HomeEuropean ToursFrance ToursPerfect France Family Vacation with Teens

Perfect France Family Vacation with Teens

A river cruise on the Seine passing by the Eiffel Tower.

What to expect on this itinerary

The scenic beauty and rich culture of Provence and Paris are yours to enjoy on this 11-day tour through some of France's most breathtaking regions. From the iconic Eiffel Tower to the scenic banks of the Rhone River, a blend of small-town charm and urban thrills will ensure a balanced exploration of each community you visit.

Countries Visited

France

Places Visited

Avignon, Paris

Suggested Duration

11 Days

Customizable Itinerary

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Day 1

Avignon – Orientation in the Heart of Provence

After your arrival to the French capital, your first day in the country will be highlighted by a high speed train ride from Paris to your destination of Avignon, which is tucked away in the heart of Provence. As the scenic countryside of France flits by your window, you should keep your eyes peeled for the crumbling castles and scenic chateaus that lend this landscape its distinct timelessness. When you arrive in Avignon, you will have the remainder of the day to explore its scenic neighborhoods and orient yourself to the town's relaxing pace.

What's Included:

Transfer
Accommodation
Day 2

Avignon – Amble Through the Ages

Day 3

Avignon – Day Trip Into the Highlands

Day 4

Avignon – Exciting Bicycle Excursion

Day 5

Avignon – A Savory Cooking Course

Day 6

Paris – A European Capital

Day 7

Paris – Rocking to the Waves on the Seine

Day 8

Paris – Walking in the Footsteps of Picasso

Day 9

Paris – The Art World's Most Famous Smile

Day 10

Paris – The High Society of Marais

Day 11

Paris – Departure

Trip Highlights

  • Amble along the majestic banks of the Rhone River and ponder the mysterious half-bridge of Avignon that spans the waterway and offers a curious glimpse of the town's tumultuous past
  • Stretch your legs on a guided walking tour of the city center of Avignon, where the Pope's Palace, city squares, and Gothic architecture stand testament to the community's origins
  • Village-hop your way through the Luberon highlands after departing the urban charm of Avignon for the breathtaking beauty of rural Provence
  • Feel the wind in your hair on a self-guided bicycle tour of the Alpilles Mountains, where olive orchards, lush lavender fields, and rustic villages will be just some of the picturesque sights you enjoy
  • Roll up your sleeves for a cooking course that will show you the ingredients, recipes, and secret traditions of French cuisine
  • Stand in the shadow of Notre-Dame Cathedral in the middle of Paris's only island
  • Enjoy a bird's eye view of Paris from the lofty heights of the Eiffel tower and watch the city spread out before your eyes 
  • Take to the waves for a scenic cruise on the Seine River that will allow you to enjoy an uncommon perspective of the city's main neighborhoods and stunning architecture
  • Plunge into the abundant and inspired artwork on display at the Louvre, where Picasso, Monet, and Da Vinci are just some of the familiar artistic masters you will enjoy

Starting Price

$5,200 per person (excluding international flights)

Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.

What's Included

  • Accommodations
  • In-country transportation
  • Some or all activities and tours
  • Expert trip planning
  • 24x7 support during your trip

Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.

4.5

Verified Traveler Reviews

Based on 8 reviews

France Travel Review: Lyon, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseilles, Market, Wine Tasting, Cooking Class, History, 9-Day Tour

We decided on this trip with a very short planning time. Zicasso’s travel agent was still able to put together a wonderful trip, taking all of our interests into account and proposing a few things we had not considered. She was delightful to work with. Proposing guides throughout and eliminating the need for a rental car was a wonderful idea, as was adding the stop in Lyon.

Our guide in Lyon was a lot of fun, with a good sense of humor and knowledge of Lyon. She had a good plan for our walking tour and was full of interesting information on local customs and food.

Our other guide was quite entertaining and made for many fun days. She went out of her way to be sure we were having a great time, taking interesting detours in search of poppy fields, beautiful views, and historic sites. She had extensive knowledge of Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, and Marseilles, and showed us great villages and local specialties in between.

