Thoughts on the Eastern France tour?

I don't remember it being particularly wine-centric. Like most RS tours, the days cover a variety of interests. Have you read the daily itinerary of the tour?

We thoroughly enjoyed this tour! (Sep 17-30, 2023). Our fifth RS Tour, we declared this our second favorite, after Turkey tour. Wonderful guide, so many beautiful areas of E France, Roman Ruins, sweet villages, excellent local guides, history, Mt Blanc (absolutely stunning, unforgettable). Twelve days on the road - in those 12 days we visited a champagne house, and 3 family vineyards. So no, this is not a wine tour - but wow did we taste some fine wines - after all we were in Alsace, & the Rhône Valley, and the Champagne region. Read the itinerary and read the reviews. Loved this tour!!

And there's always the possibility of bowing out on a specific activity and seeing something else that interests you for that period of time.

I feel exactly the same as Gina. When I took the tour it was named the “Vineyards and Villages” tour. I remember visiting a Champagne house in Reims and 3 or 4 producing vineyards. The wineries were not the sole activity on the day of our visit. Each winery was very distinct so the info on each visit was not repetitive.
I’ve taken 15 Rick Steves tours and this was in the top three.

I really enjoyed the tour. We went to a Champagne wine cellar in Reims but the tour down into the huge underground cellar where people hid during WW2 was the highlight and amazing. We also toured and learned the history of a castle and then the owner introduced us to a couple of his wines followed by a picnic in his yard. I believe there were two places where we actually went into the fields and then participated in a full fledged tasting but one was followed by an incredible lunch on their outdoor patio. Yes, it’s more wine than the average tour but it is a world renown wine region. That being said there is definitely a lot more to the tour than wine tastings.

Thank you, everybody, for your comments and memories! They are much appreciated and making my "clicking finger" a bit itchier on this trip.

Caroline

We did find the Eastern France tour had a few more wine related stops than our other 8 RS tours. Not as much around production but the venue and the tastings. If you are into that experience its a good itinerary. On the whole, we found the tour a little less stimulating than our other RS tours but glad we went.

This is one of our favorites because of the variety of activities. This overall quality of wine was superior and we still order from one of the wineries ( through their US broker). However, there was so much more. Reims offers not only Joan of Arc, but the WWII Museum of Surrender. There is the emotional stop at Verdun and then a fascinating castle. In Colmar you do the Unterlinden and have the chance to see Bartholdi’s other work (Statue of Liberty sculptor). There are the stops in Annecy and Chamonix and then some fascinating Roman ruins in Vaison la Romaine. It really covers a lot!

Hi Caroline! I think we were on the Loire tour together in 2022–hope you’re doing well! My mom enjoyed that tour so much that she and my dad went on the Eastern France tour last year and they both loved it. Cheers!

We were on this tour in May of 2022.

In Reims we visited the cellar and then had a champagne tasting. It was a beautiful day and they had lots of tables on a patio, but we were inside a nice, large room for the tasting.

Near Colmar we did a warm, but enjoyable walk through a vineyard. We then went to their small tasting room and sat on wooden benches for a little longer than I needed to be inside.

At Beaune we had a tasting inside a chateau sitting on more wooden benches inside the dark, but charming kitchen. The highlight of that stop was the amazing group picnic we had on the chateau grounds.

My favorite, by far, was at Vaison. We had the option to be shuttled up the hill or to walk up. I joined the walkers and had the most memorable and touching conversation of the entire trip. (We got to the top in plenty of time.) The tour both inside and out was interesting. The wine was served from their small bar area, but we could wander outside to drink it. We then had the best meal of the tour at a magnificent setting on the property.

I know at least person was "done" with the tastings by Beaune. We were excited about all the tastings, but I envisioned that we would be outside enjoying the scenery while tasting. Four tastings for twelve full days doesn't seem like too much for that area, but it was plenty for both of us. We had a lot of other great experiences that didn't involve wine:)

If you go, a tip I have is to be at the front of the line for the boat tour at Annecy so you can be outside on the deck at the front of the boat. We were inside with windows that didn't open, and I wished we would have skipped the boat to spend more in the town.

We did the Villages of Italy tour in 2023 and loved it. People on the tour said that if we loved that tour we should do Eastern France. We are looking forward to going and were told that if you love wine you will love this tour. After the tour we are staying in a castle at Chateau Neuf De-Pap and then going to stay in St Remy for 3 to 4 days as a landing spot. This will be our fourth RS tour!

We went on that tour in 2022 (hi, mnannie! ❤️ ) and really enjoyed it. Wine tasting was a part of the tour for sure and we enjoyed it very much, but as others have said, there was much, much more. A favorite memory for us was our sunset dinner at Les Maisons Du'O in Old Town Vaison la Romaine, on a free evening from the tour. We loved the walk up the hill, the food was outstanding, and it was just beautiful to walk back down to our hotel over the ancient stone bridge.