Sample Itinerary · France

Best of France

Paris · Normandy · Loire · Provence

Duration
11 Days · 10 Nights
Accommodations
4-Star or Higher
Transport
Private Transfers + high-speed rail
Best For
First-timers · Comprehensive

Plan a Similar Trip



← All France Itineraries

This is a sample itinerary — for inspiration only. Every Juniper trip is designed from scratch around you. Many clients travel a very similar route — if this resonates, book a free consultation and a specialist will build something just like it (or better) specifically for your travel style, dates, and group.

1
Day One

Arrive in Paris

Paris

Welcome to France. Your driver meets you at Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and transfers you into the city. Check in to your hotel — typically in the 6th (Saint-Germain), 7th (Eiffel Tower views), or the Marais (3rd/4th, the most walkable neighborhood).

Afternoon at leisure. A first Paris walk: cross the Pont des Arts, stroll the Tuileries, and end at a café terrace on the Île Saint-Louis. Welcome dinner at a specialist-selected bistro.

Arrive Paris
First walk · Île Saint-Louis
Welcome dinner

Overnight: Paris

2
Day Two

Paris City Day

Paris

Morning: the Louvre (pre-booked timed entry — your specialist has the route that covers the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo in 2 hours without the crowd crush). Walk through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde.

Afternoon: Musée d’Orsay (the Impressionists — Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, all in a converted railway station) or the Rodin Museum. Evening: Seine river cruise at sunset — the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame (exterior, under reconstruction), and the Musée d’Orsay illuminated from the water.

Louvre pre-booked
Musée d’Orsay
Seine sunset cruise

Overnight: Paris

3
Day Three

Versailles + Montmartre

Paris

Morning: Palace of Versailles (pre-booked timed entry — 8:30am first entry avoids the afternoon crowds). The Hall of Mirrors, the King’s Grand Apartments, and the formal gardens. Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet (the rustic retreat in the Petit Trianon gardens) is the part most visitors skip and the part most worth seeing.

Afternoon return to Paris: Montmartre — the Sacré-Cœur basilica, the Place du Tertre artists’ square, and the cobblestoned lanes where Picasso, Modigliani, and Toulouse-Lautrec lived. Evening: dinner in Le Marais or Saint-Germain. Final Paris night.

Versailles pre-booked
Montmartre + Sacré-Cœur
Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet

Overnight: Paris

4
Day Four

Paris → Normandy

Bayeux · Normandy

Morning: private transfer from Paris to Normandy (approximately 3 hours). Stop en route at Giverny — Monet’s house and the water lily gardens that inspired his most famous paintings (seasonal, April–October). Continue to Bayeux.

Afternoon: the Bayeux Tapestry — the 230-foot embroidered cloth depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, displayed in its own dedicated museum. Walk through Bayeux’s medieval center. Check in to your Normandy hotel. Evening at leisure.

Paris → Normandy · 3hrs
Giverny · Monet’s gardens
Bayeux Tapestry

Overnight: Bayeux

5
Day Five

D-Day Beaches + Mont-Saint-Michel

Normandy

Morning: D-Day beaches with a private guide. Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer (9,387 white marble headstones overlooking the beach), Utah Beach, and Pointe du Hoc (the cliff the Rangers scaled). The guided tour puts the scale and logistics of June 6, 1944 into context that the beaches alone cannot convey.

Afternoon: Mont-Saint-Michel — the tidal island abbey that is the single most iconic image of France outside Paris. Your specialist has timed the visit for when the causeway is walkable and the crowds are thinnest (late afternoon light on the abbey is the photographer’s window). Return to Bayeux by evening.

D-Day beaches + American Cemetery
Mont-Saint-Michel
Pointe du Hoc

Overnight: Bayeux

6
Day Six

Normandy → Loire Valley

Loire Valley

Morning: private transfer from Bayeux to the Loire Valley (approximately 3.5 hours). The landscape shifts from the Normandy hedgerows to the flat, wide river valley lined with châteaux.

Afternoon: Château de Chambord — the largest château in the Loire, built as a royal hunting lodge with 440 rooms, 84 staircases (including the famous double-helix staircase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci), and 13,000 acres of parkland. Check in to your Loire hotel or château accommodation. Evening at leisure.

Normandy → Loire · 3.5hrs
Château de Chambord
Château hotel

Overnight: Loire Valley

7
Day Seven

Loire Châteaux Day

Loire Valley

A full château day with your private driver. Morning: Chenonceau — the ‘Château des Dames,’ spanning the River Cher with its elegant gallery bridge. Then Amboise — the royal château where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years (his tomb is in the chapel, his house Clos Lucé is a 5-minute walk away).