The market shopping, wine tasting, and cooking class were wonderful and well placed on our last full day in Aix.

All the transfer drivers were great, with the exception of the Lyon train station, as no driver showed.

The hotel in Lyon was our favorite, with a small sitting area and very comfortable bed. The hotel in Avignon had the most comfortable beds, but the rooms were quite small, with no place to sit other than the bed. We upgraded to a suite for an extra 75 euro per night, which was worth it. The hotel in Aix-en-Provence was nice, but the bed was the least comfortable and we considered a slightly larger room. The hotel in Paris was luxurious and quite large; perhaps a little too grand for our last night as we arrived at 9pm and departed the next day, with little time to explore.

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France Travel Review: Lyon, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, History, Food Pairings, Wine Tastings, 11 Nights

Our trip to Provence was fabulous. The three cities, Lyon, Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence, gave us a real sense of the region. The food, wine, and tours were all magnificent. The hotels were lovely and centrally located. 

The five days in Avignon gave us a sense of the city and history.  All the guides were excellent and well informed. Our entire trip was well organized and the travel app which outlined our trip was “perfect." We were especially thankful for the drivers who were always on time.

We highly recommend our Zicasso travel expert and our travel company. We have never been disappointed with Zicasso.

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France Travel Review: Avignon, Provence, Nîmes, Notre Dame, Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, Sorgue River, Uzès, Luberon Market
The France trip was good other than heatwave. Our travel agency, Joel was very helpful and listened to our request. Also, prompt to our reply. Though I think I paid somewhat more for Zicasso service.   They had two very good tour guides. One of the guides, who brought us around Avignon and other parts of Provence. She is a good driver and well verse on the small towns. Nîmes she was not as familiar, she admitted it. She is full of life and cheerful and worked beyond her working hours like going to France supermarket and sending us to our dinner venue. Our guide who took us to visit the Notre Dame and Louvre museum, she is excellent! Very knowledge and charismatics. We enjoyed her tour very much.   The hotel we stayed in Avignon, was not a good hotel. We were given initially  ground floor rooms and had mosquitoes. We transferred to an 1st floor rooms which were better. Their wifi in the rooms are almost not working as too many guests were using it. When complained, the reception said it is normal:(. So if you need wifi, pls don't go this hotel.  The guide who took us to visit Eiffel Tower was not very familiar with the site. She is nice lady but not very knowledgeable.  She has only been to Eiffel Tower with her family but not on tours:(  

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Travel Review: Graduation Trip to France, Nice, Paris, Avignon, Seine River, Notre Dame, Winery Tours

This was our first trip to France and my second experience with working with a travel company to plan a trip to Europe. I wanted to work with someone who knew the area, could recommend an itinerary to suit our interests (my husband, me, our 2 adult children and our niece who just graduated high school). I feel that we settled on an itinerary that worked for all of us and our trip went smoothly - even with the train strike! All hotels, tours, and transfers were as planned. Our trip was lovely!! The only reason I am not rating this agency and agent with 5 stars is that I believe when you are paying a premium for a travel agency a few little extra's would be appreciated. A phone call or text checking in with us during the trip would have been a nice touch, also, notifying the hotels/B&B's of food allergies (gluten and dairy) would have helped considerably with the limited food selections for the included breakfasts. Although our B&B in Avignon was very accommodating once she knew about our food challenges. Our last hotel was in a very poor location in Nice and was definitely not a 4 Star hotel (as advertised). Our agent changed hotels at the last minute for this location and I am not certain why.

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France Travel Review: Avignon, Saint Remy, Nice, Wine Tasting, Rugby, Private Tours, 16-Day Trip
Overall trip was well organized and arranged. The travel agency is responsive and supportive with our changing needs during the trip. Being able to see big city (Nice) and heart of Provence at Avignon and Saint Remy, finishing up in the City of Toulouse was good itinerary for us to enjoy France. We managed to make a day trip to Barcelona, too! Having our luggage stolen on the train (TGV) is still painful and we are saddened by the loss of our precious memento. The agency has done as much as possible and was sincere in supporting us. 

