Grand Tour of France Reviews

Although I have given an overall rating of average, this is due to the fact that some of the hotels are not suitable and should no longer be used, and some of the meals were awful (one inedible) or insufficient. eg breakfasts. During the hottest part of the tour at Mont St Michel, our accommodation in Motel Vert had no air-conditioning and the allocated ...read more rooms were all on the very hot sunny side with curtains wide open all day prior to our arrival which resulted in the tour group being deposited into 'furnace' like conditions. As the temperature did not drop through the night, conditions were hot and uncomfortable. IBIS at Avignon was two star with rooms too small and uncomfortable. Most of the breakfasts were minimal and barely constituted even a continental breakfast.

The tour of France with regard to the distance, area, scenery and stopovers and also the coach drivers and the guide was very good. Most of the included meals were not too good with at least one being woeful. A couple of the hotels seemed as if they were two star and at Mont St Michel, the hottest location there was no air-conditioning and the rooms ...read more were on the sunny side with curtains open. It was like entering a sauna but even knowing these disadvantages, I would still do this tour again because the guide, the driver and France itself more than made up for these deficiencies.

The experience was excellent and value for money and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip and well organised by our consultant Georgie. Our tour guide and coach drivers were very good, worked hard and best of all retained a sense of humour. If I had an adverse comment it would be that due to the itinerary and what has to be achieved by the tour directors ...read more for the tour program is that they also need to identify & consider the capabilities of the people on the tour, and the timeframes set for venues and for sightseeing. The pace was to fast for us for what we have previously leisurely done overseas, and most tiring for some other participants who were in their 80's due to their age. Being first time on conducted tours, personally we would look in future at tours where there are 2, 3 or 4 day stopovers so and there is more time to spend in locations to take in the scenery, galleries and architecture. I would also consider 1 or 2 days at the venue prior to the tour commence to refresh from long flights. The meals and accommodation were quite good but would have liked more time after the bus trip to refresh for provided evening meals (usally 1 hour or less from arrival to eating time). The morning breakfast was extremely good with 2 exceptions which I suggested to Globus that they should establish a policy with hotels for an established breakfast menu to remain consistent to take pressure of tour directors who do a great job and work hard. The scenery and architecture is brilliant. Dudonge, French Alps, Neice & Monaco are brilliant, Villages & Chateaus as you drive into them spectacular. If you want a fast pace and see a great insight into France I would recommend this trip. France is just picturesque.

Thanks Frances for your great help and answering questions as required. Much appreciated. Great Company and a Great Tour of France. Napoleon Route from Provence to Grenoble was not fully followed. Lyon city was not seen. Both mentioned in the brochure and were highlights for me. Trip very very well planned. My hand baggage at Toulouse was mislaid. ...read more It was later located at the hotel and given to me with well packed bottle smashed. Our Tour Director, Timea Okors was very repetitive and rude to me at times. Marc (French) and Martin (German) the coach drivers were quite good. Many thanks I look forward to another Cosmos experience one day.

First of all a BIG thankyou to Yvonne who helped me organise my tour and my flights. It meant it was organised with ease and she was so helpful that I would definitely recommend Global Journeys. This was my first tour overseas, and I was by myself. Interestingly I was the only person (other then the Tour Director and the Driver) who spoke French. The ...read more Cosmos tour I participated in was the Grand Tour of France. This was such a great experience. The tour itself was on during the low season (December 2011) but, this was great. The tour was run with only 13 other people on the tour. This meant that the pace of the tour was neither slow nor fast, and with only 13 people to keep a track of, the Tour Director (Riccardo, he made the tour so enjoyable and hilarious) was able to provide us with a great informative experience. Plus it meant that the 13 of us were like a little family. As I said I enjoyed the tour, and I would probably travel with Cosmos again, there really only were only minor problems. I paid for an airport transfer, but none ever came to pick me up. I rang Cosmos and I was told to work this out with my tour director. Reading the book that came with the tour, I believe as my flight had a delayed arrival after 1400 I was unable to get my transfer.

