What France tour could beat Paris 7 day?

I loved Paris and the Heart of France. You start with 3 nights in Paris. Some of this may repeat your Best of Paris but I did them in subsequent years (Best of Paris first) and it didn't bother me. I noticed more on the walks, wasn't quite as intimidated and overwhelmed as the first time around plus different guides mention different things. You can also take off on your own now that you know your way around.

I came in a day early (had done Best of England, had a few days in London before/afterward and then took the Eurostar to Paris), did Paris and the HOF, then stayed for about another week in Paris after the tour. I didn't care for the location of the hotel where the tour ended so I moved to another hotel I'd stayed in.

I had the very same feeling with Best of Paris! It is now about my favorite city and I feel SO comfortable there, thanks in large part to my fabulous RS guide. The only ~bad~ thing is for me Paris is a bit addicting.

Thanks Pam. Did you like the BOF as much as Paris? When you arrived in Paris a day early, and at the end, did you buy a metro pass?

If you want to visit France again you could take the Eastern France or Loire tour. Neither start in Paris, but nearby. So, you could fly in a few days early, revisit Paris on your own, then a short train ride to meet up with your group. Both visit smaller places so not so much city bustle. We have taken the Loire tour and loved it. We have Eastern France on our list, probably in 2020. We did the London tour last year, our first city tour. It’s amazing how much you see and do. And, it’s really nice just unpacking and packing once. We loved our other RS tours (we’ve done 7) but know that they are very different compared to a city tour-lot’s of moving around. You visit great places but you won’t have a huge amount of time at any, unless you do a tour such as Venice, Florence, Rome. If I were you I would not do the Paris and heart of France tour simply because so much of it is in Paris, which you just visited.

I highly recommend the Loire to the South of France 13 day tour. Truly epic in many ways and France is such a varied geography and landscape. Something for everyone and novel activities (Dordogne river paddle, incredible light shows) made this tour a real delight while discovering new regions and devouring the incredible food and wine. My first visit to France was on the BOP tour 2011 and I loved every moment on that tour with Marie A. Had another fabulous guide, Virginie, on this year’s tour. We spent 2 extra nights in Paris before start and stayed 3 extra nights in Nice after tour end. The French Riviera is so very, very beautiful and (we found) easy to travel around and I happen to think a beach of mostly smooth rocks is actually preferable to gritty sand. 5-star and 2 thumbs up all the way.

Susie, yes, I loved HOF as much but I have found I really love the smaller towns and countryside in addition to Paris. On this tour I particularly loved Bayeux and the day spend on the Normandy landing beaches. That was fascinating.

For my one day ahead, I just bought a carnet. I honestly don't remember if I bought a Metro Pass for my time after or whether I just bought a carnet. I know we got a 2 day Museum Pass and I ~think~ our guide just gave us maybe 4-6 Metro tickets each for the 2 full days we were touring. I always have leftover tickets but I also think maybe some of the others gave me any leftover Metro tickets if they were not staying in Paris.

Alan brings up an excellent point about the differences in a city based tour and one that is moving thru stops. It has a different rhythm. I have found on my non-city tours that there is a different group dynamic and that the group bonded more on the non-city tours. Both were great for solo travelers, so no issue there. Just more group spirit from bus travel.

Theresa, I would love to have a tour with Virginie! I've met her a couple of times, the first time I was with another RS guide who introduced us, then I ran in to her one time in the bathroom of the Orangerie. Very weird when you think about the millions of people in Paris, haha.

I'll also add that really, you can't go wrong with ANY tour. Like Alan, I've done a number of them (10) and they were mostly all excellent. I think the one that is my very favorite ever is 21 day Best of Europe. As another guide said to me before I took it, he went as an assistant and loved that there were blockbuster sights every. single. day. PS. It ends in Paris, hahaha!!!

Have you ordered the 2019 Tour Book? Oh wow, you'll be in love with all of them.

Hi Susie, My husband and I took the Paris in 7 days tour, followed by the GAS tour in 2012. We too loved Paris so much that we wanted to go back, but like you, wanted something else along with it, so in 2013 we took the Paris to the Loire Tour followed by My Way Italy and in 2014 we took the Eastern France Tour followed by the Best of Spain. On both the Paris to the Loire and the Eastern France Tours, we flew into Paris and spent some extra time. Both of these tours are great, so I would find it hard to recommend one over the other. We did scrapbooks on both that are linked to this website, and that would give you an idea of what they are both like. You won't go wrong with either. In fact, we have been on 9 RS Tours and would go again on any of them in a heartbeat. I'll be interested to read what you decide.
Happy Travels! Teri

Thanks for all your great suggestions. I had Marie A. as my guide in Paris. She helped make it wonderful. I travelled the Dordogne in 2007 and really enjoyed it. I will probably do Paris and the HOF so I get to see Paris again (yeah!), and experience another area of France. As a Canadian, Juno Beach would be a bit more meaningful than Normandy, but what I want to witness is where the French were liberated. It will be perfect. I also appreciate how the group dynamic on the HOF is unique. I just thought of it as dead time between stops, but there could be magic there's as well. As a solo traveller, I want to meet other adventurers. I was too busy exploring Paris to really get to know my fellow tour mates. Now if only my husband would agree to return to Europe!

Best wishes for changing DH's mind on European travels! All RST guides I have had the pleasure of leading me and fellow tour members around on the 7 RSTs I've done have been fabulous, informative, patient, accommodating and downright fun. HOF has more 1-night stays than is my preference/comfort level (with that speedy pacing) but the decidedly well-designed nature of a multi-stop RST along with its super comfortable transportation (RST bus drivers are another excellent perk on such tours) makes it pretty darn easy. Have fun planning the next adventure.

We enjoyed the Loire Valley/South of France tour. See this link to my tour review:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/tour-review-loire-valley-south-of-france-may-6-may-18th-2018

We stayed in Paris before and after the tour. Paris has become our favorite big city in Europe, so we always look for an excuse to go there. For our next trip (RS Village Italy Tour) we are once again traveling through Paris.

Eastern France is one of my favorites for the sheer diversity of the locations: Alps, Alsace, Mediterranean. You could always give yourself time in Paris for a day or so pre-tour. For some reason, I enjoyed this more than HOF, although I have fond memories of some of the towns on that tour too. Loved the cathedral in Bayeux.

Paris and HOF was my first tour and holds a special place in my heart! The 7 Days in Paris tour is on my list as is the Loire & South of France 🇫🇷 tour. I think you will enjoy any RS tour.
Let us know what you decide.

We have done Paris in 7 Days, Eastern France (they used to call it Villages and Vineyards of Eastern France),
and we have done The Loire Valley tour. For the Loire Valley tour, we flew into Paris and stayed 3 nights in Paris. Then a short train to the start point.(Chartres) Quite frankly I enjoyed the Eastern France and Loire Valley more than Paris. Maybe because we have been to Paris a couple of times. I think partly because we got to interact with more local French people, which I enjoyed. Both of these tours were great, as were the guides!!

Both the Loire tour (starts in Chartres) and Eastern France tour start a very short train ride from Paris, so that's probably where you would fly into. You could always fly into Paris and stay a few days and get your Paris fix while you are getting over jet lag.

Whatever you decide, have a great time and please come back and fill out a trip report. Or ask more questions in the meantime, if you need to.
Mimi