Our family of three (including my 11 yo son) chose the Paris night bike tour. Even though it's…read morerecommended for 12+, and is a late-night excursion, he's an excellent bicyclist and regularly bicycles in longer trips at home, so I knew he'd be fine, and he stayed up by the tour guide in front the whole time. We heard a lot of compliments from other tourists who enjoyed him, but beware, if your child is NOT a good bicyclist, or well practiced in bicycling, please do not subject other tourists to them-we heard a couple of horror stories of other bicycle tours where this was the case.) This bicycle tour was fantastic! The guide was knowledgeable and the locations were spot-on. Highly recommend if you (like us) only have a few days in Paris, as you can see so much on this tour! The sunset boat tour was absolutely stunning as we boated past the lit up Eiffel Tower, but my highlight was riding around the Louvre (also at sunset). Stunning tour was definitely a highlight!

A fun way to go around the main tourist area of Paris and get a glimpse of the sights. As I go…read morearound Europe for work a lot, I am always looking for somethink to do different on down time, an easy bicycle ride on a beautiful day was a great think to do. I don't recommend this currently with all of the Olympic venues up. The roads are too congested and you can't get to some areas because of the street closures.

October 2025: Our trip to France this year was 10 days long. We spent a few days in Paris and then…read morecame to Reims to finish our tour. While the whole trip was amazing, Merci France !, our two day tour with Alex of Sparkling Tours was my absolute highlight. Houses Sparkling Tours (ST) has cultivated true relationships with the local and family owned growers in the region. Yes, they can take you to the big names, but the small houses welcome you into their homes and show you their facilities that they use to make the excellent products. It was so sweet to see our guide, Alex, walk in and be welcomed everywhere we went. They invited him to engage with their tours and show us their spaces. It was delightful to hear about all of the generations of families that have been involved in making champagne, and how they continue their legacies. Language Our guide spoke English and made us feel so welcome. As well, all of the growers we visited helped us feel at home. It can be hard to want to speak more French but need English for understanding- everyone was kind and helpful. We never felt lost or confused. We were able to learn and respect everyone throughout the tour. If you're considering a trip like this, but you're unsure of the language barrier, don't be scared. It will be great. In fact, our guide, Alex, is an English teacher! Champagne The six houses we visited all had wonderful champagnes to share with us. In the States, we're used to some subpar bubbles: that is not the case here. It didn't matter the price of the bottle or the age of the grape, every glass was delicious. We learned among us who liked Chardonnay or Meunier more, but all three of us walked away from each glass with respect and admiration. And, the houses were regularly willing to entertain us asking about a specific type or bottle for more information. Driving Alex was a phenomenal driver. I've personally traveled through many countries with many styles of drivers. Alex was careful, attentive, and focused. I never felt unsafe, and he always knew the right route or place to park. The car was so comfortable, too! The trips never felt too long or tiresome between houses. Food ST arranged for our lunches. You can see the menu from day one in my pictures: a scrumptious lunch in Epernay. Everything was included, so it was easy to sit down and pick our options, but we were also and to purchase more wine with our lunch if we desired. Day 2, we ate in the cellar of the Julien Chopin champagne house. They had orchestrated a pairing for us where each course went with one of their champagnes. This experience was exquisite. History Alex was so informed about champagne, the geography, the techniques, the people, and all of the history that goes into making each bottle we enjoy. It never felt like "school", and I was always interested for more. I won't share all I've learned because you need to come and experience it for the first time yourself. Wow, wow! I'll never look at a bottle of champagne the same way. Cost I hope that if you're reading this review that you're considering a trip to Reims like us. I hope you're doing your research and comparing options. So I suspect that when I say this was the most cost effective option we considered, you understand that it was not "cheap" but it was also not expensive. Several other tour companies were more expensive or comparable, but a big part of the expense is how much the Big Houses charge you to visit their locations. If you add them to your tour, your costs will naturally rise. Valentin at ST suggested we do smaller, family owned houses and that saved us quite a few dollars. More importantly, though, it offered us so much value we did not expect. That value is seen in the rest of my review, above and below this category. We were guests in people's homes, not tourists. We were friends with our guide, not customers. We were exploring the tastes of champagne, not just quick sips. After our tour, the three of us agreed that we would readily pay the cost again for all that we experienced and enjoyed. Driver I've been so excited for this part: Alex, our driver and guide, was perfect. I've been taking guided tours with locals and professionals since 2009. I've never had a bad guide, but Alex is the first one whom I will truly miss. While we only spent two days together, his personality and approach were top notch. He was engaging, interesting, helpful, and considerate. We wish we could have had more time with him- we especially would have loved to share lunch with him. I've mentioned little specifics above about how he delivered an excellent tour for us, but just know that if he is the standard for how all of the ST tour team works, then you're in the best care. Alex, if you read this, know that you made a lasting impact on us! Thank you so much. -- Yes, I wrote all of this. No, AI was not involved. I care deeply about sharing good recommendations when they're deserved. I was not paid for this review.

