AnnieKen

Hi,

I am sending my parents to France as a gift- hopefully in the Sept/Oct 2011 timeframe. They are in their 70's and in pretty good shape, however they aren't experienced travelers. That being said, I'm looking for a private guided trip- along the lines of A&K re: level of service, but without the crazy cost. Any recommendations?

Thanks for your help!
Annie

kevin_widrow

Take a look at Kathy and Charlie Wood's small group tours of the Luberon: http://www.luberonexperience.com/ - it's concentrated in a small area, so not a lot of running around and should be decent weather that time of year in the south of France...

- Kevin

p.s.: for full disclosure, while I've never been on one of their tours, I know the Woods well and have been invited to a few get togethers during with their tour groups. They are great folks !

Coquelicot

What a generous gift. I'm sure they will love it. Do they know where they want to go? Are you thinking just near Paris or throughout the country?

One of the regular contributors here, French Mystique Tours, knows the countryside near Paris pretty well. And not just Paris; he's sent trip reports from Brittany and elsewhere, sometimes by bike, sometimes by car. I'll link to a few of his reports. If you like his reports (and I am sure you will!) I would suggest you get in touch with him.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...here-it-is.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...blue-skies.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tainebleau.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-chartres.cfm

ardithl

You may also want to look at the "France Off the Beaten Path" tours. http://www.traveloffthebeatenpath.com/tourschedule.html

I have not yet taken one of their tours, but they get good reviews.

pauljagman

I just suggested a River Cruise to another fodorite. Maybe you would want to check one out for your paretns too? With them not being experienced it might be a perfect match as once they are checked onto the ship everything is taken care of for them. The cabin, the meals, the transportaion and also daily excursions.

These cruises are usually for older travelers, not much night time activities and very slow paced. We did one last year and we loved it even though we are late 50s.

Check out Globus, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises, AMA and Tauck. They are not real cheap but they have lots of 2 for 1 sales going on. This would be ideal for them. Good luck and really how nice of you to do this.