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The tip of Provence to Lyon on the Rhône and Saône Rivers

Overview
Highlights (Bullets)
CRUISE HIGHLIGHTS
An exceptional cruise from the mouth of the Rhône to the Saône River
EXCURSIONS INCLUDED:
- Discovery in the wild Camargue
- Arles
- The hanging houses in the Vercors Massif
- Lyon and its strategic street doorways
- The Beaujolais vineyards
- Mâcon and its historic downtown
Short Description
Set off on an unforgettable cruise from Martigues to Lyon, with ports of call in Mâcon, Tain-l'Hermitage, Avignon, Arles, and the Camargue.
Discover the 2,000-year history of Lyon as you stroll through its cobblestone streets. Ten percent of the city has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visit the Vercors Massif and its steep limestone cliffs and vineyards perched above the valleys.
Itinerary
Day 1 MARTIGUES(1) - PORT-SAINT-LOUIS
Passengers are welcome to board our ship at 6 p.m. After comfortably settling into your cabins, we’ll introduce our crew at a welcome cocktail. We’ll enjoy dinner on board. The rest of the evening is yours to do as you please.
Day 2 PORT-SAINT-LOUIS - The Camargue - ARLES - AVIGNON
This morning will be spent cruising to Arles.This afternoon, join us for an excursion:CLASSIC package: Tour the Camargue. We’ll visit a manade to enjoy a horse show.DISCOVERY package: Discovery in the Camargue in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Set out on an exciting jaunt into the heart of the wild Camargue.Sit back and admire the rivers, marshes, ponds, pink flamencos, black bulls, and the famous, indigenous Camargue horses. Whether on the edge of the sea or inland, each spot is an immersion in the wonders nature has to offer in France.Join us on an excursion for both packages: guided tour of Arles.Our ship will cruise to Avignon.
Day 3 AVIGNON - VIVIERS
Excursion for both packages: The morning will be dedicated to a guided tour of Avignon and the Papal Palace. Avignon has had quite a past. The city’s historic center is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Included in this area is the Papal Palace, one of the largest and most important Gothic buildings in Europe and the city’s most famous attraction.This afternoon will be spent cruising to Viviers.
Day 4 VIVIERS - LA VOULTE - TAIN-L'HERMITAGE
This morning, join us on an excursion for both packages: Discover the Vercors Massif and enjoy a tasting of local sparkling wine (Clairette de Die).* The Vercors Massif contains impressive sites and breathtaking views. We’ll discover many of these on a trip through its natural park. Peaks, trails, rushing streams, steep cliffs, and rolling mountain pastures await. The Vercors Massif was also a strategic location for the French Resistance during World War II. We’ll visit the quaint town of Die—known for its delicious sparkling wine—and enjoy a tasting. After our excursion, we’ll return on board the ship.We’ll spend the afternoon cruising to Tain-l'Hermitage.Our ship will cruise towards Lyon during the night.
Day 5 LYON - MÂCON
Excursions proposed:CLASSIC package: Join us for a panoramic tour of Lyon and learn about the discrete and strategic doorways leading to shortcuts, known as traboules, that go from street to street.DISCOVERY package: Food tour of Lyon.We'll spend the afternoon cruising the Saône to Mâcon, arriving during the evening.
Day 6 MÂCON - BELLEVILLE - TRÉVOUX - LYON
This morning, join us for an excursion for both packages: A guided tour of Mâcon. With its colored facades, Mâcon feels like it should be part of Provence. Learn more about this Burgundy city on a tour highlighting its major sites.This afternoon, join us for an excursion for both packages: The Beaujolais vineyards. The Beaujolais wine region is tucked in between Lyon and Burgundy. Wines range from the young Beaujolais Nouveau to high-quality crus. Red wines are made mostly from Gamay grapes that create a vibrant, fruity taste. Light and fresh white wines come predominantly from Chardonnay varieties.Tonight is our festive gala evening. Our ship will cruise to Lyon.
