest U.S. tour company.

I am planning a trip to Paris Sept 2013 and looking for a one day tour to Normandy from Paris. I wonder if you ended up going with a tour company and if you enjoyed it and which one? We are interested in a tour and not renting a car or staying overnight, as we already have hotel reservations.
with thanks Billie

You have to watch reviews very carefully. Look for one review wonders. This can work for very good and very bad reviews. I'm a destination expert on TripAdvisor and was reading a real horror story regarding reviews for a B&B. In this case they were positive reviews that interestingly were posted just after a negative review showed up. If you looked at the background of the reviewer, they were always the only review that they had done. With TA you can look at the profile of anyone posting a review. Check out their comments on other sights or services. See if your standards are similar. See if they have reviewed multiple places. Send them a PM and see if you get an response. You've got options to research this in more depth. Pam