Half and Full-day excursions explore exceptional chateaux and historic gardens outside of Paris.
Picturesque Voyages day tours are designed for a leisurely pace, allowing ample time to fully appreciate extraordinary architecture and garden design. We evoke the history of the chateau owners – the lavish parties and personal intrigues that contributed to the history of France – and consider how these magnificent sites influence world cultural heritage.
Admission tickets are an additional per person fee, they are pre-purchased by us and non-refundable. We can arrange private transportation and propose luncheon options that typify French cuisine and local specialties. Car service and dining costs are in addition to the tour fee.
Then & Now: Each tour begins with an iBook presentation of images selected from historical archives, providing a comparative context for viewing Paris today. After the tour, you can add your own photos to create a personal souvenir of your Picturesque Voyage.
Picturesque Voyages Tours Adhere to Recommended Health and Safety Guidelines
- Masks can be provided upon request.
- Tours are limited to 6 people. Family groups may be larger.
- All garden and walking tours maintain social distancing standards.
Custom tours are our specialty. Contact us to plan a personalized itinerary for a most memorable, life-long learning experience.
Versailles
Full-Day Tour: The Château and the Petit Park (Prices Available Upon Request)
Our visit to Versailles considers how Louis XIV developed a landscape garden that embodied the absolute power of the French monarchy for over 200 years. André Le Nôtre, the exceptionally talented landscape architect, refined the French formal garden style for the Sun King. We examine the political, social, and cultural aspects of LeNotre’s design as we discover the allées, bosquets, fountains, and exceptional plantings.
Our Versailles tour focuses on the chateau and the Petit Park. If you are interested in visiting Marie-Antoinette’s domain, please visit our Marie-Antoinette Tours Page.
If you are looking for to visit areas of Versailles closed to the general public, see our Exclusive Tours Page.
Vaux-le-Vicomte
Full-Day Tour: The Château and Gardens (Prices Available Upon Request. This is an ideal trip for families)
The château and gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte predated the development of Versailles and are widely considered the most beautiful example of 17th-century French gardens. The privately owned château once belonged to Nicolas Fouquet. Fouquet commissioned three of the greatest artists of his time – the painter Charles LeBrun, the architect Louis LeVau, and the landscape architect André LeNôtre – who together transformed French art, architecture, and landscape design. We combine our visit with a short trip to the nearby château of Blandy-les-Tours, a medieval fortress that provides an opportunity to better understand how Fouquet encouraged LeNôtre to create the modern cultural landscape.
Giverny
6-hour Tour: Gardens and Museums (Prices Available Upon Request, tickets included. Transport and lunch options can be arranged at an additional fee)
When Claude Monet settled at the house in Giverny in 1883, he was still a struggling painter. At his death 43 years later, he had transformed the surrounding landscape into a private garden that not only inspired other artists but also has come to define the Impressionist movement. Our visit to Giverny is a celebration of floriculture for garden lovers in all seasons. We also visit the Musées des Impressionismes, featuring temporary exhibitions and surrounded by a garden inspired by Giverny and conceived by the American landscape architect Mark Rudkin.
Joséphine Bonaparte at Malmaison
4-Hour Garden and Museum Tour (Prices Available Upon request)
Located 12 kilometers outside Paris, Le Malmaison was purchased by Empress Josephine, who transformed the grounds into a flourishing English-style garden. The house museum provides a glimpse into the private life of Napoleon and Josephine, whose passionate love affair, marriage, and divorce captivated contemporaries. Josephine found solace and amusement at Malmaison, where she dedicated herself to her garden and natural history (she raised black swans and kangaroos on the estate) and passionately pursued floriculture. Over 2,000 plants were acclimated to France for the first time at Malmaison, including purple magnolia, tree peony, hibiscus, camellias, and dahlias. Josephine also collected more than 250 varieties of roses. Some of these varieties continue to bloom in the gardens.
Chantilly
Full-Day Tour: Château and Garden (Prices Available Upon request)
The Domaine at Chantilly still resembles a royal estate: an historic château, an exceptional art collection, horse stables, and gardens designed by André LeNôtre. The present-day château was singularly remodeled by Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale, who was one of the most important 19th-century collectors of magnificent paintings and rare books. Our tour of Chantilly includes a visit to the restored apartments, art collections and the gardens. We will visit the kitchens where one of the first celebrity chefs, Vatel, introduced nouvelle cuisine. In the garden we will enjoy a tasting of one of his most celebrated recipes for Chantilly cream.
Caillebotte Estate at Yerres
Full-Day Tour: House and Garden (Prices Available Upon request)
A lesser-known fact about Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte was his talent as a gardener, something which can be witnessed firsthand on a visit to his former home, found a mere 40-minute drive from central Paris. It was on his family’s estate in Yerres, that Caillebotte painted his first studies of gardens and nature, which sparked his interest in painting. Exhibiting in the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876, Caillebotte also helped support the fellow artists of the movement by purchasing their works, 40 of which are part of the collections at the Musée d’Orsay. We’ll be able to explore his career, collections and inspirations on this half-day excursion.
Chaalis Abbey
Full-Day Tour: Abbey Museum and Garden (Prices Available Upon request)
A lesser-known gem located 50 kilometers north of Paris, the Chaalis Abbey is a unique excursion combining art, architecture, and gardens. The site consists of the ruins of a Medieval Cistercian Abbey, restored mid-18th century buildings that were converted into a chateau after the Revolution, and a stunning park. In 1902 the property was acquired by art collector Nélie Jacquemart-André and today houses part of her collection, an annex of the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris. A visit to the Abbey includes the interior of the Abbey and a tour of the grounds and its world-renowned rose garden. Learn more about the Abbey and Nélie Jacquemart-André in this article on our blog.
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