Upon arrival at the airport, you will be transferred to the hotel in Paris. After check-in, you will have time to get settled in and relax.

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Then, as night falls over the “City of Light,” we’ll gather our group together for a memorable dinner cruise along the Seine. After raising a glass to toast our upcoming discoveries in the Loire Valley, we’ll sit down to a delicious meal and enjoy views of the French capital’s iconic monuments illuminated at night as we float through the heart of Paris. Return to the hotel by coach.

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Note: if you wish to spend more time in Paris, ask your Personal Vacation Manager about the optional hotel extension—which will add one night to your Paris hotel stay.

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This morning, we’ll depart Paris and begin our discoveries in the Loire Valley. The region’s beauty and moderate climate captured the hearts of French nobility and royalty, who would build more than a thousand elegant châteaux and manors strung like pearls along France’s “Royal River.” We’ll visit the largest and most extravagant of the Loire châteaux this morning, Château de Chambord. Built between 1519 and 1532 as a hunting lodge for François I, a French king inspired by the Italian Renaissance, Chambord features more than 400 rooms, 300 spires and chimneys, elegant formal gardens, and an innovative spiraling staircase believed to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Yet François I only used this sumptuous palace for brief stays and later kings also only used Chambord as an occasional retreat.

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Following lunch at a local restaurant in Chambord, we’ll continue our transfer to Tours, a charming city in the heart of the Loire Valley nestled on the banks of the Loire and Cher rivers. After checking in to our hotel, you’ll have the remainder of the day at your leisure.

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This morning we’ll drive to Château Azay-le-Rideau, an enchanting castle with elegant turrets set in an island on the Indre River, a tributary of the Loire. French novelist Honoré de Balzac, who grew up in Tours, famously described this Renaissance gem as "a faceted diamond set in the Indre.”  After our visit, we’ll return to town and explore the narrow streets of Tours’ medieval old town. Highlights include Place Plumereau, a lively square lined with half-timbered buildings dating from the 15th century; and Cathédrale Saint-Gatien, the magnificent Gothic cathedral whose construction began in 1239 and went on for more than two centuries. We’ll have lunch together at a local restaurant. You’ll then have the remainder of the day free to relax or explore Tours on your own.

Today features two of the most special châteaux of the Loire Valley—one is a magical castle that inspired a fairy tale and the other is home to the most beautiful Renaissance gardens in France.  Our first stop is Château d’Ussé. Overlooking the Indre valley, the château was originally built as a stronghold in the Middle Ages. Later additions that included a series of delicate towers and Gothic turrets would transform the château into one of the most gorgeous castles in France—in fact, when 17th-century French author Charles Perrault spent time here, he used Château d’Ussé as the inspiration for his fairy-tale castle in The Sleeping Beauty.

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After our guided tour, we’ll drive to Château de Villandry, a palatial residence along the Cher River. Originally a country estate built in the late Renaissance. The Spanish Carvallo family purchased Villandry in 1906 and created the magnificent, Renaissance-style floral and ornamental gardens that we see today. After we have lunch at a restaurant featuring seasonal cuisine inspired by Villandry’s kitchen garden, you can stroll through the grounds. The sprawling gardens of Villandry are located across six terraced levels, rising from the ornamental kitchen gardens at the lowest level to the sun garden at the summit, all arranged in geometric precision for you to explore. After locating any guests who may have gotten lost in Villandry’s hedge maze, we’ll drive back to our hotel in Tours, arriving late this afternoon for an evening at leisure.

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This morning we’ll drive to Château d’Amboise. Perched on a rocky outcrop above the town of Amboise and overlooking the Loire, the historic castle was the favorite residence of the Kings of France in the 15th and 16th centuries. During the reign of Francois I, the French king invited Leonardo da Vinci to stay at nearby Clos Lucé as his guest. The Italian master spent the last three years of his life at the Renaissance manor and passed away in his room at the Clos Lucé in 1519. Leonardo da Vinci is buried in the chapel of the Château d’Amboise.

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After lunch at a restaurant in the town of Amboise, we’ll drive to the village of Vouvray to discover another feature that makes the Loire Valley so special—a winemaking tradition that goes back centuries. After an orientation tour of the charming village, we’ll visit Cave de Producteurs, where we’ll learn how the varied soil, climate, and terroir of the Loire Valley make this France’s most diverse winemaking region. Our tour will reveal the secrets behind fine white wines produced in this region, along with a tasting and a visit to the labyrinth of chalk caves where the famous sparkling white wines of Vouvray mature. Return to Tours for the evening at leisure.

Today, we’ll visit Château de Chenonceau, the most romantic of all the Loire châteaux. Stretching across the River Cher and surrounded by beautiful, landscaped gardens, a series of influential women left their mark and legacy on the Château de Chenonceau, giving it the nickname of “the ladies’ château.” One of them was Catherine de Medici who, homesick for her native Florence, would add the two-story gallery spanning the river to resemble Ponte Vecchio, the Italian city’s famous covered bridge. After our guided tour of Chenonceau and its remarkable collection of period furnishings and artistic treasures, we’ll have free time for lunch on our own. Then, we’ll make a short drive to the picturesque village of Chisseaux where we’ll board a traditional wooden barge (gabare) for a cruise along the gentle waters of the Cher River, passing under sumptuous arches of the Château de Chenonceau.

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After driving back to Tours, we’ll learn about the Loire Valley’s rich culinary heritage during a hands-on cooking class. Guided by a professional chef, we’ll help prepare a seasonal menu using fresh, regional ingredients and then gather around the table to enjoy the meal we created. Raise a glass as we toast an unforgettable journey through the Loire Valley, celebrating our final evening and farewell dinner in France.

After breakfast, we’ll depart the Loire Valley and drive to the airport in Paris, where we’ll board our flight to Barcelona, Spain. Upon arrival in the historic capital of Spain’s Catalonia region this afternoon, we’ll transfer to our centrally located hotel and enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure.

After breakfast, you’ll have the entire day to explore Barcelona on your own. You may want to visit La Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece, or simply stroll along the leafy pedestrian-only boulevard of La Rambla. This evening, we’ll enjoy a memorable final night together at an authentic tablao (flamenco club), where we’ll start with a buffet of hot and cold Spanish and Catalan dishes followed by an intimate live flamenco performance featuring Spain’s top award-winning artists.

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After breakfast, check out of the hotel and transfer to the port, where you will board the Oceania Allura.

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Ports of call include Rome (Civitavecchia), Salerno and Messina (Sicily), Italy; Valletta, Malta; Corfu, Greece, Kotor, Montenegro; Split, Croatia, and Trieste, Italy.

Enjoy breakfast onboard, then disembark the Oceania Allura and transfer to the airport for your return flight home.