Gardens and Natural Beauty of the Rhône River Cruise - MS Thomas Hardy

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Gardens and Natural Beauty of the Rhône River Cruise - MS Thomas Hardy

8 days - River Cruises

From the vine-clad slopes of Burgundy to rainbow-coloured floral displays and the fragrant lavender fields of Provence, enjoy a fantastic cruise to one of the most picturesque corners of France. Our journey through France explores the unrivalled natural beauty of the Rhône river as it runs its course through sun-soaked landscapes from Lyon to Avignon. We'll step ashore to explore a beautifully restored historic garden and discover the gorgeous vistas and charming parks that inspired the artistic genius of Van Gogh. And wander through Lyon, Vienne and Beaune with an expert local guide. As we pass verdant terraced vineyards, enjoy the beautiful fragrance of Provençal lavender and gaze in awe at the stunning Ardèche Gorge and its remarkable suspended gardens - all accompanied by a glass or two of Burgundy's finest wine. Our popular Burgundy, the River Rhône and Provence river cruise has been reimagined to include even more of the natural beauty this region is known for – perfect for nature lovers.

Holiday Highlights

Take in the spectacular vistas of the Gorges de l'Ardèche, fringed with suspended gardens, and visit a local lavender museum to learn more about the area's most iconic plant.
Stroll through beautiful city parks – Parc de la Tête d'Or’s botanical garden in Lyon, Jardin des Villes in historic Vienne with its remarkable Roman ruins and Rocher des Doms in Avignon.
Sample the superb wines of Burgundy and journey through the atmospheric surroundings of beautiful vineyards.
Follow a guide around historic Arles and discover the meticulous landscape garden, L'Espace Van Gogh.

What's Included

Prices are per person, based on two people sharing a twin cabin with a limited number of sole occupancy cabins available, at the relevant supplement. The price includes:
Full board during your cruise from dinner on your day of arrival until breakfast on your final day
Free drinks package
Complimentary on-board tea and coffee
Complimentary on-board Wi-Fi (connection speeds may vary)
All visits and excursions as mentioned
Return flights (or Eurostar for UK customers)
Coach travel as mentioned
Transfers from the airport/station to and from the port of embarkation
English-speaking expert guides
The services of a Riviera Travel Cruise Director and Concierge

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival in Lyon - After arriving, the dedicated English-speaking crew will welcome you on board and help you to your cabin. There's plenty of time to settle in to your spacious and tastefully furnished accommodation and familiarise yourself with this five-star floating hotel.

Day 2

Lyon - We’ll enjoy breakfast on board before a guided tour of Lyon, one of France’s most fascinating cities. The Rhône Valley had been the route of choice for marauding armies and peaceful traders for centuries, and Lyon’s current site, at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône Rivers, cried out to be fortified. The green spaces are certainly not lacking in Lyon - Parc de la Tête d’Or, in the north of the 6th arrondissement, is one of France's largest parks and a wonderful place to spend a leisurely morning. A breath of fresh air in a thriving city. On our visit, budding horticulturalists will especially love exploring the three rose gardens with over 350 varieties on vibrant display (in total there’s over 30,000 rosebushes – that must take a lot of pruning).The park’s botanical gardens are a living plant museum, home to 15,000 botanical species, including an alpine garden, a herbarium, the largest collection of greenhouses in France – better watch where you step here, there’s lots of carnivorous plants, over 1,000 species of orchids and 1,400 endangered plants on display. While you enjoy your first lunch on board, the ship will quietly slip its moorings. Cruising upstream towards our next destination, Chalon-sur-Saône, we’ll catch the first glimpses of the vine-clad slopes of the hazy green Beaujolais hills as we approach one of the world’s most revered red-wine-producing regions. On our left, you’ll see the picturesque villages of Morgon, Fleury, Juliénas, Chénas and many more, while on the right you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of snow-capped Mont Blanc – Western Europe’s highest mountain. As the afternoon drifts into evening, what could be better than a cool, crisp glass in the lounge before enjoying this evening’s culinary delights in the restaurant, prepared by our outstanding chef.

