The Seine: Paris to Normandy (2012)

Paris • Auvers-Sur-Oise • Giverny • Rouen • Honfleur • Normandy Beaches
  • 12 days
  • from only:
  • $2795
  • $233 per day
    River Cruise Only
  • 13 days
  • from only:
  • $3445
  • $265 per dayIncludes international airfare and government taxes
IN THIS SECTION:
Detailed Itinerary
Video: Travelers' experiences of The Seine: Paris to Normandy
It's Included
Hotel & Ship Accommodations
Pre- & Post-Trip Extensions
London, England
Brittany & Mont St. Michel, France
Paris, France
Optional Tours
Local Team & Insider Tips
Know Before You Go
Your Travel Handbook
Air information
LearnMore
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Customize your trip

Learn how to customize your River Cruise, or view standard air routing and travel times. The choice is yours with our True Choice program.

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Customize your trip

With our True Choice Program, you can choose to stay longer before or after your trip on your own, or combine two vacations to maximize your value. Here are more ways to create the Grand Circle Cruise Line River Cruise that’s right for you:

  • Choose our standard air routing, or work with us to select the airline and routing you prefer
  • Make your own international flight arrangements directly with the airline, applying frequent flyer miles if available
  • International airport transfers to and from your ship or hotel are available for purchase
  • Stay overnight in a connecting city before or after your trip
  • Request to arrive a few days early to get a fresh start on your vacation
  • Choose to “break away” before or after your trip, spending additional days or weeks on your own
  • Extend your vacation with our optional pre- and post-trip extensions
  • Combine your choice of Grand Circle Cruise Line vacations to maximize your value
  • Upgrade to business or premium economy class

The air options listed above will involve an additional fee of $100 per person for confirmed requests (as well as incremental airfare costs based on your specific choice). This service fee will be waived for Inner Circle/Sir Edmund Hillary Club members.

Or, when you make your reservation, you can choose our standard air routing, for which approximate travel times are shown below.

GATEWAY

TRAVEL TIME*

Atlanta, Chicago, Orlando

9hrs

Baltimore, Dallas

13hrs

Boston

7hrs

Denver, Portland, OR

14hrs

Houston, Seattle

10hrs

Los Angeles, San Francisco

11hrs

Detroit, Newark, New York (JFK), Philadelphia, Washington, DC (Dulles)

8hrs

* Estimated total time, including connection and layover. Actual travel time may vary.

The information above reflects approximate flight times from the gateway cities listed to Paris, France. Routing is based on availability and subject to change. You will receive your final air itinerary approximately 14 days prior to departure.

REFER and EARN

Earn increasing rewards as a Vacation Ambassador

REFER and EARN as a Vacation Ambassador with
the BEST referral program in the industry

Inspiring new travelers to join the Grand Circle Cruise Line family is a rewarding experience—both for you and your new travelers.

Share your love of travel with others and, for each referral who embarks on a Grand Circle Cruise Line trip, you will earn $100 in CASH or credit. With your 4th referral departing on a 2012 departure, your reward increases to $200 in CASH or credit per person. And once you refer 8 travelers departing in either 2012 or 2013, you'll earn a FREE trip valued up to $4,500 per household—which will bring the total value of your earned rewards up to $5,600.

And you are also passing along savings to your new traveler: We'll instantly deduct $100 off the cost of their reservation when they mention your name and Customer Number while reserving.

To learn more about the benefits of our Vacation Ambassador Referral Program, please call us toll-free at 1-800-221-2610
or click here.

ALSO SEE:
2012 Itinerary and Prices
Photo & Video Gallery
View all River Cruises in Europe
Solo Friendly Travel
Frequently Asked Questions
See all Program Directors, read Insider Tips, and more
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Post-Trip: Brittany & Mont St. Michel, France

3 nights from only $695

Just off the coast of France, surrounded by swirling seas, a magnificent cathedral rises from its bed of craggy rock: Mont St. Michel. Discover this ancient abbey—a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 and a pilgrimage destination more than a thousand years—as well as the tiny, idyllic village of the same name. And from your stay in St. Malo, explore Brittany’s romantic chateaux, verdant landscapes, and unique blend of Celtic and French cultures.

Single Supplement: FREE.

Please note: This extension only available on select departures. Ask your Travel Counselor for details.

