A luxury, tailor-made, touring holiday of France is perhaps the best way to witness and enjoy the diversity of this richly treasured country in one go. You may opt for self-drive, taking your own car on the ferry or Eurotunnel and driving through France, you may prefer to fly into a French city and then explore with a hire-car, or you may choose to take Eurostar to Lille or Paris and then a TGV to a French region, collect a hire-car and tour from place to place, returning from another station back to London on the Eurostar. For those who wish to enjoy the stunning French scenery without having to drive long distances, travelling by train is incredibly convenient and allows you to arrive in comfort before collecting a hire-car. We have created a hand-made selection of suggested self-drive, fly-drive and rail touring itineraries in France. In whichever way you choose to travel to France, you will have the freedom to explore the country by car, travelling at your own pace whilst staying in luxurious and charming, personally-selected hotels, some of which we first started working with in 1989 when Expressions Holidays was established. With every region offering its own special temptations, it can be quite difficult to decide where to go on your touring holiday so browse through our suggested itineraries which can be modified according to your requirements or give us a call so that we can create a bespoke touring holiday just for you. We offer you: • Fly-drive holidays which include flights and a hire-car in France • Rail-drive holidays that include train travel to France with the use of a hire-car • Rail holidays which include travel on the Eurostar and then TGV services to the French provinces • Self-drive holidays which include a channel crossing From the snowy mountain peaks and alpine pastures of the Alps, to the palm-fringed promenades and Mediterranean sun of the Côte d’Azur; from the rugged cliffs and sandy beaches of temperate Brittany, to the verdant cherry orchards in the foothills of the Pyrenees, France abounds in contrasts and variety. The architecture reflects this diversity of landscape, culture and history, from the numerous chateaux of the Loire Valley to the golden stone of the Dordogne and the terracotta roofs of Provence. Expressions Holidays creates a tailor-made touring holiday of France that allows you the flexibility to explore multiple regions, sample a number of fabulous tastes, and witness the most striking array of natural landscapes, so that you can leave with a broader feel of this diverse and beautiful country. Your touring holiday can be as simple or as complex as you wish – you can choose to follow one of the sample itineraries which we have created, you can modify one of these itineraries according to your requirements, or you can allow us to develop a whole new itinerary based on your preferences. We will use our expertise to create a bespoke touring holiday just for you, offering advice to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Our hotels in France
All the luxury hotels that are featured by Expressions Holidays have been selected to provide high standards of comfort, service and cuisine. Our hotels are renowned for their charm and character, quality of surroundings and service whilst providing rest and relaxation amid an atmosphere of luxury and style.
Fly-drive touring holidays of France
Travelling to France by air is an obvious and popular way to travel. With daily, frequent, scheduled flights from London and other regional airports to major French cities and a flying time of about two hours at most, this is a quick and easy way to start your touring holiday of France. Our fly-drive touring holidays include scheduled flights with British Airways. This allows our clients to choose the departure date and holiday duration, with the possibility of the Club Europe premium cabin. Wherever these scheduled airlines fly from and to, we can offer you their services. If there is no direct flight from your local airport, we offer a connecting flight with British Airways at a small supplement. A popular option for touring holidays is to fly into one airport and back from another and this is offered by Expressions Holidays as a matter of course for holidays that start and end in different places. A hire-car is essential for many, but not all, of our hotel stays in most regions of France. We include a hire-car for most holidays as it is a cost-effective means of getting from the airport to your hotel and back and provides the means to explore the area during your holiday. We include a basic group A car with Avis with all our fly-drive holidays to France. This is usually a Peugeot 107 or similar with air-conditioning which is adequate for just two people, a short break or if you don’t intend to do much driving. However, you might want to upgrade to something larger or more powerful.
Rail-drive touring holidays of France
A rail-drive touring holiday to France is a rewarding way to combine the experience of a rail journey from London to a French region and then to be able to explore with the use of the hire-car, returning by train from the same or a different station. A typical example of this is our popular Chateaux of the Loire by train touring holiday, whereby you take Eurostar to Lille, switch to the TGV to Tours, collect a hire-car, tour the Loire valley with stays in three different hotels and then return by train from Tours. Another example might be to take the Eurostar to Avignon, collect a hire-car and then spend seven nights in a country hotel in Provence, returning to Avignon at the end to take the Eurostar direct back to London.
Rail touring holidays in France
A rail touring holiday within France works if you want to visit cities without needing the use of a hire-car, so a typical itinerary might be London to Paris, Paris to Tours, Tours to Bordeaux, Bordeaux to Carcassonne, Carcassonne to Montpellier, Montpellier to Avignon, Avignon to Lyon, Lyon to London via Paris.
Self-drive touring holidays to France
A luxury self-drive holiday to France really is the best way to experience the real essence of France. Drive along the highways and byways. Cross to France by ferry or Eurotunnel then journey across the country in your own car, ensuring a sense of space, freedom and independence. We have a range of suggested self-drive touring holidays of France, but we will tailor-make your holiday to include travel to France by the most convenient means, and accommodation in as many hotels as you require.
We recently completed our second Expressions European driving holiday. Both excellent. Both greater than the sum of their parts.Mrs B, Sep 2023
Our touring holidays of France include
● Travel arrangements with flights, Channel crossings, trains or car-hire as required● Sample touring itineraries to book as they are or adapt
● Flexible durations and multi-centre stays
● Accommodation in personally-selected 4-or 5-star hotels
Included in all our holidays
● Concierge service● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
● Full financial protection with our ATOL (3076) for all holidays including a flight and our ABTOT for all non-air holidays
