Paris to Normandy 2027
Avalon Waterways River Cruise
September 12th-19th 2027 | 7 Nights | Avalon Artistry II
Save $650 per person
when you book with this group
Day 1 | Embark in Paris, France
What Should You Do in Paris Before You Board?
Arriving a day or two early is the best decision you'll make on this trip. Paris rewards a slow morning, and you'll be glad you didn't rush the first day. A few ways to spend it:
Walk the Marais – Cobblestone streets, falafel on Rue des Rosiers, and the Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris.
Musée d'Orsay – The Impressionist collection here is the perfect primer for Giverny later in the week. Housed in a stunning old railway station.
Sainte-Chapelle – Fifteen minutes inside this 13th-century chapel and you'll understand why people gasp. Go on a sunny afternoon.
Montmartre at sunset – Climb to Sacré-Cœur for the view, then wander the back streets away from the crowds.
Eat your way through the city – A proper boulangerie breakfast, a long lunch, a glass of wine at a café table facing the street. That's the assignment.
🚢 Flights into Paris must arrive by 2:30 PM. All guests on board by 5 PM. Welcome reception and dinner on board tonight, then an overnight cruise to Vernon.
🍴Meals Included: Dinner
Day 2 | Vernon & Les Andelys, France
Best Things to Do in Vernon and Les Andelys
This is the day people book the whole cruise for. In Vernon, you'll choose your morning:
Giverny – A guided tour of Claude Monet's house and the gardens that became the Water Lilies. The green Japanese bridge, the willow, the pond. It's exactly as good as you're hoping.
Bizy Castle – Called "Normandy's Versailles," with a magnificent courtyard, water gardens, and 18th-century stables.
On foot with the Adventure Host – Explore Vernon's Château des Tourelles at a walking pace.
Back on board, lunch is authentic French crêpes followed by a pastry-making demonstration, then an afternoon cruise to Les Andelys.
In Les Andelys, choose a guided hike up to the ruins of Château Gaillard — built by Richard the Lionheart in 1196, and still one of the most dramatic sights on the Seine.
Or an easier guided walking tour through one of the prettiest towns on the river.
⏳ Evening cruise to Caudebec.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Day 3 | Caudebec-en-Caux, France
How to Spend Your Day in Caudebec-en-Caux
Today the pace softens. Your choices this morning:
Normandy Abbeys Route – A guided trip past the ruins of more than 100 medieval Benedictine and Augustinian abbeys built along this stretch of the river. Jumièges alone is worth the morning.
Bike the riverbank – A relaxed ride along the Seine with your Adventure Host.
This afternoon there's an optional guided excursion to Honfleur, the old seaside town with the crooked harbor that Monet and Boudin painted over and over. If you'd rather stay on board, there's an onboard lecture on the days before and after the D-Day landings — good preparation for tomorrow.
⏳ Overnight docking in Caudebec.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Day 4 | Normandy Landing Beaches
What Is the Normandy D-Day Beaches Tour Like?
An included full-day excursion, and you pick which story you want to follow:
The American sites – Omaha Beach, the Pointe du Hoc monument, and the Normandy American Cemetery above the bluffs. Quiet, enormous, and hard to describe until you've stood there.
The British & Canadian sites – Arromanches and the remains of the Mulberry harbor, the Pegasus Memorial, the Juno Beach Centre, and the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery.
A Taste of Normandy – If the beaches aren't your reason for coming, spend the day in the countryside instead: dairy farms, apple orchards, Camembert, and a Calvados brandy tasting.
Live entertainment on board tonight.
⏳ Evening cruise to Rouen.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Day 5 | Rouen, France
Best Tours and Activities in Rouen
Rouen is the capital of Upper Normandy and one of the best-preserved medieval cities in France. Choose your morning:
Guided walking tour – The medieval quarter with its half-timbered houses, the 16th-century Gros Horloge astronomical clock, and Notre-Dame Cathedral, once the tallest building in the world and the subject of Monet's famous series.
