Avignon, the Rhône & Provence

We meet at our Departure Office at London St Pancras, and travel on the Eurostar to Avignon via Paris. On arrival, we transfer to our hotel for the next six nights before dinner at a local restaurant.

• Dinner
• Eurostar Meal

Today we take a relaxing cruise along the River Rhône, enjoying lunch as we sail through picturesque scenery to Arles, once home to Vincent van Gogh. Boasting a beautifully preserved centre, the city has one of Europe's best collections of Roman ruins, including a mighty arena that would have seated about 20,000 people. We have free time to explore before returning to Avignon by rail.

• Breakfast, Lunch

This morning we enjoy a guided walking tour of charming Avignon. The city is well known for the Pont St Bénezet, its famous broken bridge. All but four of its arches were washed away in a devastating flood in 1668 - and today the surviving arches have become an iconic symbol of the city, and the feature of a famous song. The city is also famous for the Palais des Papes - Palace of the Popes - which was the seat of the Papacy for six successive Popes during the 14th century after Pope Clement V escaped the violent chaos and corruption of Rome and moved to Avignon.

We admire both of these striking landmarks - which now form the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site - as we pass them during our guided sightseeing tour. The afternoon is free for you to explore Avignon at leisure. Stoll through the city's broad,tree-lined avenues and explore the intriguing network of alleyways and passages that connect beautiful open squares and pretty churches.

• Day 3 - Breakfast
• Day 4 - Breakfast

We travel by coach to the petit village of Saint Didier for a visit to Nougaterie Silvain, the home of local nougat production. Breathe in the scent of honey and toasted almonds as we explore the manufacturing workshop, learning about the history of this sweet treat before sampling a selection for ourselves. We continue by coach to Isle sur-la-Sorgue, known as the 'Venice of Provence' thanks to the canals which criss cross the town. We sit down for lunch in a local restaurant before some free time. Later, we visit Gordes, a beautiful old village built on and around an outcrop of rocky cliffs and crowned by its 12th-century castle. There's free time here to discover why Gordes is listed as one of 'Les Plus Beaux Villages de France' - 'the Most Beautiful Villages in France', before we return to our hotel.

• Breakfast, Lunch

Today we travel by coach to the stunning Pont du Gard, the world famous threelevel stone aqueduct, which crosses the Gardon River Valley. Built by the Romans in 19BC, the incredible engineering feat was designed to bring water to the settlement at Nimes, for use in public baths, fountains and private residences. The gradient of the slope as it crosses the river is just 1 in 3,000 - a drop of just 2.5cm - which shows the incredible precision of the Roman engineers who designed and built the aqueduct with the simple technology available to them over 2,000 years ago.

The Pont du Gard enjoys UNESCO World Heritage status, as one of the greatest remaining iconic glories of the Roman Empire. Our excursion continues to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a medieval village built on a hillside and overlooked by the ruins of an ancient château. The village is perhaps the most famous red wine producing village in the world and is surrounded almost completely by vineyards, with the River Rhône winding across the landscape.

You have time to enjoy lunch at a local restaurant, explore the village and indulge yourself with an included wine tasting, giving us the chance to sample some of the region's most celebrated drinks before we return to Avignon. Here a farewell dinner is served at a local restaurant.

• Breakfast, Dinner

We leave Avignon and join the Eurostar service to London St Pancras, travelling via Paris.

• Breakfast
• Eurostar Meal