Just finished a champagne tour with this company. Our guide was named Anna and I was blown away by…read moreall her knowledge and professionalism. You get picked up from your hotel and taken to champagne houses (you can request the ones you want - we went for the smaller independent houses and we're so glad we did). We did a half day tour and visited 2 independent houses. Both were amazing and even got to meet the owner of one! This company has a great relationship with many houses in Reims so you really get an outstanding tour. Will definitely be using them again!

Juliane was our AMAZING tour guide, she was extremely informative and expressive with a little bit…read moreof humor- made the tour very fun. Be careful as the floors are slick (so glad Juliane told us this so I could be aware and not fall). Champagne tasting was lovely seated in the courtyard. While this champagne house may not be as glamorous as Veuve the champagne is WORLDS ABOVE all others. I look forward to returing

We had an excellent experience touring Maison Mumm champagne house. Our guide was very friendly and…read moreknowledgeable regarding the history and production of the champagne. We enjoyed the tasting in the garden at the end of the tour too. All around a great experience!

Lorenzo was a great tour guide. He knows his history and presented a great story and vision of the…read moretime! It was a great way to learn about the details of Versailles, the gardens, the petit Trianon, and the Hamlet. I feel like I had a personal history lesson.

We enjoyed our tour with Lorenzo of the Chateau de Chantilly. He was very knowledgeable about the…read moreChateau and it's history. There were lots of school tours and he did an excellent job of maneuvering around the large crowds. We would highly recommend this tour!

We had a tour booked with A La Française for Tuesday, July 2, 2024. They acted in a completely…read moreunprofessional manner. They were unresponsive, unhelpful, and rude. There are several other companies to choose from when visiting France such as ItalyTours, ToursbyLocals, etc. Who all provide exceptional service. Do yourself a favor and avoid this company at all costs - They do not care one bit about their customers.

I had such an amazing experience with this tour. I really felt that the price was worth it, I would…read moredo it again as well without a doubt. First off my tour guide was Jerome, very knowledgable, not only did we talk about the region with him but also the culture of the area. This tour felt like you were with friends and not a commercial tour/guide. We were in a small group of 6 which allowed us to get to know the others in our van and converse especially when it came to our lunchtime. Oh yes, the van- very very clean, so fresh like a rental car and had air conditioning, but the temperature outside was so good we didn't need any air con on. I enjoyed getting to explore the area going to multiple cities around Reims, Epernay, and a couple of others I'm not quite sure how to spell the name. The Champagne Master Class was a lot of fun as well! I won't go into detail with this one so I won't spoil it. Lunch time: I have celiac disease (can't have gluten) and often find trouble with places being able to accommodate my restriction. But there was no problem here, I emailed them in advance, they also double checked the morning of again with other members of the group to for any allergies or restrictions. They let me know it would not be a problem. We had lunch in the side courtyard of a French home which made it very personal in ensuring quality. My lunch was gluten-free, with gluten-free bread and other accompaniments. The table was set in a family style lunch setting. They had a great selection of cheeses on a board with jams, and wonderful authentic French foods which I don't know the name of but my boyfriend got to try a bit of everything and he told me he really liked it. At this house there is also lovely small dog named Harry who will come around and nudge you from under the table in his attempt to get some cheese or table scraps. We had dessert and coffee after lunch and then headed to a family wine house. Again another truly authentic experience. Last but not least there was definitely at least 10 tastings I might have lost track at some point haha, but I really got a true appreciation for Champagne and how it is made. I could go on and on but in short, I highly recommend this tour it would be impressive to whoever you bring along!

April 11, Montmartre Pastry and Chocolate Food Tour, Paris…read more Our family of four with a son 9 and daughter 10 did a pastry and chocolate tour through Montmartre and it ended up being a really fun way to explore the area. Arrival and First Impressions The group was small, just our family and another family, which worked out well. The shops we visited were tiny so taking turns going in and out was part of the experience. Our guide was knowledgeable and walked us through side streets, small parks, and local spots we would never have found on our own. The Highlights We stopped at six different locations including chocolatiers, bakeries, and pastry shops. Highlights included a choux pastry, crepes, madeleines, artisan eclairs, and multiple chocolate tastings. The final stop for hot chocolate and macarons was excellent. The macarons were so good we ended up buying some to bring home. The tour was not just about food. We saw the Love Wall, hidden streets, and learned about the history of Montmartre including small details about the neighborhood that made it feel more personal. The Challenges The guide did not have a very loud voice so in a bigger group it might have been harder to follow, but with our small group it worked fine. Would We Return Yes, especially to try a different tour. It was a great mix of food and exploring. Final Thoughts This tour is a great way to experience Montmartre beyond just walking around. The combination of food, history, and hidden locations made it a memorable and worthwhile experience.

