Cruising the Rhone - Romans, Popes and Cave Paintings

We arrive in Chalon-sur-Saône and have an early lunch. After our day’s visits, we return to the ship in the evening and sit down to dinner onboard.

Exclusive Andante excursion: Our first stop today is the Gallo-Roman site of Bibracte – a training ground for archaeologists, where new discoveries are constantly made. This site is located in the centre of a protected wood. We also visit the Museum of Celtic Civilisation, where we can learn all about the ancient Aedui who lived here.

This morning, we wake in Mâcon and set off for our archaeological explorations. We return to the ship in Trévoux and enjoy another evening of dining and cruising.

Exclusive Andante excursion: Today we visit the world-famous abbey at Cluny, a Benedictine monastery that was destroyed during the French Revolution, but whose remains testify to its power and wealth. Later, we continue to the Roche de Solutré, a prehistoric site that was the centre of Solutrean palaeolithic culture. Here, we will also visit the Prehistoric Museum.

Back in Lyon this morning, we have breakfast before making our way to our first site visit. We return to our ship for lunch and cruise onwards to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Exclusive Andante excursion: We depart for Vienne, the erstwhile capital of the Allobroges, transformed into a Roman colony under Julius Caesar and later the provincial capital. During our time here, we explore the Roman theatre, which could hold around 11,000 spectators within its 46 tiered rows, and we also pay a visit to the Temple of Augustus and Livia.

Today we arrive in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and leave our ship to visit a series of sites and museums. Later, we continue to Avignon, where we have some free time and can visit the Papal Palace.

Exclusive Andante excursion: The iconic Pont du Gard is our first port of call today. This is the tallest-surviving aqueduct, which carried water over 50km to Nîmes. We then continue to the city of Nîmes to explore the impressive Roman amphitheatre. Next, we visit the Maison Carrée, a well-preserved temple façade, and we end at the Musée de la Romanite.

We enjoy cruising this morning and head out for more touring. We return to our ship in Arles, later.

Exclusive Andante excursion: We travel to Arles to visit the amphitheatre, theatre and the Roman necropolis of Alyscamps.

This morning we awake in Viviers and cruise onwards to Ardèche. Our return to the ship follows later in La Voulte-sur-Rhône and, from here, we cruise to Lyon.

Exclusive Andante excursion: In Ardèche, we visit the facsimile Cave of Chauvet II, which recreates the cave paintings discovered in 1994 and closed to the public since. This is the largest facsimile cave ever built and offers full-sized reproductions of the paintings of animals.

After breakfast onboard, we disembark for one final visit. Later, we transfer to Lyon airport and fly home.

Exclusive Andante excursion: Our last excursion of the tour is to Le Jardin Archéologique, a UNESCO-listed site that is home to the excavated ruins of two churches.