Guédelon Castle and Countryside

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.