2026 LA BELLE FRANCE TOUR
DATES: TBC
COSTS: £ per person ( based on two people per car sharing a room)
COSTS: per person ( based on two people per car with two single rooms)
The above costs are based on £1 = 1.15€ and may be subject to a surcharge depending on exchange rates at the time of payment of fees.
Fees can also be paid in euros
The costs, per person, are based on two people per car sharing a hotel bedroom and include the following:
- Accommodation in 4 star stylish hotels ( 10 nights )
- 3 course dinners ( 10 nights )
- Continental breakfast daily
- Rally plate
- Comprehensive road books with daily itineraries and detailed route notes
- Highlighted Michelin France national map
- Brittany Ferries outward overnight ferry Portsmouth-St.Malo with overnight club class cabin
- Assistance of a Tour Director throughout.
NOT INCLUDED ARE THE FOLLOWING :
- Lunches,snacks,coffees etc.
- Drinks with dinner including bottled water and coffee
- Entry to places of interest eg.museums, gardens, villas, chateaux etc
- Autoroute tolls
Tour summary
? day tour of France, with two nights in th Loire Valley, the Dordogne, the Tarn Gorges and 3 nights in Provence. The tour starts with an overnight ferry from Portsmouth-St.Malo and then we spend 4 days travelling to Provence with overnight stays in the Loire Valley, the Dordogne and the Tarn Gorge before arriving in Provence where we spend 3 nights in our hotel. Whilst in Provence we visit the Verdon Gorge and several of France's most beautiful villages.
We then leave Provence and drive north along the Route de Napolean to Grenoble and on to Lake Annecy where our hotel for the next two nights is located. We then leave Lake Annecy and drive north-west to Vault de Lugny a village between Avallon and Vezelay where our next chateau hotel is located. Our final hotel is Chateau de Rochecotte in St.Patrice in the Loire Valley.On our final day we drive up to Cherbourg to catch a late afternoon ferry to Portsmouth.
DRAFT ITINERARY
Overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St. Malo
Our afternoon ferry leaves Portsmouth at 8.30pm and arrives in St. Malo the following morning at 8.30am.
Day 1
St.Malo to Loire Valley, ( 220 miles)
We head south-east on scenic backroads towards Alencon where our lunch stop is Saint Ceneri le Gerei, one of France's most beautiful villages. After lunch we continue south to the Loire valley to our 4* chateau hotel
Day 2
Loire Valely, loal excursion
Day 3
Saint Etienne de Chigny to Champagnac de Belair, Brantome, Dordogne ( 185 miles)
We drive south to Champagnac de Belair in the Dordogne region where our hotel, Le Moulin du Roc, a 17th century converted walnut mill, is located see photo below:
Dinner tonight is in the hotel's Michelin * restaurant
Day 4
Day 5
Brantome to Ste. Enime, Tarn Gorge,via the Millau Bridge, (275 miles, including 85 miles on motorways)
Our route takes us south for 25 miles on a scenic route then we take the A89 autoroute east to Brive then the A20 autoroute south to Cahors. We then leave the autoroute and head east to Saint Cirq Lapopie our lunch stop. After lunch we continue east to Rodez then join the autoroute south towards the Millau Bridge then turn off the motorway and drop down to the stunning Tarn Gorge, see photos below:
Our hotel, the Chateau de la Caze, located between La Malene and St Enimie, is a stunning 16th-century fortified chateau on the banks of the river Tarn in the gorge itself, (see photos below ).
Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant.
Day 6 Tarn Gorgs, local excursion
Day 7 Tarn Gorges to Provence, (225 miles,)
We continue along the stunning Gorges du Tarn to Florac where we take a great driving road, the Corniche Cevennes via Anduze to Nimes where we continue east to the Luberon, an area made famous by Peter Mayle in his best seller "A year in Provence" (see photos below)
We then continue east to our hotel, see photo below:
Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant.
Day 8 -
Verdon Gorge, local excursion ( 100 miles)
Today we visit the magnificent Gorges du Verdon, France's "Grand Canyon," a breathtaking chasm and one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in France. Our route takes us via the scenic Lac de Sainte Croix to Moustiers-Ste-Marie another "beau village" in a stunning setting high on the edge of a ravine beneath craggy rocks. Above the village is the 12th century chapel of Notre-Dame de- Beauvoir. The narrow streets of Moustiers are full of shops selling the local ceramics, (see photos below ).
After coffee we continue in a clockwise direction along the north side of the Gorges du Verdon canyon, (see photos below).
and then drive up to Castellane our lunch stop, (see photos below).
From here we head back to the dramatic gorges stopping en-route to marvel at the stunning views, until we arrive back at the Lac de Sainte Croix, (see photos below), returning to our hotel.
Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant
Day 9 Local excursion, Aups, Sillans la Cascade, Cotignac, Thoronet Abbey, Tourtour
A comparatively relaxed day as we explore the local area visiting charming villages including Aups, and then Sillans-la-Cascade, our morning coffee stop where we can enjoy a country walk to see the magnificent waterfall, (see photo below right).We then drive on to Cotignac nestling under dramatic cave-pocked cliffs and our lunch stop, (see photo below left).
After lunch we head south to Carces and then head into the forest to visit the Abbaye du Thoronet, founded in 1146 and the first Cistercian building in Provence.Lost in woodland it occupies a typically remote site.We then drive up to Villecroze a town set against a natural backdrop of caves on two levels which local lords in the 16th century turned into dwellings known as the Grottes Troglodytes.
Our afternoon coffee stop is Tourtour a charming hilltop village, see photos below:
We then return to our hotel for dinner
Day 10 Provence to Lake Annecy
Our scenic route north follows the Route Napolean via Digne, Sisteron, Gap, Corps, La Mure, Laffrey and Vizille to Grenoble and then on to Talloires, on the eastern shore of Lake Annecy, where our hotel for the next two nights is located.
Our hotel is the Abbey de Talloires and in 2018 the site of the building is celebrating its 1,000 birthday !
Our hotel in Talloires on Lake Annecy
View of Lake Annecy from our hotel
The interior of the hotel maintains many of its original features as an abbey
Dinner tonight is in the hotel
Day 11 Local excursion: Lake Annecy ( no driving today )
A day relaxing on Lake Annecy. After a leisurely breakfast we take the 11.30am passenger ferry to Annecy where we can explore this charming town with rivers running through it.
Dinner, tonight, is in a nearby hotel's restaurant in Talloires.
Day 12 Talloire to Vault de Lugny near Vezelay ( 250 miles including 110miles on motorways )
We drive up the east shore of the lake to Annecy then take a scenic mountain route north-west to our lunch stop, Baume Les Messieurs, one of France's most beuatiful villages. After lunch we join the autoroute north west for 100 miles to our hotel Chateau de Vault de Lugny between Avallon and Vezelay
Day 13 Vault de Lugny to St. Patrice, Loire Valley
We take a pretty route west on minor roads to Vierzon then take the motorway west through the Loire Valley to our hotel on the last night of the tour Chateau de Rochecotte in St.Patrice in the Loire valley
Dinner tonight is in the hotel's restaurant
Day 14 St.Patrice to Cherbourg
We leave the Loire Valley and drive north west to Cherbourg where we catch the afternoon ferry back to Portsmouth