France Travel Agents

I really enjoyed all of the guides very much.
They were knowledgeable and friendly and made our tours very engaging and entertaining.
My favourite place and guide was Carcassonne (Natalie) as it felt like a lengthy conversation with great scenery 😊

Hotel Reviews

Aragon

Carcassonne

Off season requires more direction and help than what was provided by the front desk

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very close to the fortress

Staff

Offers to help find open places to eat during the day and for dinner. We were left to wander around

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel de Cambis

Avignon

Beautiful room in the centre of everything!

Authenticity & Character

Classy and comfortable

Location

On the main drag, so easy to find dining and attractions

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Florence Nice

Nice

Centrally located and a pillow menu!

Authenticity & Character

Focus on eco friendly solutions

Location

Not far from the sea, old town, dining

Staff

Front desk worked hard to ensure our comfort Breakfast area was very crowded, despite being there in the quiet season. Staff worked hard to keep the area clean and stocked

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Nice Evening Food Tour

France

Every stop allowed us to sample (and purchase if we wished)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Leo was quiet but very friendly and knowledgeable

Transport

N/A foot tour

Guided tour of Carassonne

France

The site is incredible. I definitely recommend having a guide as there is so much to see and learn about

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Natalie was very informative and allowed us to ask questions nonstop

Transport

It was a foot tour (an N/A would have worked best here)

Châteauneuf du Pape wine tour

Avignon

The two wineries were so different! They both provided an interesting perspective on wine making in the region

Quality of Experience

Seeing the oldest winery was very interesting

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Emile’s family experience in the wine industry made this tour very informative

Transport

Safe comfortable travel

Full-day excursion to Monaco, Monte-Carlo & Eze

France

So many different experiences on this tour!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

As a local resident he provided us with historical information as well as personal anecdotes. Very informative!

Transport

All of our excursions and guides were amazing. The hotels were well situated for the sites we were seeing. Having all the train tickets booked in advance was fantastic and their timings were great. The only negative on our trip was the night hotel staff at the Aragon hotel in Carcassonne. During our tour of the walled city we noticed that only a couple of stores / cafes were actually open even though the internet listed large numbers of restaurants as open. For this reason we asked the lady at the hotel reception desk if she could assist in calling some nearby restaurants to see if any were actually open for dinner. The lady declined to assist and said you’ll just need to go by yourself to see if they are open. Without phone service or transportation we couldn’t easily get to these places to see if they were actually open. This level of customer service sucks. Hotels being booked though Kim Kim should be prepared to assist travelers staying with them and have a list of open restaurants or make calls to verify if a place is actually open for dinner.

Hotel Reviews

Aragon

Carcassonne

Hotel was clean but night desk person was not helpful. She would not assist us in calling some restaurants to see if they were actually open given it was the off season. Instead she said you’ll need to go to them to see if they are open. The internet showed all restaurants as open but in reality very few actually were. Without phone service or transportation it was not possible to just go by places to see if they were open. In all of my travels this is the only hotel that I’ve been to where they wouldn’t assist us in finding a place to eat. Poor customer service!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel de Cambis

Avignon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Florence Nice

Nice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided tour of Carassonne

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Was a walking tour so no transport needed

Châteauneuf du Pape wine tour

Avignon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nice Evening Food Tour

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Foot tour no transport needed

Full-day excursion to Monaco, Monte-Carlo & Eze

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Manon in the Normandy region and Nadia in Nice were exceptional guides. The restaurant recommendations were great also.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Le Lion d'Or et restaurant la Table du Lion

Bayeux

Quaint hotel in medieval center of town. Great food and lovely fireplace gathering place.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in the center of the village

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hilton Garden Inn Paris Orly Airport

Rungis

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The pillows are awful and very small

Hotel Le Negresco

Nice

Spectacular

Authenticity & Character

The art and the bellmen’s uniforms, the elevator, every detail is beautiful.