Day 3

Beaune - Overnight we’ll have made steady progress north and wake up in Chalon, gateway to Burgundy and the home of Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography. As we travel towards Beaune, today’s destination, we’ll see some of the pretty yet surprisingly small villages that produce some of the world’s most sublime wines – Meursault, Volnay, Pommard, Gevrey-Chambertin and many more. Nearby is medieval Beaune, which we’ll visit for a short walking tour around the town and a wine tasting at a local cellar. As you might expect from Burgundy’s wine capital, Beaune is surrounded by vineyards that are centuries old. And - thanks to the gentle slopes with well-drained soils rich in iron and hot summers – the region produces some of the best wine in the world. Here, wine is not simply a drink - it's an embodiment of the culture. Landscapes, traditions and local history are stored in each bottle. It's no wonder they produce some of the best wines in the world here. The town itself is wonderful to wander around and, at its centre, is the Hospices de Beaune, also known as the Hôtel-Dieu. Originally built in the 15th century as a hospital for the disadvantaged, it’s a jewel of High Gothic architecture, instantly recognisable for its colourful glazed roof tiles arranged in dazzling geometric patterns. A prestigious annual wine auction takes place here each November, with proceeds going to benefit the Hospices de Beaune and its charity work - in 2022, the wine auction netted a whopping €29,788,500, breaking their own 2014 record. Of course, you can’t visit Burgundy without sampling its amazing wines, so we visit the cellars of a leading traditional winemaker for a tour and wine tasting before free time to explore at leisure. Later, we’ll return to the ship for lunch and enjoy a relaxing afternoon and evening on board taking advantage of the ship’s five-star facilities as we cruise the beautiful countryside towards Vienne.

Day 4

Vienne & Tournon - Overnight, our ship will cruise gently downstream and, as we enjoy breakfast in Vienne, there's time to explore this pretty town, including its central park, Jardin de Ville. Its flower beds are bursting with colourful blooms that break up the manicured lawns. It's the perfect place to stop and enjoy a morning coffee. Two calming pools are decorated with rocks and an old Roman road, and the remains of columns punctuate the otherwise pristine garden. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon on board – perhaps catching up on some reading or just lazing in the sun as the temperature rises, before we arrive in Tain l'Hermitage, surrounded by steep vine-covered hillsides, where another of the world’s most revered wines is produced. After dinner, perhaps take a stroll along the river and wander across the oldest suspension bridge in France to the pretty provincial town of Tournon on the opposite bank of the river, with its imposing castle and tree-lined avenues. Our mooring in Tournon offers a fitting view as we enjoy another exquisite dinner.

Day 5

Ardèche Gorges - This morning we'll cruise effortlessly downstream. In the distance, you’ll catch glimpses of the Alps and, as we approach Valence, the landscape gradually becomes less green with more ochres and magentas, the houses have sloping terracotta roofs typical of the Mediterranean and the air carries heady aromas of pine and cypress. You can only be in the Midi or – as we call it – the south of France. It’s so relaxing to catch up on some reading or just laze in the sun. This morning we'll cruise effortlessly downstream. In the distance, you’ll catch glimpses of the Alps and, as we approach Valence, the landscape gradually becomes less green with more ochres and magentas, the houses have sloping terracotta roofs typical of the Mediterranean and the air carries heady aromas of pine and cypress. You can only be in the Midi or – as we call it – the south of France. It’s so relaxing to catch up on some reading or just laze in the sun. After lunch, we'll explore one of France’s most outstanding landscapes – the Ardèche Gorges, whose scale is a fitting reminder of Mother Nature’s awesome power. Sheer limestone cliffs plunge almost 1,000 feet to the river’s blue waters, which elegantly snake their way through rock formations, culminating in a huge natural arch, the Pont d’Arc. Caves, grottoes and natural sculptures create marvellous views at every turn before we return to the gentler slopes of the Rhône Valley. We'll also visit a local lavender museum set amongst fields of fragrant lavender planted in neat rows across the landscape. This fragrant plant originated in Persia thousands of years ago, it was used by the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Celts - so there's plenty of history to discover - it was even thought to be a remedy against the plague. We'll learn how these beautiful purple fields become little bottles of essential oils explaining everything from harvest to distillation - maybe even stock up on some of their local lavender produce to take home. We'll return to the river later, where our ship will be moored in charming Viviers, a medieval town clustered around its 12th-century cathedral. We'll slip our mooring and proceed through the famous lock at Bollène, one of the deepest in France, as you relax over dinner. Tonight, we enjoy an on-board ballroom dancing performance.

