Lyon & Rhone Valley

Arrival at Lyon airport in the morning. Your private driver will escort you to your accommodation in the heart of the city.  Check in your hotel and free time to rest or visit.

Lunch at leisure.

In the afternoon, meet with your English speaking guide in front of Fourvière Basilica. Have a panoramic Tour in the old Lyon, Fourvière Hill and Lyon Peninsula.

Start with Fourvière hill where you will have a panoramic view over Lyon and its surroundings. Get inside Fourvière Basilica and head to the well preserved antic theatre for some explanations about Lyon history.

Then get down to the Old town which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Visit some traboules (passageways) and get to know what they were used for.

Finally, you will head to the Presqu’île area (the Peninsula), reputed for shopping, museums and Bouchon restaurants. Don’t miss the famous spots such as Place Bellecour, Celestins Theater, Jacobins fountain, Place des Terreaux with its coty hall and opera house. End of your private walking Tour. Transfer back to your hotel and free time until dinner.

Dinner in a traditional Bouchon Lyonnais. Le bouchon is a typical restaurant where you can eat specialties, including dumplings,  Lyon salad and canut brains (cheese spread/dip). 

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Transfer | Tour | Dinner | Accomodation

In the morning, meet with your guide in your hotel lobby and keep exploring Lyon city, with the famous district of la Croix Rousse.

This is a good start to understand more about the history & the economy of Lyon, thanks to the Silk industry. Make your way to the Canuts House museum, where to learn about the history of silk in Lyon with a guided visit. You will then head to Sathonay square, where to observe one of the nicest murals of Lyon, la Fresque des Lyonnais.

Head to Lyon Cover market named after Paul Bocuse for a visit. This cover food market offers a great atmosphere and some of the best local products you may find in restaurants. On Sundays, many Lyonnais come here to enjoy a glass of wine. Stroll along the alleys with your guide and get a chance to do a tasting on the spot!

Have lunch in one of the restaurant of the cover market – You will feel the friendly and noisy atmosphere, typically French!

In the afternoon Get back on your private car and head to Confluence neighborhood with your local  guide. Stroll around the Confluence area and discover the famous building “La Sucrière” (the sugar bowl) and other original and colorful buildings. Stroll around the Confluence neighborhood and its amazing buildings. You will then stop at the Confluence museum to admire and understand the complexity of the architecture and enjoy visiting the museum. End of your private Tour. Transfer back to your hotel and free time until dinner.

Dinner in one of the famous gastronomic restaurant in Lyon: The Gourmet de Sèze is renowned for its cuisine close to the product, inspired by nature and the terroir. This gourmet restaurant welcomes you in a serene and timeless atmosphere. For a meal, let yourself be transported into the culinary world of chef  Bernard Mariller. Treat yourself with the scallops seized on the plancha, Jerusalem artichoke pureed, Melanosporum Truffle Juice  or the  revisited Beef-carrot, Spaghetti from Salsify, Carrot muslin, wine merchant sauce with Blackcurrant. A moment of pure happiness!

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Tour | Transfer | Accomodation | Catering

In the morning, meet your guide in your hotel lobby in Lyon and leave for a day in the Beaujolais with your private driver. This territory is offering one of the most beautiful wine areas we have in France. Often compared to Tuscany, this land will show you all the treasures of a friendly, lovely place.

Morning – Visit of Oingt golden stones village.

With your English speaking guide, have a tour in Oingt. Perched on a hill and surrounded by the Beaujolais vineyards, Oingt is one of the jewels of the “Pays des pierres dorées”. With a medieval past, the village has kept from this time period the ancient chapel of the castle, the fortified door of Nizy, and a dungeon.

Lunch tasting in a local wine estate.

With an organic agriculture, Marie (farmer and baker) and Ludovic (wine-grower and ‘sommelier’) reveal all about bread and wine, mainstay of our Latin civilization. 

In a peaceful setting with fine views of the Monts du Beaujolais, they bake bread in a wood-fired oven, using their own wheat, and make wine from their own grapes.

You will first have a tour in the vines with Ludovic to understand how they produce their wine. Then you will have a tasting of estate wines served with farm products: seasonal salad (from garden), farmhouse country terrine, tartine Bressane (Curd cheese open sandwich); seasonal vegetable flan; dessert or tart baked in wood-fired oven.

In the afternoon, you will head to the North Beaujolais section with an introduction to the main Crus du Beaujolais (Fleurie, Brouilly, Moulin à vent…). You will have a second wine tasting in a family-run estate. The winegrower will give you explanations about his work in the vines and the wine making process. Your guide will drop you off at your hotel in Lyon.

Dinner in your hotel restaurant (or close by).

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Tour | Transfer | Accomodation | Catering

In the morning, meet with your guide in your hotel lobby in Lyon. Leave for a day trip to Annecy Lake with your private driver!

Arrival in Annecy, often compared as the Venice of the Alps ! Time to stroll with your guide into the narrowed streets of the old Town. You will go across

the channel of the Thiou, pass by the Palais de l’Isle, a former prison now turned into a museum and part of the historical monuments registration, and also have a visit of the Old Chateau-Museum on the hillside of the town.