Their ticket purchasing process is misleading and unethical. You go about filling our information,…read morelike you do for many websites, but unlike any other website, you hit the "Next" button (for the third time) and suddenly you have purchased the ticket, without any opportunity to review your tour date, number of participants or even credit card info. All the previous "Next" buttons led to the next step in the process, as is implied by the word and as you would expect, but not this one - it is the final confirmation of purchase even though there is NO indication that this is about to happen. Then they tell you that there are no refunds under any circumstances and that the credit and ticketing laws do not apply to them. Perhaps this is because they are based in Cyprus, which I assume they have chosen precisely to evade regulations. Note that they say there are no refunds no matter what - even if your overall trip gets cancelled or the tour gets cancelled or the guide does not show up. Be very careful, or better yet, avoid these folks and do any of the other more legitimate tours out there for wherever you are travelling to.

Going to Monet's garden at Giverny had been a "bucket list" item for me, and I was able to make the…read moretrip recently while visiting Paris! It was such a beautiful place and did not disappoint. The flowers in mid-April were beautiful to see, with huge peonies, lots of tulips, crocuses, wisteria on the Japanese bridge, and other spring blooms. This also seemed to be a good time to visit as it gets more packed during the summer. Tip: Rather than doing a bus tour, it was fairly easy to simply take the SCNF train to Vernon. From Vernon, there are regular shuttle buses directly to Monet's garden for 5 Euros each way (10 Euros round trip), so it is very straightforward. The train from Paris to Vernon leaves from Gare St. Lazare. Also, if you do go via train to Vernon to get to Giverny, there was an adorable cat cafe there for lunch: Cookie's Cat Cafe!

A great time! You don't need to be an expert in Claude Monet to enjoy it…read more We took a half day tour from Paris that included a guided walk around the gardens. On the way there on the bus, the guide introduced us to Monet and his life, career, and family. So, by the time we arrived at the gardens, we had a good understanding of what he was trying to accomplish. The gardens are lovely. Filled with a huge variety of flowers, all in different stages of blooming. The pond and the pathway around the pond is also filled with a variety of flowers. We were there in April, too soon for the water lilies to bloom. It's crowded, even for this time of year. Likely not as crowded as when the lilies bloom. The pink house is also interesting. A few bedrooms, the dining room, and the kitchen hen are among the rooms you will see. The gift shop was Monet's studio. It impressive in size and with the glass roof you can picture all the light he would have painted to. Definitely worth the trip out of Paris.

Another one of those "you live and learn" moments. Reservations are required for various tasting…read moretours which run from 80 euros and up. Even though we didn't have reservations, we were able to go to the tasting room for sampling. I honestly had no idea how many varieties of champagne are made. We tasted about 6 champagnes in about 2 hours and fortunately, had a ride to our hotel. The staff made us feel very welcome, as opposed to our attempted tour at Bollinger. The gift shop was happy to see us and sad to see us leave!

We had the vintage tasting experience here and our guide was simply the best! We learned and saw so…read moremuch of the house as well. Our guide suggested to finish our tasting with a comparison of dom perignon vintages from two completely different years to see what we prefer. This was a very eye opening and fun end to the tour as we learned so much about our own preferences. This tour was the best and would highly recommend it to anyone! I'd say this is the best tour to do on the avenue and then do tastings at other wineries or shops. Because this tour is the only one you need!

Philippe Brimont, is an exceptional tour guide. He kindly and patiently worked with our group of 7!…read moreHe picked us up, personalized the tour, and worked late because we wanted to see as much as possible. He drove us all around Normandy and stopped to tell us stories that occurred all over the place. If any history fans are reading this I would strongly recommend using his services. As a stubborn man who thinks he does not need a tour guide. I feel like it was well worth the money because I had the opportunity to see and learn a lot more because Philippe was excellent!

Frédéric picked us up promptly in a spotless Mercedes Benz van. He drove us at a good speed,…read moreamazingly avoiding the snarling holiday traffic. When we got into the van, he asked what we had seen already and what we wanted to see. Based on this itinerary, Frédéric figured out a route to see everything with minimal traffic woes in four hours. Not only was Frédéric a great driver, he was also quite knowledgeable about Parisian history and culture. We laughed and shared stories together. The next time we are in Paris, we will be sure to call and reserve Frédéric, perhaps for a Versailles tour as well.