Day 1: Lyon — Embarkation & City of Gastronomy
Board the MS Van Gogh or sister ship in Lyon, France’s gastronomic capital. Settle into your cabin with river views. Afternoon: explore Lyon — the traboules (hidden passageways) of Vieux Lyon, the majestic Fourviere Basilica overlooking the city, and the Presqu’ile’s Belle Epoque architecture. Welcome cocktail and dinner onboard as the ship glides south on the Rhone. Overnight sailing.
Day 2: Collonges & Paul Bocuse’s Abbaye
Morning cruising through the Rhone Valley’s vineyard landscapes. Afternoon: the culinary highlight — excursion to Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or for dinner at L’Abbaye de Collonges, the riverside restaurant of the legendary Paul Bocuse (1926-2018), the chef who defined nouvelle cuisine and earned three Michelin stars for over 50 consecutive years. The meal is a pilgrimage: soupe aux truffes noires VGE (the black truffle soup created for President Giscard d’Estaing), Bresse chicken cooked in a bladder, and the famous floating island dessert. Return to the ship for overnight sailing.
Day 3: Tain-l’Hermitage — Cotes du Rhone Wine Cruising
Morning arrival in Tain-l’Hermitage, the spiritual heart of the northern Cotes du Rhone. Walk up the Hermitage hill whose south-facing granite slopes have produced legendary Syrah wines since Roman times. Visit the Valrhona Cite du Chocolat — a temple to chocolate where you can taste single-origin bars and watch chocolatiers at work. Afternoon wine tasting at a local domaine: taste Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage wines that age for decades. Return to the ship. Evening cruising past Tournon-sur-Rhone with its 16th-century castle. Overnight sailing.
Day 4: Viviers & Avignon — Medieval Cathedral to Papal City
Morning stop in Viviers — a perfectly preserved medieval town with narrow cobblestone streets, a Romanesque cathedral (the smallest in France with a full bishopric), and the Maison des Chevaliers. Afternoon arrival in Avignon. Walking tour: the Palais des Papes — the largest Gothic palace in the medieval world, fortress and palace in one, where seven popes ruled Christendom from 1309 to 1377. Continue to the Pont d’Avignon (Pont Saint-Benezet) immortalized in the children’s song. Free time to explore Avignon’s medieval streets, the Place de l’Horloge, and the Rocher des Doms gardens. Overnight Avignon.
Day 5: Arles — Roman Arena & Van Gogh’s Light
Arrive in Arles, where the Rhone splits into the Grand Rhone and Petit Rhone. Morning tour: the Roman Arena (Les Arenes) — a 20,000-seat amphitheater still used for bullfights and concerts 2,000 years after construction. The Roman Theatre, the Cryptoporticus (underground gallery), and the Baths of Constantine testify to Arles’ importance as the ‘little Rome of the Gauls.’ Afternoon: follow the Van Gogh trail — the artist created over 300 works here in just 15 months, and markers throughout town show the exact viewpoints of his most famous Arles paintings: the Cafe Terrace at Night (still operating), the Yellow House (replaced, but the location is marked), and the Garden of the Hospital where he was treated after cutting off his ear. Evening: free time in the Place du Forum. Overnight Arles.
Day 6: Camargue — Pink Flamingos, White Horses & Wild Bulls
Sail into the Camargue, Europe’s largest river delta and one of its wildest landscapes — 930 square kilometers of salt flats, marshes, and lagoons. Morning excursion: the Camargue Regional Nature Park. Visit a manade (traditional ranch) to see the famous white Camargue horses — an ancient breed ridden by the gardians (Camargue cowboys) — and the black Camargue bulls. Walk the salt flats where fleur de sel is harvested by hand. At the Pont de Gau Ornithological Park, observe thousands of greater flamingos — the Camargue hosts one of Europe’s largest flamingo populations — as well as egrets, herons, and stilts. Afternoon: Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a charming seaside town and Roma pilgrimage site where the gypsy patron saint Sara is venerated. Evening: gala dinner onboard celebrating the final night of the cruise. Overnight sailing to Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone.
Day 7: Disembarkation
Breakfast onboard. Disembark in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone. Transfer to Marseille Airport or Avignon TGV.