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Southern France Tour Review: Nice, Marseilles, Aix en Provence, Luberon Villages, Perfume Factory Tour, Olive Farm, Architecture
Overall the trip was extremely enjoyable.  We did a tremendous amount of research beforehand and Zicasso and this travel team complemented our thoughts and desires.  For the most part the trip was a positive.The negatives:  Negotiating the train in Nice and again in Marseilles was a nightmare.  We had no experience, little to no understanding of French, and three pieces of luggage to get on, and up two sets of stairs in Nice.  My wife advised the travel team about her rotator cuff surgery as being one of the reasons we were paying for the transports, and that we wanted this trip to be as stress free as possible.  We had no idea what to look for on the monitors, what train, where to go, and what the process was.  We were going to Avignon from Nice, and that is what we were looking for on the monitor.  We had no idea that our train, when it finally came up was the one that showed Paris as the destination,  It was a godsend that we had over 2 hours. We went to information and they told us to go to the ticket office.  We did.  It was crowded and busy, and after observing and making some mistakes, we finally figured out the system there and were able to speak to someone with very limited English.  Marseilles was as equally bad as Nice.  A couple that we had shared a tour with us spotted our discomfit and took us under their wings.  We would never have made the train without them.  It was shear and utter chaos.  My wife held onto his shirt as we pushed and shoved our way to the train.  Honestly, my 5' wife thought she was going to get trampled.  More people than could fit were trying to get through the train doors, and we again, had to get our luggage up the stairs.  Please bear in mind we were gone for a full month and each bag was close to 50#'s.  There were twice as many people on the train than there were seats, with luggage jammed in the aisles.  I managed a seat with my 50# luggage on my lap for 3-1/2 hours, and my wife sat on her carry on bag, with her legs on top of her luggage.  The train was delayed for 45 minutes while they tried to get some people off and onto another train, but even after that the aisles were still packed.  There was no way the entire trip to even get to the bathroom.  At 66 and 69 years old, I can tell you, we will never do that again unless we have someone to assist us in learning the ropes.  I have no idea if first class is better.  My wife expressed her concern to this travel team prior to the trip and he said "it's easy, you will have no problem".  Our suggestions to the team would be, if you have clients who have never used the train system, provide them with the information necessary to guide them through the process.  Explain the monitors, advise what destination to look for, and give an itinerary on the stops as part of the train voucher,  and along with that advise the cab driver to go in with the clients and give them a brief overview. Your trains are nothing like our trains.  Never would they be able to have anyone, never mind women and children standing in the aisles, unable to move.  As you can see, the beginning and end of the trip was not good. The other negatives are minor.  The Perfume Factory tour was boring, loud and inaudible.  The private transfer from Avignon to Aix en Provence was almost 5 hours of driving with a couple of brief stops.  It was long, also boring and as he took all the back roads it was mile after mile of countryside with nothing to look as nothing was in bloom.  Our driver was very difficult to understand. Most of the time we had no idea what he was saying, and to make matters worse some of the villages he quickly drove through were where we were going the next day.  We wished we had more time in some of the small towns and villages that we visited that we were entranced with, especially when it was  just the two of us.  We understood the constraints of a group organized tour.  Our room at the hotel in Aix-en-Provence had a consistent sewer smell.  When we entered the room it was strongly perfume scented but it did not cover it up.  We weren't in there a lot so just dealt with it and opened the windows at night. Just a heads up.The positive is that we were able to see everything we had selected and then some, Our trip planner at this travel team was responsive and patient and did an excellent job in complying with our requests to the best of his ability. We enjoyed working with him and this travel team.              

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Customizable Itinerary

This is a sample itinerary to inspire a personalized trip designed with your travel specialist.

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