Afternoon: Loire Valley wine tasting — Vouvray (Chenin Blanc), Sancerre, or Chinon (Cabernet Franc) depending on your route and preferences. Your specialist arranges private tastings at small-production domaines. Return to your château hotel. Final Loire evening.

Chenonceau + Amboise
Leonardo da Vinci’s Clos Lucé
Loire wine tasting

Overnight: Loire Valley

8
Day Eight

high-speed rail to Avignon

Avignon · Provence

Morning: transfer to Tours or Saint-Pierre-des-Corps station. high-speed rail to Avignon (approximately 2 hours). The train crosses the heart of France — the landscape shifts from the green Loire to the sunbaked stone villages of Provence.

Arrive Avignon early afternoon. The Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes — the largest medieval Gothic palace in Europe, seat of the papacy for nearly a century during the 14th-century schism) and the Pont d’Avignon (Pont Saint-Bénézet). Walk the ramparts. Check in. Evening: dinner inside the walled city.

high-speed rail to Avignon · 2hrs
Palais des Papes
Pont d’Avignon

Overnight: Avignon

9
Day Nine

Provence Day

Provence

A full Provence day with your private driver. Morning: Pont du Gard — the Roman aqueduct bridge (UNESCO, built in the 1st century AD, 161 feet high, one of the best-preserved Roman structures anywhere). Then into the Luberon — the hill villages of Gordes, Roussillon (the ochre-red village), and Lacoste.

Afternoon: Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tasting — the most famous wine appellation in the Rhône Valley, named for the popes’ summer residence. Private tasting at a family domaine. If visiting June through August: the lavender fields of the Luberon plateau (Valensole, Sénanque Abbey). Return to Avignon by evening.

Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct
Luberon hill villages
Châteauneuf-du-Pape tasting

Overnight: Avignon

10
Day Ten

high-speed rail to Nice — French Riviera

Nice

Morning: high-speed rail from Avignon to Nice (approximately 3 hours along the Mediterranean coast). Arrive Nice early afternoon. Check in to your hotel on or near the Promenade des Anglais.

Afternoon: the Vieille Ville (Nice’s old town — the Cours Saleya flower and food market, the baroque churches, the narrow Italian-influenced lanes), the Colline du Château viewpoint over the Baie des Anges. Optional: the Matisse Museum or the Chagall Museum. Evening: Niçois dinner — socca (chickpea crêpe), salade niçoise, pissaladière.

high-speed rail Avignon → Nice · 3hrs
Promenade des Anglais
Vieille Ville + markets

Overnight: Nice

11
Day Eleven

Riviera Day + Depart

Nice · Monaco

Morning: day trip to Monaco and Èze. Monaco — the Monte Carlo Casino district, the Prince’s Palace (changing of the guard at 11:55am), and the Oceanographic Museum. Èze — a medieval perched village between Nice and Monaco with the Jardin Exotique at the summit and views that justify every step of the steep climb.

Afternoon: transfer to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) for your departure flight. Eleven days from Paris to the Riviera — the Louvre to the lavender, Normandy’s history to the Mediterranean’s light. Your Juniper specialist remains reachable throughout departure day. Safe travels home.

Monaco + Monte Carlo
Èze perched village
App support

Love this itinerary? Make it yours.

This is a sample luxury custom route — a starting point, not a fixed package. Many clients travel something very close to this, customized for their travel style, group, and dates. Book a free consultation and a specialist will build from here.

Accommodations
Boutique hotels, charming B&Bs, or historic castle stays — chosen based on your preferences and travel style.
Transportation
Private driver-guide, self-drive rental, or a mix of both — all transfers confirmed before you travel.
Experiences
Pre-arranged tours and activities built around your interests — entrance tickets sorted, no queuing.

Book a Free Consultation



See All France Itineraries

Activities on this itinerary

Your specialist pre-arranges the right luxury experiences based on your interests and travel style. These are the custom experience types available on this route — specific choices are made with you, not for you.