It's Included

  • Accommodations: for 3 nights at the Grand Hotel de Courtoisville or similar, and 1 night at a Paris airport hotel (included in the cost of your main trip)
  • 5 meals: 4 breakfasts, 1 lunch
  • Included tours: St. Malo, Mont St. Michel Abbey, Chartres Cathedral
  • Exclusive services of a resident Grand Circle Program Director
  • All transfers


Optional Tour

Dinan ($60 per person)

Day 1
Honfleur/Caen/St. Malo

After visiting the Caen Memorial on your main trip, transfer to the beautiful, Celtic-flavored region of Brittany by motorcoach. Nestled between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, the peninsula known as Brittany was once its own kingdom. Brittany has long inspired painters and poets, with its pink granite coast, and lush countryside studded with manors, chateaux, and fortified villages.

This evening, check in to your hotel in the historic port town of St. Malo. As early as the Middle Ages, St. Malo controlled the flow of boat traffic in both directions: from the sea to the River Rance and vice versa. Holding such power went to the heads of its rulers, who for three years declared St. Malo its own country—not subject to France, nor even Brittany. You’ll have a chance to experience the realm they created tonight when you enjoy dinner on your own. If you like seafood, you’ll be especially well-rewarded, as St. Malo has the greatest concentration of seafood restaurants in Europe.

Please note:Brittany & Mont St. Michel is a post-trip extension only offered on the Paris to Honfleur itinerary. The first day of this extension will overlap with the Day 12 of the main trip.

Day 2
St. Malo/Optional Dinan tour

After breakfast, embark upon a walking tour with a local guide to discover all that St. Malo has to offer within its ancient walls. A highlight of your discoveries will be a visit to the home of a corsair. The corsairs attacked the vessels of other nations, often plundering some or all of their bounty, but the corsairs weren’t officially pirates because they had letters of authorization from the King of France himself. Building elaborate mansions (including one the size of a city block) to display their wealth, the corsairs were truly a class unto themselves, as you’ll discover during your visit.

The remainder of the day is yours for discovery at your own pace. Perhaps you'll choose to stroll through the grey granite arch of Porte St. Vincent into the Old Town at Place Chateaubriand, where shops and cafes line the streets facing the castle.

Or, join us for on an optional tour including lunch at a creperie in the historic town of Dinan, followed by a guided walking tour with a local expert to see the city’s ramparts and towers, along with Saint Suliac.

Dinner this evening is on your own.

Day 3
St. Malo/Mont St. Michel

After breakfast, head to the tiny town of Mont St. Michel, connected by causeway to the mainland and home to only a few dozen full-time residents. Enjoy an included tour of the medieval town and its eleventh century Romanesque Abbey, world-famous for its dramatic clifftop perch, as well as its rich history. Breton legend has it that the archangel Michael appeared to Aubert, the local bishop, in 708 AD and demanded that a church be built on this stony promontory, but Aubert—somehow unfazed by the appearance of a celestial vistor—said no. Aubert changed his mind, so the story goes, when Michael burned a hole into the bishop’s skull with one finger. The first structure was built soon after, and was then expanded dramatically in the eleventh century, taking the striking form we see today. You may decide for yourself whether the finished Abbey resembles a mostly-closed fist with the spire as one extended angelic finger.

After an included lunch in St. Michel, continue to the quaint fishing port of Cancale, known as the "Oyster Capital of the World." Whether you stroll along the rocky jetty or peruse the crates of dripping wet fresh mollusks set up streetside by local vendors, there’s no escaping the rich bounty of the sea.

This evening dinner is on your own in St. Malo. Perhaps you’ll try one of the many restaurants serving oysters from Cancale.

Day 4
St. Malo/Chartres Cathedral/Paris

You’ll depart for Paris after an early breakfast, enjoying a visit en route to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Chartres Cathedral. Since the majority of its construction in the late twelfth century, the cathedral has remained largely unscathed by the ravages of time, nature, or the French Revolution. When you explore it today, soaking in its elegant flying buttresses or its 150 stained glass windows, you will witness much the same vision as that which greeted pilgrims 800 years ago. Be sure to note the striking labyrinth pattern on the cathedral floor; though some theorize that it was once used for ritual purposes, the labyrinth’s true origins remain mysterious to this day.

This evening, continue on to your hotel outside of Paris, and then enjoy dinner on your own.
Day 5
Return to U.S.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home.