Guédelon Castle and Countryside

  • 9 Days
  • Classic Trip

We're always ready to personalize
a tour to your unique needs

Guédelon Castle and Countryside Get Started

Map & Route

Depart

Overnight Flight

1 1 Night

Paris

2 2 Nights

Bourges

1 1 Night

Loire Valley

2 2 Nights

Caen

1 1 Night

Paris

1 1 Night
Return
map Guédelon Castle and Countryside

What's Included

Our itineraries reflect 40 years of experience in crafting exceptional educational tours. That means we know exactly how to make the best of your time abroad—incredible destinations, immersive activities, centrally located hotels, and smart, well-traveled tour managers who ensure your educational goals are met. Here are some of the exceptional features of this tour.

ACIS Guarantees

We have high standards, which is why we take care to include these features in every tour.

Round-Trip Flights

Leave the airlines to us.

3- or 4-Star Hotels

After a busy day, comfort is key.

Centrally Located Hotels

Save the commuting time, beat the morning crowds and keep right on exploring after dark when your hotel is in the heart of the city.

Daily Breakfast and Dinner (unless otherwise noted)

Delicious, authentic, multi-course dinners at local restaurants with meal times tailored to maximize your experience.

24-Hour Tour Manager

Part guide, part educator, part engineer, part mind-reader, part magician—ACIS Tour Managers are your travel partner.

Start Exploring

Never wait hours at the airport to share a transfer with other later groups.

Service Guarantee

We're so sure you're going to love your tour, we guarantee it!

Global Network

24/7 on the ground support whenever and wherever you need it.

All Local Transportation

Urban transportation is on us, allowing you to explore each destination with ease.

Personal Headsets Included Throughout Tour

Participants will have unlimited access to personal headsets so that local guides and ACIS Tour Managers can more easily communicate with the group along the way.

Exceptional Experiences

Our tours are designed to help you and your students be in the moment and experience everything the world has to offer.

Guédelon Castle Project

Guédelon Castle Project

Step back into medieval times as you learn about the master-builders’ work to raise a castle using only traditional techniques.

Learn More

Step back into medieval times as you learn about the master-builders’ work to raise a castle using only traditional techniques.

Medieval Stone Carving Workshop

Medieval Stone Carving Workshop

Step into the shoes of a medieval master-builder as you learn traditional techniques for sculpting a piece of soft limestone to take home.

Learn More

Step into the shoes of a medieval master-builder as you learn traditional techniques for sculpting a piece of soft limestone to take home.

French Chocolaterie Tour and Tasting

French Chocolaterie Tour and Tasting

A mouthwatering guided tour of a chocolaterie in Northern France illuminates the history of French chocolate production, the life cycle of how cacao tree fruits are processed into chocolate treats and how to achieve different types of chocolate using different percentages of ingredients. Then, most importantly, you'll engage all of your senses with a tasting of their products.

Learn More

A mouthwatering guided tour of a chocolaterie in Northern France illuminates the history of French chocolate production, the life cycle of how cacao tree fruits are processed into chocolate treats and how to achieve different types of chocolate using different percentages of ingredients. Then, most importantly, you'll engage all of your senses with a tasting of their products.

Paris Tour with Guide

Paris Tour with Guide

Louvre with Guide and Reservation

Louvre with Guide and Reservation

Eiffel Tower Top Floor

Eiffel Tower Top Floor

Bourges Cathedral

Bourges Cathedral

Palace of Jacques Cœur

Palace of Jacques Cœur

Château de Chenonceau

Château de Chenonceau

Château de Chambord

Château de Chambord

Caen Peace Museum

Caen Peace Museum

American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

Pointe du Hoc

Pointe du Hoc

Video

France

Featured in this video

Itinerary

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: Overnight Flight

Depart from the USA.

Day 2: Paris

Bienvenue à Paris! Meet your ACIS Tour Manager and get acquainted with this graceful city’s cobblestoned streets, charming cafés and vibrant neighborhoods. Paris is called the “City of Light” for its role as a center of education during the Age of Enlightenment (it was also one the first cities to adopt streetlights). After settling in, immerse yourself in local culture by practicing your French with painters and vintage book sellers along the storied Seine.

Day 3: Paris

Your day begins with a guided sightseeing tour that takes you past some of the most famous attractions in Paris. Your expert local guide will show you the magnificent Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Élysées, Napoleon's final resting place at Les Invalides and the Gothic wonder of Notre Dame. Later, breeze by the crowds with your timed entrance to the Louvre and discover the many famous masterpieces that call it home. Insightful commentary from your local guide highlights the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo and more as you wander through the galleries. From its beginnings as a royal fortress to its current status as the world's most visited art museum, the Louvre has long been at the center of Parisian culture and home to a collection of 35,000 works of art from around the world. Cap off a wonderful day when you ascend to the Eiffel Tower's third floor and enjoy spectacular views of the city.

Day 4: Bourges

We journey south this morning—both into the Burgundy region and back in time. Our first stop is the amazing Guédelon Castle project where we will learn about the process of building a castle using only authentic medieval techniques. Master builders began this work in 1997 and hope to complete this amazing accomplishment by 2025. You'll get to put some of those techniques to good use in a stone-carving workshop. Practice traditional skills to transform a piece of soft sandstone into a unique souvenir to take home. Enjoy an included picnic lunch on the castle grounds. After, we continue on to Bourges for an evening walking tour of the Medieval Quarter with your tour manager.

Day 5: Loire Valley

Bourges has a lot to see, and we'll get right to it as we visit the Bourges Cathedral and the Palace of Jacques Cœur. Continue toward the Loire Valley in the afternoon and make a sweet stop at a French chocolaterie for a tour and tasting. Learn about the history of chocolate production in France and the life cycle of turning the cacao tree fruits into delectable treats—then engage all your senses during a tasting of different chocolates.

Day 6: Loire Valley

Today visit Chenonceau, the château of six women, built over the River Cher in an exquisite Renaissance design. It features a moat, drawbridge, towers and turrets—and great stories about resistance to the Nazi army. Enjoy time for lunch in Amboise, then stop for a visit of the mighty Chambord, the sprawling creation commissioned by François I, towering over its deer-filled park.

Day 7: Caen

Drive north to Caen and visit the Peace Museum, a compelling precursor to the World War II sites you’ll visit tomorrow.

Day 8: Paris

Today walk in the footsteps of history as you visit many of Normandy's important World War II sites. You can pay tribute to the heroic fallen at the American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer before descending from the bluff to walk along Omaha Beach, where American troops suffered some of the heaviest D-Day losses. You might even be able to picture the chaos of June 6, 1944 at the bomb-scarred landscape of Pointe du Hoc. Later, journey onward to Paris for your final night abroad.

Day 9: Departure

Depart for the USA.

Optional Extras

Ultimate-Plus Protection Plan

Most Enhanced health coverage, program interruption, baggage delay/loss and travel delay protection while on tour. Plus, enhanced medical/job loss cancellation refund policy

Rate $450

Add to Tour

Ultimate Protection Plan

Enhanced health coverage, program interruption, baggage delay/loss and travel delay protection while on tour. Plus, enhanced medical/job loss cancellation refund policy

Rate $315

Add to Tour

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