Location

Right on the Promenade d’Anglais and near old Nice

Staff

Everyone was friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day excursion to Honfleur and Etretat

Bayeux

Manon is a knowledgeable, friendly and overall excellent tour guide. We learned so much.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour of D-Day Sites

France

Manon was exceptional. We learned so much on this somber day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to Mont-Saint-Michel

France

Incredible! And since we went off season there were no crowds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning food and wine tour

France

Nadia was delightful. We learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Day excursion to Monaco, Monte-Carlo and Eze

France

Playing blackjack at the casino in Monte Carlo and lunch on the beach at the Note Bleu (as arranged by our guide) were highlights.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I cannot say enough good about my experience planning and executing a once in a lifetime trip to Paris and neighboring locations with Kimkim (France Local) and our local specialist, Sebastian. Sebastian helped us plan a very workable itinerary that covered all the important locals in Paris, Chartres, Bayeux, Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy (Point du Hoc and Omaha Beach, Rheims, and Versailles - in a week and a half. He prepared a wonderful guided trip in a cute little car through Paris, and, our guide was VERY informative. We picked up a wonderful car in Amboise, and could drive ourselves through the French country side. We had lovely tours of the Chateaux de Chambord and Chenonceau. We drove to Chartres for a view of town and Cathedral. We then moved to Mont Saint Michel, where Sebastian arranged for us to stay in the wonderful L'Auberge de la Mere Poulard. We were SO happy, because friends had told us not to miss eating at their restaurant. I have had a lifelong wish to visit the Abbey, so, it was an amazing treat to climb all the way up there! Sebastian provided us with a wonderful guide for Point du Hoc and Omaha Beach. That guide timed our tour so that we could see the lowering of the U.S. flag on Omaha Beach. Very moving. Back in Paris, we visited Versailles, then set off to see the Reims Cathedral, and, of course, to sample Champagne.

All of our tickets were available, easy to organize, easy to print, and easy to use at the cite. Given the complexity of our arrangements, we lost no time, trying to make arrangements, or walking across town to pick up tickets or loosing time "fixing" arrangements during our trip.

However, the absolute most extraordinary thing about Sebastian's service, was that he was available to us during the trip. We had a couple instances where we misunderstood directions and couldn't find our guide. Especially, when we tried to meet our guide for the Normandy beach trip, we found ourselves waiting at the meeting point, with no guide. We notified Sebastian and he was at his desk, and, within a minute, he was in touch with our guide, who was waiting for us around the corner. If Sebastian had not been available and responsive at that very minute, we would have totally missed a very important part of our trip.

So, in sum, visiting Paris and environs has been a long-time wish of mine, and Sebastian made a busy and complicated schedule easy, doable, enjoyable, worry free - and wondrous. For that, I will be eternally grateful!

My only regret was not adding a few more days. ...

We started working with Sebastian back in October, telling him the must see places for a 10 day January trip in Paris and the surrounding areas. We basically told him the places we wanted to see-Chateau country, Chartres, Mont Saint-Michel, Bayeux , and Reims and he put together the itinerary which included trains, car, and truly lovely hotels, all perfectly placed to be close to the historical sites we wanted to see. La Maison Rabelais in Amboise, Le Boeuf Couronee in Chartres, and the Grand Hotel Luxembourg in Bayeux . In Paris, where we explored Notre Dame de Paris, Ste Chapelle, the entire Left Bank from Shakespeare and Company out to St. Germain de Pre, (didn't have time for the Invalides, Musee de Cluny, or the Rodin) the Central sites and we stayed with hotels from the Astotel Group, my personal favorite was the Astoria near the Pigalle area of Paris.

Speaking of guides, Veronique (Vero), our full day guide in Chateau country for Chambord and Chenonceau, was a walking professor of history, she knew not just events and dates, but all the fun stories that go behind the dates, as did Stephanie for le Mont Saint-Michel. Nico for Paris and Gwen for Normandy rounded out our local guides.

France By Locals/Sebastian was immediately responsive each and every time we had a question on this trip, like when we couldn't find a guide or forgot where to return something. All resolved swiftly.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Astoria - Astotel

Paris

Has a great vibe which you can feel as soon as you walk through the front door, bright, cheerful, lots of French travelers, so the Petit Dejeuner breakfast room is always hopping. Comfortable rooms and main sitting room, close to Pigalle and Montmartre.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

L'Auberge de la Mère Poulard

Le Mont-Saint-Michel

I loved it. Mere Poulard is right at the beginning of the main street of Mont Saint Michel in the walls of the city. so bring your overnight clothes in a backpack because you don't want to be rolling any kind of suitcase on the cobbles. From where we were located, you could walk up another set of stairs and have amazing views of the Ramparts and the city, which I did just before dawn and it was stupendous. The only thing I would say is there was a strong odor of cat, not in the room at all, but in the staircase going up to the room. If they could remove that, this would be a 10.

Authenticity & Character

built into the rock that is the base of the Abbey.

Location

Activity Review

Chateaux de Chambord et Chenonceau (winter version)

France

Veronique the guide was truly fabulous. knew everything about what we were seeing and answers to the most obscure questions.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport