Today you can choose from two activities, depending on your pace and preference. The first option is a private cooking class in Reims, where a chef will guide you through a morning of gourmet cooking focused on the art of pairing food with Champagne. After the class, you’ll sit down to a three-course lunch with the chef, each course paired with a different cuvée.

The second option is a hot air balloon flight over the Montagne de Reims, drifting above the vineyards and villages of the Champagne landscape at whatever height the morning allows. It is one of the most striking ways to appreciate the scale of the region’s vine-covered hillsides.

After checkout, your driver will transfer you to the Champagne-Ardenne TGV station for your first-class train to Strasbourg. On arrival, you’ll drop your luggage at the hotel before meeting your guide in the lobby for a two-hour walking tour of the city center.

The tour begins on the Grande Île, Strasbourg’s UNESCO-listed historic island, taking in the Place du Château and the grand Palais Rohan before continuing into the Petite France quarter, the city’s most picturesque neighborhood, where half-timbered houses line cobblestone streets above the canal and flower-covered bridges cross the water. The walk concludes at the Covered Bridges, a medieval fortification along the waterfront that has become one of the most photographed spots in the city.

Set out on a full day of exploring the Alsatian Wine Route and the Munster Valley, moving through some of the region’s most celebrated villages with an emphasis on local producers, food, and flavor. The day begins in Colmar with a traditional Alsatian breakfast in the historic center before continuing to Eguisheim, a perfectly circular medieval village consistently voted among the most beloved in France, for a walk through its flower-lined streets.

From there, the route continues to Kaysersberg for a private tasting of Alsatian cheeses and pastries at one of your guide’s trusted producers. The day ends back in Strasbourg, where the evening is spent tasting the city’s best local specialties before the transfer back to your hotel.

Today you’ll head further into the mountains and villages surrounding Strasbourg. The day begins with a visit to the Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, a medieval fortress perched on a rocky outcrop in the Vosges Mountains with wide views over the Alsatian plain and the Rhine Valley beyond. Meticulously restored in the early 20th century, the castle is one of the most complete examples of medieval military architecture in France, with drawbridges, towers, keeps, and grand halls all intact.

From there, the route descends to Riquewihr, one of France’s most beautiful villages, where the old stone streets and half-timbered houses decorated with flower boxes have changed little in centuries. Many of the grand houses along the main street belonged to the region’s most prominent wine-growing families, and a stop at a local winery for a private visit and Alsatian wine tasting is included along the way.

The day ends in Obernai, a well-preserved medieval town on the Wine Route known for its convivial atmosphere and strong sense of local identity. The Alsatians describe it as “heimlich” — a word that captures the warmth and sense of belonging that the town projects, particularly in the evenings.

This morning takes you to the Chemin des Cimes, a treetop observation tower in the Alsace Verte forest. You can reach the base either on foot via a one-hour hiking trail through the forest, marked with information on local fauna and flora, or by a 15-minute shuttle from the car park below. The tower itself offers a bird’s-eye view over the Alsatian forest canopy that is difficult to find anywhere else in the region.

From there, you’ll transfer to Colmar for the afternoon. One of the most complete medieval and Renaissance towns in France, Colmar is a compact showcase of everything Alsace does well: half-timbered houses, flower-lined canals, excellent local wine, and a food scene that punches well above the town’s size. Lunch is at leisure in the city before the transfer back to your hotel.

Say goodbye to Alsace and travel with your private driver three-and-a-half-hours to Burgundy, with a stop in Beaune for lunch at leisure on arrival. One of the great wine towns of France, Beaune sits at the heart of the Côte d’Or and has been the center of Burgundian wine trade for centuries.

In the afternoon, your local guide will meet you for a two-hour walking tour of the town, taking in the hotel where Thomas Jefferson stayed during his time in Burgundy and the Hospices de Beaune, the region’s most celebrated building. Built in 1443 as a hospital for the poor, the Hôtel-Dieu is a remarkable example of Flemish-Burgundian architecture, its distinctive mosaic roof of glazed tiles and gilded dormer windows enclosing a large courtyard that reflects the era when the Duchy of Burgundy extended as far as present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. Now a museum, it remains one of the finest surviving examples of late medieval civil architecture in France.

Enjoy a full day on the Route des Grands Crus, explored in the most fitting way possible: aboard a vintage Citroën 2CV. The route winds through the wine-growing villages of the Côtes de Nuits and Côtes de Beaune between Dijon and Santenay, passing through some of the most celebrated appellations in the world: Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, and Puligny-Montrachet among them.

Three estate tasting stops are included along the way, with lunch built into the day between visits. This is a leisurely and deeply pleasurable way to understand why this stretch of Burgundian countryside was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Enjoy a day exploring the culinary highlights of Burgundy. Your day begins in Dijon, where your local guide will meet you for a two-hour food-focused walking tour of the city. Dijon has been one of France’s great culinary cities since it served as the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy from around 1000 AD, and its identity remains closely tied to a handful of iconic products: Dijon mustard, pain d’épice (a dense, spiced gingerbread), and Kir, the aperitif of white Burgundy wine and blackcurrant liqueur that was invented here.

The tour takes you through Les Halles, Dijon’s covered market, with your food expert on hand to introduce producers and explain what makes each product distinctive. Time at leisure follows for lunch and independent exploration of the city before your driver transfers you back to Beaune in the afternoon.

Say goodbye to France and head to the airport to catch your departing flight.