Cruising Burgundy & Provence

[Sapphire73]

We are looking at taking another river cruise with GCT - this time in France. Our options are going in July or late October/November. What are the pros & cons of traveling at those times? One of the couples traveling with us really wants to do the Cinque Terre extension, so we are exploring that as well.

 

Has anyone here done this cruise with GCT? How did it compare with other cruises you (may) have done with GCT? I would welcome input on this cruise or this general itinerary:

 

Paris to Beaune to Macon (where the cruise starts)

Lyon to Tournon to Viviers

Avignon to Arles (and Camargue)

Disembark, then go to Rhone American Cemetery and to Cote d'Azur

 

I have spent a little time exploring the average temperatures in July and in October/November. I am guessing that Paris will be more crowded in July and perhaps some other places like the optional tour of Giverny. Would the river cruise stops be equally crowded in October? Or even more crowded with the harvest?

 

Thank you!

[caviargal]

We are looking at taking another river cruise with GCT - this time in France. Our options are going in July or late October/November. What are the pros & cons of traveling at those times? One of the couples traveling with us really wants to do the Cinque Terre extension, so we are exploring that as well.

 

Has anyone here done this cruise with GCT? How did it compare with other cruises you (may) have done with GCT? I would welcome input on this cruise or this general itinerary:

 

Paris to Beaune to Macon (where the cruise starts)

Lyon to Tournon to Viviers

Avignon to Arles (and Camargue)

Disembark, then go to Rhone American Cemetery and to Cote d'Azur

 

 

We did the Rhone in November of 2014 and July of 2015. July was miserably hot, crowded. November was very nice and we had moderate temps and far fewer crowds. October I suspect would be ideal. We will never do a summer trip to Europe again. It was not my first and I should have known better. Off season for us!

 

We loved the itinerary overall. Ours were with AMA and then Uniworld so cannot help with GCT. We preferred the specific itinerary with AMA and they included more excursions than Uniworld. It was our favorite itinerary so far of all we have done. We enjoyed the area so much we are headed to Bordeaux in just three weeks to experience more of southern France.

 

BTW, the CT will be a nightmare in July. It is over touristed most months but summer is a mass of day trippers as well as overnight tourists. The area has been IMO ruined by Rick Steeves. We would never go back.

[4774Papa]

We did that Southern France cruise in May and the weather was great. I expect it is not bad in late October, but it will be chilly in mornings and evenings.

[mrobinson]

We are doing that trip with Vantage in early May. just booked a last minute trip with them last week. I'm still trying to firpgure out what the weather will be like in early May

[Barrheadlass]

I'm doing that exact trip with GCT in November next year so will be interested in responses too.

Edited to add we won't do cinque terra as we've been in April, when it wasn't too crowded. I wouldn't go there in the summer, for sure!

Edited April 6, 2016 by Barrheadlass

[Sapphire73]

We did the Rhone in November of 2014 and July of 2015. July was miserably hot, crowded. November was very nice and we had moderate temps and far fewer crowds. October I suspect would be ideal. We will never do a summer trip to Europe again.

 

Thanks for your input on this! We have friends who did the GCT trip to Burgundy & Provence toward the end of July, and I gathered it was extremely warm. It sounds like it would be wise to go in the autumn rather than July.

 

BTW, the CT will be a nightmare in July. It is over touristed most months but summer is a mass of day trippers as well as overnight tourists. The area has been IMO ruined by Rick Steeves. We would never go back.

 

Our friends were in Cinque Terre over 20 years ago. Sounds like things have changed since then. Thank you for the heads up.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time on your next river cruise! Will look forward to hearing about it when you get back.

[Sapphire73]

We did that Southern France cruise in May and the weather was great. I expect it is not bad in late October, but it will be chilly in mornings and evenings.

 

Looking forward to being able to take vacations in May and September someday. Good to know that the weather might not be too bad in late October. Thanks!

