River Seine Discovery

Start your holiday with a flight to Paris, the elegant French capital, where you’ll be met by your friendly local tour manager and escorted to your CroisiEurope ship, MS Seine Princess.  

Once you’ve boarded and completed check in this evening, you’ll have the rest of the day free to settle into your cabin and meet the crew with a complimentary welcome cocktail. This evening, enjoy dinner with views of the French capital, beautifully illuminated as the sun goes down.

Wake up to views of Paris at sunrise and have breakfast on the ship, before heading into the city by coach for an included panoramic tour. Start with a drive to the Ile de la Cité, a historic Seine island which was home to the city’s earliest settlement, now crowned by the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Your expert guide will introduce you to the city’s illustrious history, from its Roman origins to the glamour of the Belle Epoque, ahead of a leisurely drive around the city’s major sights.  

Cross the Seine onto the Rive Gauche (Left Bank), which was the heart of the European arts and philosophy throughout the Enlightenment. Here, you’ll explore the Latin Quarter, with its prestigious universities and galleries, before continuing into the Saint-Germain-de-Pres neighbourhood. On this scenic route, you’ll enjoy views of the magnificent Palais Garnier, one of Paris’ most famous opera houses, and the Champs Elysées, with the Arc de Triomphe at its centre. Further highlights on this memorable excursion include the golden dome of the Invalides, the Trocadero gardens, and the world-famous Eiffel Tower.  

Later this morning, head back to the riverside and reboard the ship for the rest of the day at leisure. If you'd like, you can also enhance your itinerary with optional excursions to the Palace of Versailles, once the heart of France's imperial power, or Chateau de Malmaison, the former home of Empress Josephine Bonaparte. 

Please note: The order of this itinerary may be subject to change should circumstances require.  

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast this morning as MS Seine Princess continues north past a handful of charming rural villages. You can then spend however you see fit, perhaps making the most of the ship’s amenities or exploring the life and work of Claude Monet, the world’s most famous impressionist painter, on an optional excursion.  

Stopping at the legendary artist’s life-long home in Giverny, you’ll visit the Claude Monet Foundation, which showcases some of the earliest impressionist works in existence and the scenes that inspired them. Soak up the bright colours and eclectic décor of Monet’s house and marvel at his private collection of Japanese prints, before spending some time in the gardens and surrounding vistas. Before you leave, be sure to visit the artist’s famous Japanese-inspired water lily pond, which is carefully maintained to seem just like his paintings. Depending on the weather, you might also have the chance to visit the American Museum of Giverny, which exhibits more of Monet’s masterpieces.  

This afternoon, reboard the ship at Vernon and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure before continuing overnight to Honfleur.

This morning will be spent cruising up the Seine Estuary to the coastal Honfleur, a pretty artists’ haven in the heart of Normandy. After enjoying breakfast on board, you’ll be free to step ashore for some self-guided exploration or soak up the views from the ship’s sun deck. If you’d like, you can also enhance your experience with an optional tour of the Calvados region’s idyllic Côte Fleurie.  

This evening, rejoin your fellow guests on the MS Seine Princess for dinner. 

After breakfast, join your tour manager for a walk around Honfleur’s enchanting Impressionist landmarks. Soak up the town’s charming medieval architecture in the Vieux Bassin, a 17th-century harbour area looking out over the English Channel, where you’ll find a captivating sprawl of cobbled streets, quaint cafés and sea-view restaurants. Continue to France’s oldest wooden church, St. Catherine’s Church, which became a listed building in 1879, before finishing the morning’s tour at pretty St. Leonard’s Church, which was fully rebuilt after the Hundred Years’ War.  

You’ll then have the rest of the day at leisure and can enhance your time on the Seine with a number of memorable optional excursions. In the afternoon, you can choose to venture across the Alabaster Coast, a breathtaking natural heritage site, or delve into Normandy’s wartime history.  

This evening, return to the ship for dinner and more time at leisure. 

Once you’ve had breakfast this morning, and after MS Seine Princess arrives in charming Rouen, head out on foot for a guided walking tour of this exquisite medieval city. Known as the ‘City of a Hundred Spires’, Rouen is the historic cultural capital of Normandy and is the heart of the region’s culinary industry.  

While exploring, you’ll see the magnificent Notre-Dame Cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece which predates Paris’ famous Cathedral of the same name by more than 100 years. You’ll then head to the town’s central marketplace, the site of Joan of Arc’s martyrdom in 1431, and see the Gros-Horloge clock tower. Complete this morning’s tour with a visit to the Saint Joan of Arc Church, where you’ll have some time to take in its unusual design, commemorative garden and captivating stained-glass windows.  

Return to the ship this evening and spend your penultimate night on board however you see fit.  

It’s the final day of your cruise, and after breakfast on the ship, you’ll have the rest of the day to spend as you see fit. MS Seine Princess will dock in Les Andelys, a fairy-tale village crowned by an imposing 12th-century fortress, where you’ll be free to explore under your own steam or join an optional tour to either Château Gaillard or Château de Martainville. 

However you choose to spend the day, reconvene on board the ship this evening and settle in for a special gala dinner, the ideal end to a truly memorable week’s cruise.  

As the sun rises this morning, enjoy a final breakfast on board MS Seine Princess and disembark in Paris. If you have time before your return flight, you can soak up the city’s café culture or tick off a few last-minute sights before heading to the airport for the journey home.