Top Travel Tips for the Best Vacation!

I get asked a lot of questions on tours and some of my responses come as a surprise. So, I wanted to share them! Hopefully this helps make your future trips run more smoothly. Some are more France-centric and others are useful worldwide. As always, feel free to email with any questions aquitaineguide@gmail.com

Tips for Travel

1. Book tours directly with the provider, companies like TripAdvisor take at least 30% or more of each tour you pay for. They are great for finding reviews and ensuring you chose a great tour, but that’s where the benefits end.
2. Many shops and restaurants are closed Sunday and Monday, so the best days for food tours are Tuesday-Saturday. Having said that, tours are generally great on Monday as so much is closed and only local guides will know where to go! They are a great way to take up time and learn an area!
3. In France, the small wine producers generally take weekends off. Book your vineyard tours for Monday-Friday if seeing the smaller, family style vineyards is your priority.
4. Take lunch at the best restaurants for the best value, and generally less crowded dining rooms. Same food and service, at sometimes half the price! Especially look for the ‘menu du jour’.
5. Book plane tickets through the airline directly for better service if there are later travel issues. Kayak and other search engines are great for finding deals, but their customer service is generally not as efficient as the airlines.
6. Choose one location as your base and use it to explore locally to get to really know the culture of an area. Embracing ‘slow travel’ is a great way to help local communities.
7. Bring comfortable shoes and spend at least one day walking and exploring with no direction planned, some of the best days are just spend meandering! Renting a bicycle is also a good idea, in the countryside there are miles of trails to take you between villages!
8. Book all excursions as soon as you can, ideally weeks before you arrive to be sure you can get in. Popular locations, especially in cities like Paris, book up well in advance. This goes for restaurants, excursions and points of interest (like the Eiffel Tower).

Thanks for reading and hope to see you on a tour in the future!