Louvre Museum Pre-BookedParis · 2-hour specialist route

Versailles Palace + GardensPre-booked · Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet

Seine Sunset CruiseEiffel Tower + Notre-Dame from the water

Giverny — Monet’s GardensWater lilies · April–October

D-Day Beaches + CemeteryOmaha · Utah · private guide

Mont-Saint-MichelTidal island abbey · timed visit

Château de Chambord440 rooms · da Vinci staircase

Chenonceau + AmboiseLoire châteaux · Leonardo’s tomb

Pont du Gard Roman AqueductUNESCO · 1st century AD

Luberon + Lavender FieldsGordes · Roussillon · Provence

Châteauneuf-du-Pape TastingRhône wine · private domaine

Monaco + Èze VillageMonte Carlo · perched medieval village

Activities are selected and pre-booked with your specialist based on your interests — not all activities are included in every trip version. Availability varies by season.

The people who will design your France trip

You work directly with a specialist who knows France deeply — not a call center or booking agent. Every consultation is with someone who has been there, knows which Paris bistro has the steak frites that justifies crossing the Seine, which Loire château has the morning light the photographers chase, and which Provence market town has the rosé tasting that isn’t in any guidebook.

Ireland · Scotland · Iceland · Portugal · France

Taryn Harrison

Juniper Tours’ most tenured specialist with 25 years of experience. CMSC certified and a former Peace Corps volunteer. Taryn brings the same detail-orientation to Portugal that she’s known for across Ireland and Iceland — she knows which Lisbon neighborhood hotel has the best terrace view, which Sintra entry time avoids the coach-tour peaks, and which Douro Valley quinta pours the reserve that doesn’t appear on the standard tasting menu.

25 Yrs
CMSC
France & Europe

Book a Consultation




Italy · Portugal · Spain · Switzerland

Lexi Blade

Florence and Salzburg-based with 8 years of experience across Southern Europe. Lexi covers Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland with the same firsthand knowledge she brings to every destination — sourced from living there rather than visiting. Her France itineraries are built around the restaurants that require a local’s recommendation, the Burgundy and Bordeaux producers who don’t appear in guidebooks, and the Provence villages that haven’t been found by the travel influencers yet.

8 Yrs
Florence Based
Southern Europe

Book a Consultation

About this itinerary

When is the best time to visit France?


April through June and September through October are ideal — warm, clear, and manageable crowds at the major sites. July and August are peak season with extreme heat in Madrid and interior Spain (regularly above 38 degrees C) and peak crowds in Barcelona. Winter is mild along the Mediterranean coast (Barcelona and Valencia rarely drop below 10 degrees C) but can be cold in Madrid. The shoulder seasons give you outdoor dining weather, shorter museum queues, and the best light for photography. Your specialist adjusts the pacing around your travel dates.

How does the high-speed rail work between cities?


The high-speed rail (Train à Grande Vitesse) connects France’s major cities at up to 199 mph. Paris to Avignon is approximately 2 hours 40 minutes, Paris to Nice is approximately 5 hours 30 minutes. The trains are comfortable and the stations are centrally located. For the Normandy and Loire Valley segments, private transfers are more practical since the châteaux and D-Day beaches are not on the high-speed rail network. Your specialist pre-books all rail tickets and arranges private drivers for the segments where rail does not work.

Is 11 days enough to see all of France?


Eleven days gives you a genuine introduction to France’s five essential regions — Paris, Normandy, the Loire Valley, Provence, and the Riviera. You get enough time to feel each region rather than just pass through. Travelers who want more depth typically extend to 14 to 17 days, adding Burgundy wine country, the Dordogne, or the French Alps. Your specialist can also split this into two separate trips — a northern France trip (Paris, Normandy, Loire) and a southern France trip (Provence, Riviera) — if you prefer to go deeper on one half first.

Can I customize which regions are included?


Yes — this is a sample itinerary and every trip is custom. Common modifications include replacing Normandy with Champagne or Burgundy, extending the Provence stay to include the Luberon hill villages, adding Monaco as a day trip from Nice, or skipping the Riviera entirely in favor of Bordeaux wine country. Your specialist builds the route around your priorities. The 11-day framework is a starting point, not a fixed package.

Other trips worth considering

5 Days

View Itinerary



8 Days

View Itinerary



7 Days

View Itinerary

“The accommodations and attractions went through without a hitch! It was a pleasure to work with Juniper Tours and Taryn. We felt that our trip was personalized just for us! We highly recommend going through this experienced travel agency.”

LydMor  ·  France Custom Tour  ·  Verified Google Review

Build your luxury custom Portugal trip with one of our top travel specialists.

30 minutes, completely free. Walk away with a clear picture of what your luxury custom Portugal trip could look like — dates, route, 4 and 5-star accommodations, and all.

Book a Consultation



See All France Itineraries