Day 6

Arles & Pont du Gard - You'll wake under the azure skies of deepest Provence and amid the warm stone colours of Arles, many of whose historic monuments are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Although small in size, it was the key stronghold on the Roman road to Spain, one of the empire’s richest possessions. Seagoing ships could reach here, and the city became a regional capital, briefly ruling over Gaul, Spain and Britain. Our guided tour will help you appreciate the finer points of Arles’s magnificent Roman remains, including the splendid amphitheatre, one of the best preserved in the world, the earlier theatre built during the reign of Augustus and the Alyscamps, the ancient necropolis with its extraordinary atmosphere. The genius of an artist Van Gogh lived in Arles for just over a year, from February 1888. It was his most prolific period and, inspired by Arles and the light and beauty of the Provencal countryside. His painting Hospital in Arles, depicted the beautiful courtyard in bloom in 1888. In the L’Espace Van Gogh courtyard you can barely see the passage of time between then and now; the garden is still full of lustrous flowers which burst open in the afternoon sun. After lunch we'll visit the amazing Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct, one of the wonders of the ancient world. No amount of fame can diminish the first sight of this 2,000-year-old structure, which was the highest bridge built in the Empire –the Romans themselves considered it the most important testimony to their greatness. Its statistics are staggering: over 900 feet long and almost 160 feet high, with its stones each weighing up to six tons. To put this in perspective, the span of the Pont du Gard is greater than the width of the River Thames at London Bridge – and no mortar was used in its construction! The situation is lovely too, with pine- and cypress-covered hills adding to the harmonious setting. Re-joining the ship, we cruise along the Rhône and, during dinner, pass the imposing 15th-century castle at Tarascon standing guard on the riverbank. This evening we’ll enjoy the sumptuous Chef’s Dinner, featuring some of their signature dishes - a truly memorable experience as the ship sails towards Avignon.

Day 7

Avignon - Today, we'll embark on a guided tour of one of the most extraordinary and intriguing cities in France. Avignon’s destiny changed during the 14th century when the Pope’s court moved here to avoid strife in Rome. Igniting a century of prosperity, the Pontiff commissioned a host of ambitious building projects, and today the city is immaculately preserved, nestling behind its almost-intact 14th-century walls and boasting more remarkable monuments, superbly decorated buildings, churches, chapels and convents than you can possibly count. Most important is the Popes' Palace, made up of two buildings that together form the largest Gothic palace in the world. With turrets, towers, parapets and other fortifications, its exterior resembles a mighty fortress, while the interior is a tour de force of medieval architecture and ornamentation, adorned with priceless frescoes, Gobelin tapestries and graceful sculptures. The ceremonial hall, chapels, cloisters and private apartments are all unmissable. But to truly embrace the feel of papal Avignon, imagine yourself here during the Middle Ages amid the Palace’s rich furnishings and extravagant decoration, with cardinals, princes and ambassadors milling about its candle-lit halls and corridors, while in the streets below countless pilgrims eagerly anticipate benediction. This was Avignon’s brief golden age when it was truly the centre of Christendom. At the end of our tour, you can stroll through the gardens at the Palace of the Popes, one of only three papal gardens designed in the 14th century. It's recently been restored to pay homage to the Medieval period, shedding light on what these pleasure gardens once were. Split into two; the Pope's garden - a private intimate garden - and the Palace Garden, home to large rectangular beds brimming with Mediterranean species that records show grew in the papal gardens in the 1300s. We continue to Uzès, one of the most charming cities in the south of France, famed for its local produce and bustling textile markets. On arrival we enjoy a walking tour, strolling through the shady cobbled streets of its old town, a delightfully car-free zone, whilst admiring the pale limestone buildings with their characterful shutters and elegant wrought iron balconies. See the impressive cathedral with its quirky Pisa-like tower, contemporary artwork and ancient, intricate stained glass. Built on the site of a Roman camp, visit the Duke’s Palace with its imposing Renaissance facades, turrets and ramparts, wealth of fine art, furniture and a cellar stocked with fine champagne. Uzès became the first Duchy of France in 1632 and the present Duke and Duchess still spend the summer here. Climb the tower to enjoy panoramic views of the olive groves, garrigue and vineyards. Later, return to the luxurious surroundings of our ship, finding a quiet spot to contemplate the many wondrous gardens and flora places you’ve seen and smelled! After dinner, you can sit back and relax to the sounds of a talented local pianist who'll entertain us with French songs on board.

