Contiki Review: France in a Week

I did my first Contiki (Ireland in a Week) in November 2024. I absolutely loved both the experiences and the people I met. So, when heard about the France in a Week tour, I immediately wanted to go!

In this article I’ll be chatting about just a few of my personal highlights of this tour.

Day 1: Welcome meeting

I arrived in Paris (Carles De Gaulle – CDG) with my cousin around 10am the day the tour started and we made our way from the airport to the starting hotel to get checked in. We met up with a few travelers before the tour in the hotel lobby, grabbed a snack at the grocery store right beside, and chatted until our kickstart meeting with our awesome Trip Manager Luis.

Luis gave us a breakdown of what to expect for the week – especially since this was the first France in a Week tour running. We then selected which of the free time add-ons we wanted to do and paid for those within the next day or 2.

After the kickstart meeting we had our welcome dinner at the hotel restaurant and got to know a bunch of the other travelers! There was a mix of travelers from Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, UK and South Africa and a full age range of 18-35s!

Night 1: Paris Orientation Drive

After dinner our coach driver, Alan, drove us around for a tour of Paris to see some of the iconic locations like Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and more. We stopped at the Montparnasse tower and went right to the top to get an amazing view of the city of Paris at sunset.

At the end of the drive, we stopped at the Eiffel Tower to see the first sparkle of the night. With the sun setting later at night in June, we weren’t sure if it would actually sparkle by the time we got there (just before 10pm) but we were dropped off a few blocks away, minutes from 10pm and when it finally was, we saw some sparkles through the trees, so, our group literally ran to the tower so we wouldn’t miss a second! It felt unreal to see!!!

Side note – the Eiffel Tower only sparkles for 5 minutes at the top of every hour, so, it was super important that we didn’t miss the first sparkle of the night!

After all the excitement from day 1, we hopped back on the coach to head back to the hotel for the night.

Day 4: Mont Saint-Michel & Château de Chambord

On day 4, we made our way from Normandy to our first stop of the day, Mont Saint-Michel.  We arrived at the wooden bridge entrance before the medieval landmark and made our way in. We explored all the cobble stone paths throughout. It was so cool to be able to see the diverse architecture! We stopped in some shops that they now have before popping into a cafe for some sandwiches. There are even hotels throughout the structure that travelers can stay at, which would be an amazing experience!

Then we headed to the grand 16^th-century Château de Chambord which King François I built as a hunting lodge – a very large hunting lodge. We walked through the château to explore all of the different rooms constructed from white limestone and saw many beautiful portraits and hunting paintings. After exploring the inside of the château, we ventured to the manicured gardens where we grabbed some delicious gelato!

Day 4 truly felt like a fairytale while visiting these incredible locations!

Last night: Moulin Rouge!

Finaly, my absolute favourite experience of the tour, the Moulin Rouge. This was on the last night of the tour, which was perfect to end on such a high! Even just walking into the venue with our Contiki family felt surreal! It was decorated beautifully, and you could feel the history. The waitstaff were incredible and greeted us with a glass of wine while we sat at our table to wait for our 1st of 3 courses for dinner. Our server came by frequently as well to top up our glasses! Each course was filled with genuinely some of the best food I’d ever had. Course one for me was a plate of veal with a small salad, course 2 was chicken, mashed potatoes and some greens, and for dessert was an almond strawberry cake!

After we finished up dinner our server came back around for the last time before the show started to pour us some champagne. There was of course no filming allowed due to some nudity within the show, but I think that made it more special since nobody was focused on their phones. Then as the lights dimmed, everyone sat back in anticipation as the performers came out! Each performer brought something special to the show with varying types of dancing, gymnastics, and more! Moulin Rouge for me was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’m so grateful I was able to see, and I’m so glad I chose to purchase this free time add-on during the tour.

Following the show, nobody wanted the night to end of course, so we headed to the bar next door for our final night with our Contiki family. Some people stayed for a few songs, some stayed all night. For me, after a few hours dancing and singing, it was time to say goodbye to everyone I had spent such an amazing week with. 

To wrap this up, I’m so happy I did this tour, and I would recommend it whether you’re traveling solo or with someone! I made so many amazing memories and new friends who I had the best time ever with and will never forget <3. 

Now onto the next adventure!!!