France · the Rhône and the Saône
Burgundy & Provence
Lyon to Arles and back — Cluny, Beaune, the Camargue and the Pont d’Arc.
France · the Rhône and the Saône
Lyon to Arles and back — Cluny, Beaune, the Camargue and the Pont d’Arc.
Cruise line
Amadeus River Cruises
Length
8 days
Rivers
Rhône & Saône
Route
Round trip from Lyon
From
$2,400 per person
The route
Eight days from Lyon: north up the Saône into Burgundy for Cluny, Beaune and the countryside around them, then south down the Rhône through Avignon and Arles to the edge of the Camargue, before returning to Lyon.
Day by day
Embarkation from 4:00 PM
Arrival & Embarkation
Arrive in Lyon and board the ship this afternoon, with time to settle in before dinner.
We don’t leave until late tonight, heading north up the Saône into Burgundy.
Cluny, Pierreclos & the Beaujolais
This morning, the ruins of Cluny Abbey. For six hundred years this was the largest church in Christendom and the head of a monastic network that reached across Europe; enough survives to show the scale of it.
Continue to the medieval Château de Pierreclos, with its vaulted cellars, armory and dungeons.
In the afternoon, out through the Beaujolais and Mâconnais countryside — steep green hillsides, stone villages and long views — to the visitor park at Hameau Duboeuf, with its exhibits and films on the farming life of the region.
Beaune, Brancion & Cormatin
Begin in Beaune, the old heart of Burgundy. At the Hôtel-Dieu — a fifteenth-century charity hospital under a famous patterned tile roof — we’ll see Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgment altarpiece.
In the afternoon, follow the country roads to the medieval village of Brancion and the Château de Cormatin, with its seventeenth-century rooms and gardens.
We rejoin the ship at Tournus rather than Chalon, and sail for Lyon.
Vieux Lyon & Les Halles
Back in Lyon, and a choice of how to spend the morning.
The guided tour takes in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière above the city, St-Jean Cathedral and the streets of Vieux Lyon, the UNESCO-listed old town.
Or spend the morning eating, on the culinary excursion through Les Halles Paul Bocuse — Lyon’s covered market — tasting cheeses, pastries and other regional specialties.
The Papal Palace & the Pont du Gard
Avignon was the seat of the papacy for most of the fourteenth century, and the Palais des Papes it left behind is the largest Gothic palace in Europe. We’ll walk the old streets and go inside.
In the afternoon, out to the Pont du Gard — a Roman aqueduct built without mortar and still standing after two thousand years — then the small town of Uzès.
Local musicians play on board in the evening.
Roman Arles & the Camargue
Arles has a Roman arena still in use and the café Van Gogh painted as The Night Café. The morning walking tour covers both.
The afternoon is a choice. The Camargue is the Rhône delta — white horses, semi-wild bulls and flamingos — finishing at the coastal village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Or take the e-bike tour through the Tour du Valat nature reserve, which gets you closer to the birds and the landscape.
The Ardèche & Valrhona
Another choice this morning. The Ardèche Gorge holds the Pont d’Arc, a natural limestone arch spanning the river.
Or go to Grignan instead — a medieval hill town — for a truffle farm and tasting.
Later, Tournon and the Valrhona chocolate museum. The gala dinner is tonight.
Disembarkation after breakfast
Arrive back in Lyon early this morning, where the cruise ends after breakfast.
Itinerary, ports and included excursions as published by Amadeus River Cruises for the 2027 season. Times and calls can change with river conditions. Operator’s page · Ask me about this sailing