First-time visitors to France can explore Paris and Versailles in style with private guided tours
May 6, 2008
American travellers looking for a great, comprehensive introduction to Paris and Versailles should look no further than a private tour with an English-speaking guide.
With so much to see and do in Paris and nearby, it’s hard for someone new to Paris to know where to begin. If your time in Paris is limited, it’s even more essential that you plan your tourism time wisely. Big bus tours are not attractive options for most sophisticated travellers, who resent being part of a large herd of camera-toting tourists. But going it alone, it can be frustrating to arrive at the Eiffel Tower at a bad time only to spend hours waiting in line, or to waste valuable travel time navigating an unfamiliar metro and bus system between sights. And if you’ve got your nose in a guide book to try to learn about what you are seeing, you’ll miss half of the experience, no matter how you get there.
A great way to get your bearings in the City of Light is with a private tour of Paris. Being driven around Paris in your own private air-conditioned van may seem like a luxury at first, but if it helps you make the most of your time and get more in-depth knowledge out of your visit, the value is indisputable. With a driver who knows his way around the city, you won’t arrive at a museum five minutes before closing or do a lot of useless backtracking to get to everything you want to see. And with an English-speaking guide, you won’t miss anything once you get there.
One company that offers a wide range of private tours of Paris is Best of France. Comfortable vans with knowledgable English-speaking drivers pick guests up right from their hotel and whisk them to sights all over Paris. In their full-day Paris tour, travellers can get an amazingly comprehensive overview of the city and its most beautiful and important sites. Those who have less time might prefer the half-day private tour, also very complete. There are private tours that center around Paris’ museums or nightlife. Best of France even offers a great idea for jet-setters with only a long layover in Paris: the Paris stopover tour, picking guests up at the airport and taking them on a private guided tour of Paris before bringing them back to Charles de Gaulle or Orly airport to catch their next flight! Definitely preferable to waiting in the airport departure lounge. For those wishing to explore outside of Paris in the same customized and intimate style, Best Of France offers private guided tours of Versailles, Fontainebleau, Giverny and other popular half-day-trips from Paris, without the crowds. Your own English-speaking guide can take you through the chateaux, houses, cathedrals and museums, or you can choose to explore on your own; either way, you are sure of an enriching experience at a flexible and relaxed pace, free from the stress and hassle of getting there yourself or being forced to shunt along with a large group.
For example, in the Versailles guided tour the licensed guide begins with a drive through the park to show guests the little hamlet where Marie Antoinette used to play at being a peasant for fun, as well as the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon, before heading inside the royal Versailles Castle to give fascinating background information on the residence built for the Sun King, Louis XIV. Guests hear the inside stories and are able to ask all the questions they like about the magnificent apartments of the King, the Hall of Mirrors, the Queen’s apartments, and the magnificent gardens, in a private tour that really brings history to life. And for those who wish to venture even further, Best of France offers one and two day Normandy D-Day tours and tours through Burgundy, Champagne and more. If you’re new to France, or even if you’re not, a private tour from Best of France is the way to travel and miss nothing except the hassles.
Best of France provides private and shared guided tours in Paris and around France for individuals and groups of up to 15.
Services
Best of France Tours7 passage Foubert
75013 Paris
Tel : + 33 1 45 89 51 82
Fax : + 33 9 55 79 23 45
Web : http://www.best-of-france.net
Email : info@best-of-france.net
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