Guided bike tour – The same monuments plus the corners most visitors never find, on two wheels.
Rouen is also where Joan of Arc was imprisoned and burned at the stake in 1431. The modern church built on the site of her execution is worth ten minutes of your afternoon.
⏳ Evening cruise to Conflans.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Day 6 | Conflans, France
Best Excursions from Conflans: Van Gogh, Napoleon, and Versailles
Your last full day of exploring, and it's a good one:
Auvers-sur-Oise – A guided visit to the village where Vincent van Gogh spent the final months of his life and painted seventy-some canvases. He's buried here beside his brother Theo.
Château de Malmaison – Napoléon and Joséphine's country estate, which she set out to make "the most beautiful and curious garden in Europe."
Bike the Seine – A relaxing ride with your Adventure Host.
There's also an optional guided excursion to the Palace of Versailles if you want to go big on the last day. Live entertainment on board this evening.
⏳ Afternoon and evening cruise back to Paris.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Day 7 | Paris, France
What to Do With a Full Day in Paris
You end where you started, docked in Paris with the whole day ahead of you. Choose from:
The ancient heart of Paris – A guided walk through the Palais-Royal, the Louvre pyramid, the Île de la Cité, the Left Bank, and the Latin Quarter.
The classic city tour – The Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Opéra Garnier, and the Champs-Élysées.
On foot with the Adventure Host – Experience the Seine at street level.
Then the evening is yours. Linger over wine in a Left Bank café, take one more walk along the river, and let it sink in.
⏳Overnight docking in Paris.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Day 8 | Disembark in Paris
How to Spend Your Last Morning in Paris
Breakfast on board, and then it's over. Seven nights, six towns, and a week of waking up somewhere new.
You'll disembark in the middle of Paris. If your flight isn't until the afternoon or evening, don't spend those hours at the airport. Left-luggage counters at Gare du Nord and Gare Saint-Lazare will hold your bags for the day, and luggage lock-ups are everywhere. That buys you a last café, a last walk along the river, or one more stop at a museum.
Most people don't fly home that afternoon at all, and I'd encourage you not to either. My recommendation is to add on a few extra days to make the most of your time in Europe.
✈️ Departure flights should not leave Paris before 8 AM.
🍴Meals Included: Breakfast
PRE- AND POST-CRUISE EXTENSIONS
The cruise begins and ends in Paris, which makes this one of the easiest trips to build extra days onto — on either end, or both. Here's what most people do.
A Few Nights in Paris Before You Sail
The one I recommend to almost everybody.
Day 1 has a hard 2:30 PM arrival cutoff, so flying in the day before turns a tight connection into a non-issue, and you land with a day or two to shake off the jet lag before the ship even moves.
It also gives you more time in Paris since the cruise doesn't have time to show you everything Paris has to offer. Two or three nights is enough to do the Louvre properly. Spend a morning at the Musée d'Orsay, or take the train out to Versailles or Champagne for the day. The options are endless!
London: Two and a Half Hours from Paris
The Eurostar runs from Gare du Nord straight into St Pancras in central London, so there's no airport on either end. Three or four nights is the sweet spot: the museums, the West End, and a day trip out to Windsor or Oxford if you want countryside.
Amsterdam: Just Over Three Hours by Direct Train
A completely different rhythm from France. Canals instead of boulevards, bicycles instead of taxis, gabled houses leaning over the water.
There's a lovely bit of symmetry to this one. On Day 6 you'll stand in Auvers-sur-Oise, the village where Van Gogh painted his last canvases and is buried beside his brother. Two days later you could be in front of those same paintings at the Van Gogh Museum. Not many trips let you close a loop like that.
However You Want to Build It
Hotels, trains, transfers, and a day-by-day plan for the extra days — that's all mine to handle.
