General Private Tour Recommendations

[Loonbeam]

Hello All:

 

In October 2012, we'll be porting for the first time in Provence (Toulon) (7AM to 5PM) and Cannes (Monte Carlo) (7 AM-8PM Tendered).

 

We're looking for good recommendations for private tour operators (for a comparable example, think Rome-In-Limo or Classic England) and good first-time itineraries. I've been scanning recent posts but they seem to be more focused on self-directed travel - which I can do, just don't want to).. The key for us is flexibility and good drivers.

 

Any pointers would be helpful, i.e. can't misses, etc.

 

(I hate posting such a general question, but when it comes to France I have no good baseline for info as opposed to Italy.)

[sippican]

Hello All:

 

In October 2012, we'll be porting for the first time in Provence (Toulon) (7AM to 5PM) and Cannes (Monte Carlo) (7 AM-8PM Tendered).

 

We're looking for good recommendations for private tour operators (for a comparable example, think Rome-In-Limo or Classic England) and good first-time itineraries. I've been scanning recent posts but they seem to be more focused on self-directed travel - which I can do, just don't want to).. The key for us is flexibility and good drivers.

 

Any pointers would be helpful, i.e. can't misses, etc.

 

(I hate posting such a general question, but when it comes to France I have no good baseline for info as opposed to Italy.)

 

We had origianlly planned to DIY in the French Riviera, but changed our minds fairly close to the sailing (a very wise decision, as it turned out). We tried to book with Sylvie DiCristo, as frequently recommended on this board, but she was not available. We ended up arranging a private tour with Michel of Exclusive Riviera.

http://frenchrivierasightseeing-tourguide.com/

Our experience was so good, it remains one of our favorite days of the entire cruise (and we toured with RIL too).

Not knowing your interests, it is hard to recommend an itinerary. Michel grew up in the area and he would be happy to make suggestions and tailor the tour to your interests. We loved St. Paul De Vence, and climbing to the gardens of the village of Eze.

Good luck with your plans.

[Loonbeam]

Thank you.. I will contact Michel asap to see what he says, and will also look up Sylvie to get some quotes, etc...

 

We had origianlly planned to DIY in the French Riviera, but changed our minds fairly close to the sailing (a very wise decision, as it turned out). We tried to book with Sylvie DiCristo, as frequently recommended on this board, but she was not available. We ended up arranging a private tour with Michel of Exclusive Riviera.

http://frenchrivierasightseeing-tourguide.com/

Our experience was so good, it remains one of our favorite days of the entire cruise (and we toured with RIL too).

Not knowing your interests, it is hard to recommend an itinerary. Michel grew up in the area and he would be happy to make suggestions and tailor the tour to your interests. We loved St. Paul De Vence, and climbing to the gardens of the village of Eze.

Good luck with your plans.

[Loonbeam]

As a follow-up, after a long and delightful email chain with Silvie, we have booked her services for our cruise, she sounds wonderful. She also recommended Catherine d'Antuono in Toulon. I've contacted her, but does anyone have any recent experiences to share? (thread search shows mostly 2010 tours)...

[kazu]

Hello All:

 

In October 2012, we'll be porting for the first time in Provence (Toulon) (7AM to 5PM) and Cannes (Monte Carlo) (7 AM-8PM Tendered).

 

We're looking for good recommendations for private tour operators (for a comparable example, think Rome-In-Limo or Classic England) and good first-time itineraries. I've been scanning recent posts but they seem to be more focused on self-directed travel - which I can do, just don't want to).. The key for us is flexibility and good drivers.

 

Any pointers would be helpful, i.e. can't misses, etc.

 

(I hate posting such a general question, but when it comes to France I have no good baseline for info as opposed to Italy.)

 

We used Sylive di Cristo in Monaco - the best tour guide we have ever had. Here is her details

Sylvie Di Cristo

Licensed National French Tour guide

Alpes Guides Interprètes

Port/Cell : (00.33) 06.09.88.83.83

NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS: DiCristoSylvie@Gmail.com

NEW WEBSITE: www.FrenchRivieraGuides.net

She may be a couple more euros than others, but she is definitely worth it IMO:D

[merprincess]

As a follow-up, after a long and delightful email chain with Silvie, we have booked her services for our cruise, she sounds wonderful. She also recommended Catherine d'Antuono in Toulon. I've contacted her, but does anyone have any recent experiences to share? (thread search shows mostly 2010 tours)...

 

We used Sylvie for our May 2011 tour. She was fantastic and really worked to gear our tour to our specific interests. She is charming and very personable.

[World Gallery]

Thanks for posting these tour companies. We too are docking in Toulon in June and I couldn't seem to find any tour guides.

For the ones recommend, do you know if they have options close to Toulon? we would prefer not to have a long drive. We are traveling with our 5 children ages 11-18. We would like something of interest to them without a lot of drive time.

[Loonbeam]

I'd contact Catherine. So far she seems excellent and flexible. We have not gotten too detailed regarding an itinerary with her yet so I can't speak to specifics..

 

http://www.provence-travel.com/day-trips.php

 

Thanks for posting these tour companies. We too are docking in Toulon in June and I couldn't seem to find any tour guides.

For the ones recommend, do you know if they have options close to Toulon? we would prefer not to have a long drive. We are traveling with our 5 children ages 11-18. We would like something of interest to them without a lot of drive time.

[ILoveScotland]

As a follow-up, after a long and delightful email chain with Silvie, we have booked her services for our cruise, she sounds wonderful. She also recommended Catherine d'Antuono in Toulon. I've contacted her, but does anyone have any recent experiences to share? (thread search shows mostly 2010 tours)...

 

Not recently but still another recommendation for Silvie. I was the person arranging the tour with her in November 2006. She was helpful and easy to work with as I tried to make sure all 8 or maybe 10 of us had a say in what we did and where we went. She was pleasant, gave good information along the way and took us to the places we wanted to see.

 

At the end of the tour we each paid which meant I didn't have to collect the money. And then...after we were back on the ship I received an e-mail from Silvie saying she'd been shortchanged $50. There had been the usual back and forth exchange of having the exact cash, etc. so perhaps the mistake was made in the shuffle. Anyway, I contacted all the others on the tour, and everyone said they had paid the full amount.

 

Silvie and I both had our suspicions about one couple who did not pay, but we couldn't prove it. I offered to personally pay her the $50, and she said no. She would absorb the loss.

 

I write all of that to tell you the kind of person I found her to be which is not just an excellent tour guide who works your desires and who pushes none of her agenda and who was willing to take a loss rather than having me pay the amount she was short changed.

 

I think you've made a good choice.