The other thing people should be aware of is the hotels. For the most part the hotels were perfectly fine. In fact I was pleasantly surprised (I recommend looking up all the hotels on Tripadvisor before you go, just so you know what they are like.) However, the tour drops into Lyon, but it isn't really Lyon and you don't get to see Lyon, so don't expect that. The hotel is so far out that all you can do is go to sleep. The only other hotel I had a problem with was the Ibis Avignon we stayed in, my experience was the bed was a board. But it was only one night. Also The Forest Hill in Porte de la Villette is not as bad as some reviews say, but Cosmos could have somewhere better for people to stay in on tour. The lift broke with fellow travellers in it. Most hotels had free wifi but Park Inn at Nice makes you pay for wifi, something like 6 Euro an hour.

The biggest bonus I had with the hotel rooms was that I only paid for a single/share for the tour but all the other singles paid for a single room so I had a room to myself for the whole tour, which was lovely. All in all I had the best time, the Tour Director, Riccardo was lovely, hilarious and helpful and the driver Ammarah always helped us out of the coach, and had some of the best driving skills I have ever seen. He managed to drive through fog over the alps. Impressive. I honestly cannot think of anything beyond little things that I didn't like, and as long as you do your research so you know what hotels are like in Europe (actually mine were larger then I expected, bigger than a postage stamp). I recommend the tour as an introduction to France as it gives you a broader view than just Paris, and the people of France were so lovely to us (as long as you try with French you are set).

France is a beautiful and fascinating country to start with and being able to travel in comfort and with great companions is just a bonus. Our guide Simeon was the best guide we have ever had, (and we have had quite a few over the years ) with a knack of making history come alive. We were encouraged to use our very rusty school French to at least try ...read more to order our meals but usually the moment we opened our mouths the waiters reverted to English. It was wonderful to have the cuisines of each region explained beforehand and we enjoyed trying out many new things. I will never forget the early morning climb up Mont St. Michel, the Bayeux tapestry and the sad beauty of the Landing Beaches. What with the wine tasting and the visits to walled towns of stunning beauty, the area around Nice and Cannes and the majestic Alps we felt we had seen and experienced the real France. Of course there is always Paris in all its grandeur and life to finish the tour tired but exhilarated.

I had a great experience with your company, from start to finish. Georgie was my tour consultant, and she was very helpful - responded to emails shortly after they were sent, was very knowledgeable and sought specific information I wanted answers to when she did not know it. She was very polite and cordial to deal with. I was pleased with the reduced ...read more price for the Cosmos tour which your company offered compared to other companies. I enjoyed the Cosmos tour, and found that I was able to see the parts of France I had requested to visit when I first made investigations (this particular tour was recommended based on my request). Thank you for your help - I had a great time!

As first time overseas travellers our first impression of Global Journeys was a very positive one. Yvonne was exceptionally helpful and professional, and we couldn't be happier with the accommodating way she handled our booking. The Cosmos Tour itself, which covered an enormous distance, was very good. Our tour guide Edo was informative and entertaining. ...read more The coach was very comfortable, and the drivers proficient in their driving (particularly Laurent). We enjoyed the tour itinerary, seeing and visiting some amazing places. This was a low cost tour, so some of the hotels seemed to be only 2 star, but all were clean with comfortable beds. (Which is really all you need!) At the same time, a couple of hotels seemed like 5-6 star! They were great! So, no complaints there. The only small complaint we would make, was that on one of the last days of the tour we travelled 570kms, which got us into our hotel 15 minutes prior to our dining time, after a long and tiring day of travel. Perhaps the addition of another overnight stop, with an extra charge could be put on this tour to break the long distance of that one day, and make that part of the tour a little more relaxing. This is such a minor complaint though. Overall, we're very satisfied customers, and value for money, this is an extremely good tour of regional France. Highly recommended! We'll be back for another, and thank you!

I had a great time on this tour in spite of falling ill on the way. This tour had been recommended to me by a friend who had done it several months ago with the same tour director who proved to be just as good as my friend had said and more. Our director and driver were a fantastic pair and with the smallish group on tour due to this being the first ...read more of the season we all bonded together very well. We were so impressed that some of us are thinking of doing another Cosmos tour next year. I would also say that Global Journeys provided me with very good service.