Day 7 LYON
Enjoy breakfast on board this morning before disembarking at 9:00 a.m.
Availability
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128 CroisiEurope Travel Reviews & Ratings
The tip of Provence to Lyon on the Rhône and Saône Rivers
Company Reviews
Great tours and food! Exceptional customer service
I am non-EU national, and very much enjoyed the international clientele .
My flight arrived later than the prescribed boarding time, the crew had my cabin ready, and held dinner. Both land side New York office and the onboard crew were very welcoming, and most attention to detail. Special recognition to Charina, my reservation agent, and Daniel the ship's purser.
The vessel's decor is very discreet, comfortable, and relaxing -- no neon, casino, etc. The elegance one would expect from a French company.
The land tours were very comprehensive, in comfortable coaches, with sufficient rest stops. Lunches ashore were included, as appropriate. As advertised, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were included. In-town shopping was available, but not forced.
In all, a delightful experience. I look forward to another voyage with CroisiEurope. The company offers so many unique intineraries, it may be difficult to select.
A memorable four nights on the Seine - Le Havre to Paris
The Seine scenery was gorgeous and the boat was extremely comfortable—we loved that we could stay in our cabin, relax on various decks, or attend onboard activities, including a lively dance performance by a Normandy folk troupe. Even though we were the only English speakers on the cruise, the bilingual staff were always on hand to help us, and the other passengers (mostly French with a few Belgians/Swiss) were friendly and tolerant of our basic French. After our final night sleeping aboard the boat on Quai de Grenelle in Paris, we were rather sad to depart the beautiful Renoir.
The food, tours and service on the Miguel Torga exceeded our expectations, and we felt very safe with the Covid precautions being taken on board.
We had such a wonderful time on our cruise and absolutely intend to travel with CroisiEurope again. I was especially pleased with the attention to detail regarding food preferences and requests. I have a shellfish allergy, and our kids didn’t always like what was on the menu. The chef and staff always made every effort to accommodate and please us.
Our guide Deborah on the excursions was so informative and made great suggestions for sightseeing and shopping. I liked the way the excursions were managed by touring in the morning with lunch and sailing in the afternoon. We were the only Americans on board with mostly French speakers, but everyone was friendly, and we had no communication issues with the crew. Entertainment was simple but fun with games or local talent coming aboard for flamenco or folk singing and dancing. There were only 62 passengers and no young children. Our kids were 12 & 17, and they were happy with the pool on board, which was small, but ideal for cooling off after a morning in port. They surprised our 17-year-old with a special dessert on her birthday.
We’ve been on several other riverboat cruises (Viking, Peter Dielmann, Vodohod), and they did not match the value and service provided by CroisiEurope.
This barge hotel cruise on and along the Marne river was absolutely fantastic!
The crew were very attentive and hospitable. One of the biggest, if not THE biggest, highlight of the trip was the food. Breakfast was a typical French style buffet with all the trimmings. Lunch and dinner were menus, in the French style, prepared by our Chef and paired with a variety of wines and cheeses from around France. Each meal was unique and full of variety culminating at the end of the week with our Gala Dinner.
One of the excursion highlights, and a major reason why we chose this particular cruise, was the falconry demonstration at Chateau Thierry. It was very well done and quite a moving presentation, which included an American Bald Eagle and, even more surprisingly, Storks.
If you are looking for a more intimate way to cruise, Passenger to Crew ratio was 17 - 6, consider barge hotel cruises. We are most definitely looking forward to our next barge hotel cruise experience.
It’s affordable, the atmosphere on board is unique, the routes can be very interesting.
As seasoned cruisers, knowing well all aspects of cruising on seas and rivers, we had no experience about traveling on a barge in a canal. It was also time to overcome this lack.
A number of companies offer this kind of cruising on barge with 8 to 16 passengers, however very often at exorbitant prices. Luckily, we discovered that the company CroisiEurope offers one week cruise on various canals in Europe, at very decent price, especially considering that all is inclusive (full board, all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and all excursions) on modern barges with a maximum of 22 passengers.
