Paris

After arriving in Paris, you’ll meet your driver at the airport and transfer to our centrally located hotel in the Opéra district, an elegant part of the city filled with grand avenues, theaters, cafés, and ornate 19th-century buildings. After check-in, our tour leader will be on site to help you settle in, answer any questions, and offer suggestions if you feel like taking a first walk around the neighborhood.

That evening, we’ll gather for our welcome dinner at a nearby French bistro. Over classic Parisian dishes and plenty of conversation, we’ll get to know the women we’ll be traveling with and enjoy our first evening in the city.

Our first full day will begin with a private half-day tour created especially for our group. The morning will combine two ways of experiencing Paris - seeing its best-known landmarks up close and discovering the women whose stories are often missing from traditional city tours.

At the Eiffel Tower, we’ll see the structure up close and take in the views from the surrounding area. As we make our way through central Paris, our female guide will introduce us to writers, artists, scientists, designers, performers, and revolutionaries who helped shape the city. Some of their stories will connect directly to the streets and buildings we pass, while others will reveal a different side of Paris beyond its famous monuments.

We’ll continue to Île de la Cité, the historic island at the center of the city, and visit Notre-Dame Cathedral. Inside, we’ll see its soaring stone arches, stained-glass windows, and carefully restored interior while learning how skilled craftspeople brought it back to life after the fire of 2019. After the tour, you’ll have free time to choose a spot for lunch and explore independently before returning to the hotel for a rest.

That evening, we’ll board a boat for a ride along the Seine as bridges, monuments, and riverside buildings begin to light up. We’ll then enjoy a bistro-style dinner featuring French cooking that may include slow-cooked meats, fresh fish, vegetable dishes, and a traditional dessert.

We’ll begin the morning in one of Paris’s most beautiful green spaces. Created in 1612 for Queen Marie de Medici, the Luxembourg Gardens unfold around a stately palace, formal lawns, fountains, statues, and bright flowerbeds. We’ll wander beneath rows of trees, pass the peaceful Medici Fountain, and see Parisians reading or chatting from the green chairs arranged beside the paths and central pond.

After our walk, we’ll continue to a traditional Parisian bouillon, a style of restaurant known for its lively dining room and comforting French cooking. Originally opened as a bouillon in 1903, the carefully preserved interior features carved mirrors, colorful tiled walls, and graceful Art Nouveau details. We’ll sit down to enjoy the familiar dishes that have been served in bouillons for generations.

After lunch, the rest of the day will be yours. You could stay on the Left Bank to explore Saint-Germain and the Latin Quarter, browse local shops, visit a gallery, or find a café and enjoy the afternoon without watching the clock.

Paris is yours to enjoy at your own pace today. Our tour leader will be available to share recommendations and help with reservations, directions, or any other arrangements. If the Louvre is on your list, we can help you reserve a ticket to explore independently and focus on the collections that interest you most. If you would prefer a guided visit, we can help arrange that as well.

You could wander through the historic streets and boutiques of the Marais, discover one of the city’s smaller museums, or browse the department stores near our hotel. You may prefer to settle at a sidewalk café and watch Paris pass by. Fill the day with art, shopping, and new neighborhoods, or enjoy a slower morning followed by a leisurely lunch. The choice is entirely yours!

Beyond the center of Paris, we’ll make the approximately 45-minute drive to the Palace of Versailles and step into the world of the French royal court. What began as a hunting lodge was transformed by King Louis XIV into one of Europe’s most impressive royal residences, filled with ceremony, wealth, and political power.

With our guide, we’ll walk through gilded royal apartments and enter the Hall of Mirrors, where chandeliers, painted ceilings, and golden details catch the light from tall windows overlooking the gardens. As we move through the palace, stories of the people who once filled these rooms will reveal what daily life was really like at Versailles and how events here helped transform France.

Outside, the palace opens onto formal gardens arranged with fountains, sculptures, trimmed hedges, and long tree-lined avenues. After exploring the grounds, we’ll enjoy a relaxed French lunch at a restaurant in the town of Versailles. We’ll then return to Paris, where the evening will be free.

Our final full day will take us into Montmartre, the hilltop neighborhood that has attracted painters, writers, and performers for generations. With our local guide, we’ll wind through cobbled lanes lined with old cafés, former artists’ studios, and buildings tucked along the hillside. As we explore, we’ll hear the stories that shaped the neighborhood and enjoy sweeping views across the rooftops of Paris.

Montmartre’s food will be part of the experience. We’ll step inside an artisan chocolatier, a bakery, a cheese shop, and a neighborhood butcher, with a stop for a warm crêpe along the way. We’ll taste delicate macarons, handmade chocolates, freshly baked bread, French cheeses, and cured meats. At our final stop, everything gathered during the tour will be arranged into a generous shared lunch with French wine and one last surprise from our guide.

After returning to the hotel, the afternoon will be free for final shopping, another museum, or one last café stop. That evening, we’ll walk to a refined restaurant on a quiet square near the Opéra. Celebrated writers have dined here over the years, and its polished dining room will provide a fitting setting for our farewell. We’ll enjoy seasonal French cuisine that brings together familiar flavors and modern presentation as we share one final evening in Paris.

After breakfast, it will be time to say goodbye to Paris. Your airport transfer will be arranged according to your flight schedule, giving you time to check out and travel comfortably to the terminal for your journey home.