Cultural

TRAVEL THROUGH TIME, on the cobbled streets of France

France is a country that prides itself on its strong connection to the past. Every corner of France contains remnants of its heritage: medieval villages, fortresses, castles, grand châteaux and cathedrals.

Ophorus offers a multitude of possibilities to explore the deep cultural and historical tradition of France. Choose your location, and the type of tour you would like, and let Ophorus take care of the rest. Below is a small selection of the best cultural walking tours, day trips & packages that we offer in France.

1. Paris & its Museums: Follow our expert licensed tour guides and visit the most important cultural sites of Paris including world renowned Museums such as The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Musée Pompidou or Musée Carnavalet.

2. Versailles Palace & Gardens: Take part in one of our small group tours that leaves Paris and heads to the Palace of Versailles. Follow one of our licensed tour guides on a private or shared guided tour of this most important cultural monument of France.

3. Normandy & the Mont Saint Michel: Known for the World War II Normandy beaches of D-Day to many, it is also the region that is home to one of the most visited sights of France, the Mont Saint Michel. We organize unique tours departing from Bayeux, Cherbourg and Saint Malo Cruise Ports to this Unesco World Heritage Site.

4. Dordogne & the Paleolithic cave paintings: The Dordogne is certainly one of the most fascinating regions of the South of France. Not only does it possess some of the oldest representations of Cave Art with Font de Gaume & Lascaux caves, it is also dotted with impressive Medieval Castles. From Sarlat we operate Cultural tours with small groups of like minded guests.

5. Alsace & its traditional villages: Our local guides of Alsace are proud to bring our guests to some of the most beautiful and authentic villages that can be found in La Belle France! Colmar should absolutely be on your bucket list. Add to that the local French Cuisine and delicious wine tasting sessions, you will then be culturally immersed in the smallest region of France.

6. The Loire Valley & its Renaissance Castles: A Cultural France Tour would make no sense if one did not visit the Loire Valley. Chenonceau, Chambord, Azay le Rideau are just a few of the Renaissance castles that we will have you visit in this region.

7. Languedoc & The Cathars: From Toulouse or Port Vendres & Sete Cruise Ports, listen to the story of the Cathars & Catharism, a Christian dualist movement that existed during the 12th to 14th centuries. Visit mighty Carcassonne, one of the most well preserved medieval fortress of Europe. Other important cultural sights of the Languedoc include Minerve, Montségur and Lavaur.

8. The Gothic Cathedrals of France: Mainly located in the Northern Part of France, we have included some of the most stunning in a number of our day trips and tours in France. There are more than 100 Gothic Cathedrals in France and some of our favorites include Reims, Strasbourg, Chartres, Albi and Paris of course.

9. Rocamadour: A unique Cultural sight to itself, Rocamadour is a small village located in Southern France, in the Quercy area. The village is renowned for its historical monuments and its sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which for centuries has brought pilgrims from every country, among them Kings, Bishops, and Nobles.

10. Our Guided Walking Tours: We organize a number of guided walking tours in the most important cities and towns of France. Always conducted by licensed tour guides, our guided walking tours will have you visit the most important landmarks a destination has to offer. History, Architecture, Art & incredible anecdotes make that our tours are both Fun & Informative!