We opted for the barge Ms Deborah, which cruises on the canal de la Loire, with the Briare to Nevers’ route. We were looking forward to this itinerary because the proposed excursions particularly suited us. Unfortunately, only a few days before departure, we were informed that due of a lack of water in the Loire canal the Ms Deborah was switched over to the Haute Seine and Yonne for a new itinerary from Paris to Sens. Despites the fact that this new itinerary didn’t really meet our desires, especially the excursions, we decided to accept the change.
Our group of 6 persons from Switzerland was very warmly greeted by all members of the crew when arriving on the quai de Grenelle in Paris where we see the MS DEBORAH for the first time, our floating home for the week. With its two dominating colours blue and white, it is difficult not to fall in love with this beautiful small ship.
We were invited immediately for the welcome cocktail during which we met officially the crew and the other six individual passengers originating from New Zealand, England and the USA. With less time than it needs to tell, the relation between us was created, so that everyone felt part of a bunch of friends knowing each other for long time.
There is no need to present here the MS Deborah itself, as this is already thoroughly done on the Cruise Critic page.
The crew of 6 persons is composed of a captain, a sailor, a cruise director, a chef, a waitress and a cabin hostess who put all their efforts to satisfy the passengers and offer them the best possible service. The captain as well as the sailor are always trying to make passengers at ease, answer questions or even bring a drink. The lady cruise director is omnipresent, taking care of the passengers better than a mother hen would do. The talented young French chef aims to produce dishes which please everybody. His outstanding sauces and excellent desserts should be particularly praised. However, referring to comments we made during a cruise on the Seine Princess two years ago, we cannot understand that why today it is not possible to offer the choice of a light buffet at lunch instead a three or even four course menu! The always smiling and friendly Hungarian waitress was very caring and attentive, without forgetting the cabin hostess doing a great job in the cabins, the public spaces and even the kitchen. It wouldn’t be fair to name a single person as all members of the crew, without any exception, do all they can to make the cruise unforgettable.
Our one-week cruise on the barge Ms Deborah enables us today to make the following comments:
~ a cruise on a barge cannot be compared to any other kind of cruise
~ despite all the comfort offered on modern barge, one must be very aware that life on board happens at a restraint space, requiring therefore much flexibility and understanding in all aspects from all passengers
~ in our case, being only 12 passengers, we had the opportunity to take our meals on the terrace. We also never had the feeling that the boat was overcrowded. This can be different when the ship is full, especially by bad weather
~ the state of mind between the passengers who are mostly of foreign nationalities, who don’t know each other and don’t speak French, must function well right from the beginning
~ if the interrelation works, it is difficult to find a more relaxing and enjoyable way of travelling
~ the success on a barge is mainly due on the quality of its crew. Ms Deborah’s crew members have quickly created a family spirit on board, showing also that they genuinely like what they do
~ excursions can play a major role in choosing an itinerary. Not speaking French or English can be a handicap
Do we recommend to do a cruise on a barge? Yes, definitively! It’s affordable, the atmosphere on board is unique, the routes can be very interesting. In our case, this second try with CroisiEurope gives them a better note.
We are still waiting for a refund
Details
Flight & Transport Inclusions
All internal transport included (including local flights)
Group Size
Standard Group - 25 + people
Additional Information
THE CROISIEUROPE DIFFERENCE
- All meals included - DRINKS INCLUDED with meals and at the bar
- Refined French cuisine - Gala dinner and evening - Welcome cocktail
- Free Wi-Fi onboard
- Headsets are included for excursions
- Official welcome from the captain and crew
- Onboard activities
- Travel assistance and repatriation insurance
- All port fees included
Rules & Other Requirements
Valid national identity card or passport required. Non-EU nationals are advised to consult their embassy or consulate.
Trip ID#:
croisieurope-MML_AIPP
What's excluded
Drinks from our special lists, or drinks ordered during excursions or transfers - transfers/travel to and from departure/arrival points - cancellation and baggage insurance - personal expenses.
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