Day 8

Return home

It would be very easy to just say ‘luxurious’ but it’s much more than that; we have deliberately avoided the current trend for a minimalist style where you could be anywhere in the world, creating instead a unique yet exquisite blend of understated taste, style and elegance at the highest level. Immediately striking is just how exceptionally spacious this new vessel is as you enter a gleaming, richly coloured marble-floored lobby flooded with natural light from a stunning atrium above. Moving inside, exceptional creativity from Europe’s finest design studio has produced a superbly balanced masterpiece of onboard style, utilising sustainable rich hardwoods, gleaming brass and polished copper, sparkling glass and intricate wrought iron. The ship is beautifully illuminated throughout – including the exterior and imaginatively furnished with harmonious colour schemes, all designed to create the serene atmosphere reflective of the golden age of cruising which time after time you tell us you adore.

The restaurant rivals the finest on shore establishments taking fine dining to another level complemented by delicate European porcelain, gleaming glassware and the intuitive service in which the Swiss excel. This superb vessel carries 44 in-house trained crew members serving just 167 guests (similar size vessels may carry well over 190 passengers) giving the ratio which our experience proves is concurrent with our first class service levels.

Furthermore your suite will easily exceed your expectations for not only will you enjoy the most discerning décor, so too the ship’s dimensions afford the ultimate in space and comfort - a minimum 17 square metres (183 square feet), with upgrades available to ‘Superior’ and ‘Deluxe’ accommodation.

Cabins

A gleaming wood door opens revealing your exceptionally appointed suite. At 17 square metres (183 square feet), its generous dimensions are amongst the largest you will find on a cruiser gracing any European river. Imaginatively designed and appointed to the highest specification, with all the luxury you would expect to find in a smart ‘boutique style’ hotel, your comfort definitely won’t be compromised on any level!

The sparkling marble bathroom features a powerful fully glazed shower with a large ‘rainshower’ head, superbly refreshing after a hard day’s sightseeing. Clever design allows for ample space, and contemporary lighting, complimentary quality cosmetics and fluffy towels, makes preparing for the day ahead an absolute pleasure.

The chic styling of a talented designer’s eye extends to the entire suite with generous use of hand-crafted tropical hardwoods blended with premium fittings, discreet thoughtful lighting and a colour scheme of calming neutral tones, creating an ambience to put you in the most relaxed frame of mind from the very first minute! A full size bed assures a good night’s rest in crisp cotton linen of the finest quality - a turndown service each evening adds the finishing touch. Please note all suites have two twin beds with individual bedding which can be moved together or separated accordingly.

You will enjoy a particularly generous seating area with two chairs and a table, enabling you to unwind in comfort in the privacy of your own suite whilst a bow camera conveys live images of the ship’s progress to your flat screen TV, ensuring you won’t miss a thing. Careful consideration has been given to the tiniest details with individually controlled air-conditioning so you set the temperature that you desire, a hairdryer, safe, mini fridge, telephone and the convenience of tea (our meticulous planning even extends to familiar teabags!) and coffee making facilities ensure a home from home experience.

Suites on the Diamond and Ruby Decks have ‘French Balconies’ – panoramic floor to ceiling sliding glass doors bringing riverside life just that little closer!

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Deck Plan

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