Local Living Tours & Trips in Southern France

Walk through the medieval streets of Besalù and see the 12th-century Jewish baths, then have dinner at local restaurants inside Carcassonne's illuminated fortified walls. Stay at the Panorama or AC Hotel Som by Marriott in Andorra La Vella, with easy access to the principality's commercial center and the Sant Joan de Caselles Romanesque church. Wander around the French Catalonia coastline in Collioure, walking its narrow alleys and harbor while visiting Antonio Machado's tomb.

Try wine tasting and local sweets at an old winery in Riquewihr, a medieval village with cobblestone streets. Check out Collioure's port and castle built on Roman foundations, then have dinner in Carcassonne's lit-up Cité and stroll Marseille's Vieux Port with its many small restaurants.

Try farm-to-table cuisine in Occitanie with a traditional lunch near Pont du Gard, then check out Nîmes' Roman amphitheater and UNESCO-listed Maison Carrée. In Lyon, wander the cobblestone Traboules passages and visit Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière for great views.

Stay at the 18th-century Hôtel Charembeau farmhouse for four nights and check out Forcalquier's 200-stall market with your tour leader. Sample local Banon cheese with a producer and try olive oil tastings at the Jaubert family's Les Grandes Marges farm in Valensole. Walk through medieval Lourmarin's narrow streets and see the fountains of Bonnieux's High Church.

At Georges Blanc's three-Michelin-star restaurant in Vonnas, you'll watch a cooking demonstration before heading to Beaune's Gothic Les Hospices de Beaune hospital-turned-museum. Hike terraced vineyards above Tournon and try wine tastings at Burgundy's Côte de Beaune estates.

Chef Fabien Morreale prepares a special Provençal dinner in Arles, then you'll see spots where van Gogh painted 'Starry Night Over the Rhône'. Walk Viviers' medieval streets with sun-faded pastel buildings and taste local wines in Tournon below its 16th-century castle.

Starting in the coastal town of Collioure, you can visit Antonio Machado's tomb and wander narrow medieval alleys. You'll spend time at Marseille's Vieux Port with its numerous small restaurants, stroll through Aix-en-Provence's picturesque squares and fountains where locals gather, and walk through Avignon's historic walled city once known as the 'second Rome.'

Cruise the Rhône and Saône rivers aboard the 5-star Scenic Sapphire through Provence and Burgundy. Walk medieval streets in Viviers and Tournus, see the UNESCO-listed Palais des Papes in Avignon, and try truffle foraging with a local farmer and their hound near Chalon-sur-Saône.

Walk medieval Viviers' streets and see the 11th-century Cathedral of St. Vincent, then head to Les Andelys beneath Château Gaillard's limestone cliffs. At a local organic farm in Provence, you'll learn how lavender oil is made and create your own cream to take home.

Shop with your Scenic chef at Avignon's local market for fresh ingredients, then learn traditional Provençal recipes at the onboard Scenic Culinaire cooking school. Visit a lavender farm in Luberon to learn extraction techniques and create your own lavender-based cream.