Grand Rhône Valley Wine Tour

Day 1

Self-drive to Lyon, France’s third-largest city and its gastronomic capital. Located at the north of the Rhône Valley, it’s the ideal place to begin your week’s exploration of Rhône wines.

After checking into your period hotel in the heart of the Vieux Lyon, you’re free to start exploring the city. Treat your taste buds to a visit to Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, Lyon’s indoor food market, which has acquired an almost mythic reputation. Or get your week off to a flying start with a meal at the Michelin two-star Restaurant Paul Bocuse.

Day 2

After breakfast, your private guide will collect you for a full-day chauffeured wine tasting tour in the northern Rhône Valley, concentrating on Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu.

Côte-Rôtie is a prestigious red wine appellation famed for its robust Syrah, while Condrieu specialises in Viognier. You’ll visit a selection of family-run vineyards, some of which span both appellations, where you can sample these intense, aromatic wines and enjoy a vineyard lunch paired with local wines.

Day 3

After breakfast, make your way to Mirmande in the Drôme Valley, a drive of around 90 minutes. After checking into your charming hotel close to the centre of the village, you can spend the rest of the day exploring.

Regarded as one of the prettiest villages in France, you’ll be enchanted by this ramparted medieval village, as you wander between stone houses adorned with flowers and peer over rooftops to the unspoilt countryside beyond.

Day 4

After breakfast, your private guide will collect you for a full-day chauffeured wine tour spanning a different region of the northern Rhône Valley. You’ll explore the vineyards and terrior of the Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage and Cornas appellations, and sample a selection of their famed vintages.

As with all northern Rhône appellations, the majority of wines produced here are powerful Syrah reds, though there are some interesting whites to sample too. You’ll also savour the flavours of the region with a local lunch paired with wines.

Day 5

Today you’ll drive to the southern Rhône Valley, responsible for c.95% of all Rhône wines including the prestigious appellations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras. Your base for the next two nights is a luxurious hotel set in a sixteenth-century manor house in the centre of Avignon, a drive of a little over an hour.

Spend your afternoon exploring the walled old town and UNESCO-listed Palais des Papes. And after all that wandering, why not treat yourself to a Michelin-starred dinner at your hotel?

Day 6

Today you’ll start to experience the differences between the wines and terroir of the northern and southern Rhône, with a full-day private chauffeured wine tour of Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Beaumes-de-Venise.

Reds still dominate in the south, but blends are more common with Grenache the dominant varietal. As well as bold reds, you’ll savour some whites, rosé and the sweet Muscat-based wines of Beaumes-de-Venise, and tuck into a local lunch with wine pairings.

Day 7

Your final full-day wine tour takes you to the original cru of the southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape – the wine of popes and kings – where you’ll visit one of the appellation’s most celebrated vineyards for a tour and tasting.

The day includes a fine vineyard lunch of Provonçal cuisine completed by wines and a superb view over wine terraces and castle walls. You’ll also visit the nearby appellation of Lirac and sample the dry rosé wines of Tavel.

Day 8

Your Rhône Valley wine tour draws to a close today so it’s time to head home with happy memories – and a case or two of wine! If you’re not yet ready to return home, perhaps you’d like to extend your trip to see a little more of Provence with our Avignon to Cannes tour along the glitzy French Riviera?