Tell me roughly what you're picturing and how much time you have, and I'll price it alongside the cruise so you see the whole thing in one place.
River Cruise Pricing By Cabin
Rates are per person, based on double occupancy.
Save $650 per person when you book with this group.
Prices below are before the discount.
Deluxe Stateroom | Indigo Deck (lower deck)
$5,399 per person
172 sq. ft. with a large picture window.
Panorama Suite | Sapphire Deck, Aft. (second floor)
$5,399 +$1,799 per person
200 sq. ft. with a wall-to-wall panoramic window that opens into your own open-air balcony.
Panorama Suite | Sapphire Deck, Mid & Forward. (second floor)
$5,399 + $1,899 per person
200 sq. ft. with a wall-to-wall panoramic window that opens into your own open-air balcony.
Panorama Suite | Royal Deck (top floor)
$5,399 + $1,949 per person
Highest vantage point on the ship and the best views of the Seine.
What’s Included
7 nights aboard the Avalon Artistry II
All meals on board — breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily
Included guided excursions in every port, with your choice of Classic, Active, or Discovery options each day
Onboard entertainment, lectures, and demonstrations
Adventure Host and Cruise Director throughout
Prepaid gratuities — included when you book within our group
Additional Costs
Port charges: $252 per person (required)
Airfare — not included; I can book it for you
Travel insurance — not included and strongly recommended
Optional excursions (Honfleur, Versailles, Le Havre)
Pre- and post-cruise hotel stays
Frequently Asked Questions
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They're the two best-known names in river cruising and both are good. The practical differences: Avalon's Panorama Suites have wall-to-wall windows that open into a balcony, and at 200 square feet they run larger than the comparable Viking category. Avalon also lets you pick from Classic, Active, or Discovery excursions in each port rather than assigning one included tour — useful when half your group wants a guided bike ride and the other half wants a cathedral. Viking tends to have more ships and more departure dates. For this particular itinerary, we're on Avalon because that's where the group space and the group pricing are.
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Not all Seine itineraries do — some stay in the Paris–Giverny–Rouen stretch and turn around. This one includes a full-day excursion to the landing beaches on Day 4, and it's an included excursion, not a paid add-on. You choose between the American sites (Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, the American Cemetery), the British and Canadian sites (Arromanches, Pegasus Memorial, Juno Beach), or a countryside day in Normandy if the beaches aren't your reason for coming.
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More than you'd think, and it's mostly on cobblestones. Rouen's medieval quarter, Giverny's garden paths, and the beach sites all involve a couple of hours on your feet. That said, every port day offers a Classic option at an easy pace alongside the Active one, and you can always stay aboard. If mobility is a concern, tell me before you book and I'll walk you through which days are which.
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Send me your home airport, and I'll quote it with the cruise.
Airfare isn't included in the cruise pricing, so it gets added to your booking separately. Booking it through Avalon means they take responsibility for getting you to the ship if a flight is delayed or cancelled. That matters on this trip: Day 1 has a hard 2:30 PM arrival cutoff in Paris, and the ship doesn't wait.
I'll also price flying in a day early, which I recommend on any international departure. -
Not required, strongly recommended, and on an international trip at this price point I'll push you on it. Avalon's own Travel Protection is available, and I'm happy to price independent policies against it so you can compare. Either way, do it early — the pre-existing condition waiver on most policies has a deadline tied to your deposit date.
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You'll need a passport valid for at least six months past your return date, and U.S. citizens don't need a visa for a trip this length. One thing to watch: the EU's ETIAS travel authorization has been delayed repeatedly but is expected to be in effect by 2027. It's an online form and a small fee, not a visa. I'll confirm the requirement and timing well before we travel.
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Space is available until it’s sold out!
The required deposit is $250 per person, plus insurance if you decide to get it.
Final payment is due June 14, 2027.
Let’s Just Go
To France!
Group Space is limited - reserve your cabin early.