On Tuesdays, there is the food market in the old town – take some time to discover local producers and why not buy some products to have a picnic along the lake with a nice view!

Free time for Lunch in Annecy.

In the afternoon, drive around the lake and stop in some villages such as Veyrier du Lac, Menthon Saint Bernard, Talloires. You will also have a stop at Col de la Forclaz where you will have a panoramic view over the lake. Many paraglides are taking off from this spot. It is the perfect spot to take amazing pictures of the lake. On the way down, you will stop in a farm where they produce local cheese (Reblochon). It is a cow’s milk cheese, matured and washed rind, made in Haute-Savoie. After some explanations of the cheese making process, you will have a cheese tasting with a glass of red wine from the region. At the end of the tour, your guide will drop you off at your hotel in Lyon.

Dinner in your hotel restaurant (or close by).

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Tour | Transfer | Accomodation | Breakfast & Dinner

Meet with your driver in the morning and guide in your hotel lobby. Leave for a day in the Côte- Rotie area and its perched vineyards.

Make a first stop in Vienne, the ancient Gallo-romaine city for a guided tour of its antic treasures. This city is an important passage that marked the trade of wine in Roman times and which today represents the entrance gate of the northern wines of the Côte Rôtie, the Condrieu and the Saint Joseph.

Head to Ampuis, where the Côtes du Rhône Septentrionale wine-making zone is starting. After a first stop near to these impressive vines, you will be welcome in a local wine estate such as the Christophe Pichon wine estate or Similar (Ogier or Vidal Fleury..). You will discover the process of wine-making and have the opportunity to taste some of their wines, essentially made with Syrah grape variety for Cote Rôtie, & Viognier for Condrieu. Then your guide will drop you off at your hotel in Lyon.

Lunch at leisure and free afternoon to unwind.

Dinner in your hotel restaurant (or close by).

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Tour | Transfer | Accomodation | Breakfast & Dinner

In the morning leave for a full day excursion in the Bresse & Dombes. Two regions, two characters: The Bresse with its Bocage, its wood-frame farms and its history where man and nature are joined, and The Dombes with its lakes, its birds and its medieval past. Plunge into these two delicious worlds during your day in Ain.

Meet with your English  speaking  guide  in Bourg  en  Bresse  and visit of the Royal monastery  of  Brou, a masterpiece by an emperor’s daughter. This flamboyant gothic jewel will fascinate you with its liveliness and the quality of its architecture. Guided  visit  of  the three  cloisters  and the fine  Arts  museum  rich collections of French, Flemish and Italian artists from the 15th  to 20th  Centuries.

Lunch in Bourg en Bresse in a traditional gastronomic restaurant. The Place Bernard brasserie in Bourg-en Bresse is located in the cradle of the traditional and regional cuisine of Georges Blanc. It has since become the essential address for all lovers  of traditional French gastronomy and local cuisine that comes in the rhythm of the seasons and nature.

After lunch cross the Dombes area with its thousand pounds and many birds species. Head to Pérouges for a flashback into the past and more particularly in the medieval time !

Thanks to a great restoration of the village, you will enjoy touring into narrowed pedestrian streets of the hamlet.

After a guided tour in the village, sit at the Ostellerie de Pérouges, the main café restaurant of the village for a Galette de Pérouges (sugar pie) tasting.

After the private guided tour, free time to have a look at the different boutiques. Transfer back to your hotel and free time until dinner.

Dinner in your hotel restaurant (or close by). 

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Tour | Transfer | Accomodation | Catering

Meet with your driver in your hotel lobby in Lyon and leave for a day in the Côte du Rhône wine area.

Head South, close to Valence in Tain l’Hermitage and its famous Crozes Ermitage wines. Meet with your wine expert for the day. There if the weather allow it, you will go for a walk around the perched chapel of Tain. Once arrived, get to the panoramic view from the Belvédère spot. Over the stroll, you will understand how they produce wine and work with the vine. After the walk, you will have a tour of the cellars, winery and then a tasting of the wine of the estate.

Free time for Lunch in Tain l’Hermitage.

Afternoon – Stop at the worldwide chocolate factory Valrhôna, where you will taste and learn everything you need to know about chocolate. Before going back to Lyon, you will stop in a famous wine estate for a visit and tasting of their wines.

Then your driver will escort you back to your hotel for your farewell dinner, what better restaurant than Paul Bocuse’s restaurant. Bocuse is the quest for excellence. In the heart of the Temple of Gastronomy, this restaurant is a mythical gastronomic establishment that transcends borders and symbolizes French culinary prestige.

You can let yourself be tempted by the white pudding of poultry and lobster with truffle, yellow wine sauce with morels or a barbet mullet in crispy potato scales.

Overnight in one charming boutique hotel in Lyon.

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Tour | Transfer | Accomodation | Breakfast & Dinner

After a sumptuous breakfast and at your request, your chauffeur will escort you to Lyon  Airport for your return flight. 

BON VOYAGE !

♦ WHAT IS INCLUDED ♦ Transfer | Catering