[Sapphire73]

I'm doing that exact trip with GCT in November next year so will be interested in responses too.

Edited to add we won't do cinque terra as we've been in April, when it wasn't too crowded. I wouldn't go there in the summer, for sure!

 

Will let you know if we end up going in November.

[Sapphire73]

Looks like several of the river cruises in France start with a couple of days in Paris. We will go on the tour that is included, but probably won't take the optional tours to Versailles and Giverny. Any suggestions for other ways to use our free time in Paris or nearby? Thanks.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Sapphire73

[4774Papa]

Looks like several of the river cruises in France start with a couple of days in Paris. We will go on the tour that is included, but probably won't take the optional tours to Versailles and Giverny. Any suggestions for other ways to use our free time in Paris or nearby? Thanks.

 

Versailles is awesome, if you haven't been there. You can get there taking the train. There are audio-guides so you don't need to pay for a tour. I think your ship is docked on the same side of the city as Versailles.

 

There is so much to do in Paris. The Lourve has tons of things to see. Of course, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Cour, the list goes on.

[Sapphire73]

We are looking at taking another river cruise with GCT - this time in France. Our options are going in July or late October/November. What are the pros & cons of traveling at those times?

 

We have made (tentative) reservations for a trip starting in mid-October but may shift our timing. It is looking like we might be able to get away in September after all.

 

• Is there any advantage to going in October (fewer tourists and cruise ships perhaps?) or is primarily a difference in weather and daylight hours?
  
• Is rafting a likely scenario in both September and October?
  
• Any guesses as to when they would be harvesting the grapes? Or when the leaves will begin to change color?
  

Many thanks for whatever help you can provide.

[caviargal]

We have made (tentative) reservations for a trip starting in mid-October but may shift our timing. It is looking like we might be able to get away in September after all.

 

• Is there any advantage to going in October (fewer tourists and cruise ships perhaps?) or is primarily a difference in weather and daylight hours?
  
• Is rafting a likely scenario in both September and October?
  
• Any guesses as to when they would be harvesting the grapes? Or when the leaves will begin to change color?
  

Many thanks for whatever help you can provide.

 

You can find most of this by googling. Average temps, hours of daylight are easily found.

 

We did not raft on either of our Rhone sailings, nor did we see any rafting. There are simply fewer vessels on this itinerary than on the Rhine and Danube where we have often rafted.

 

Harvesting and Crush will depend on the temps in the winter and when the grapes are ready. We have seen wonderful colors in both October and November in France.

[Sapphire73]

We did not raft on either of our Rhone sailings, nor did we see any rafting. There are simply fewer vessels on this itinerary than on the Rhine and Danube where we have often rafted.

 

Harvesting and Crush will depend on the temps in the winter and when the grapes are ready. We have seen wonderful colors in both October and November in France.

 

We did end up switching to a September departure, mostly because of a potential conflict with my husband's schedule. But I would love to return to France in October sometime. Good to know that you haven't seen rafting on your Rhone sailings.

 

Many thanks for your response!

[Sapphire73]

We booked this trip before they were showing GCT's 2017 river cruises on the website. (The website noted that people could pre-reserve 2017 river cruises, and that's what we did.) The 2017 river cruises are online now. Interesting to see several changes in the itinerary for this year. I read the reviews of the Cruising Burgundy & Provence trip and think many of these changes are in response to customer feedback. There will just be one full day in Paris in 2017 as they are adding a full day in Nice. The sailings in 2016 have 2 full days in Paris and no full days in Nice.

 

I will miss the option to go to Giverny (scheduled for the second full day in Paris) but I can see giving people a little time in Nice. It looks like the French Resistance discussion has been omitted as well.

 

Any suggestions for a good place to have dinner in Paris our first night (near the Novotel Paris Eiffel Tower) or in Nice our last night (near B4 Nice Plaza, also a change from 2016 sailings)?

Edited April 9, 2016 by Sapphire73