Frequently Asked Questions

The new ETIAS travel authorisation IS NOT operational yet.
It is expected that the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be operational from the first half of 2025.

We will notify everyone that booked a tour by email once the ETIAS is starting to be enforced.

You can also check the official website: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias/faqs-etias_en

During the checkout process an account has automatically been created.

This is the link to access your account: https://www.wetravel.com/users/sign_in

In your account you will be able to see your booking and pay the remaining amount due.

Travel insurance is highly recommended. We recommend comparing travel insurance options here 

Yes, there will always be at least one vegetarian option on the menu. And if not, we will always be able to work something out with the chef! We have very good relationships with our partner restaurants and they are always happy to accommodate our guests with special diets.

If you are traveling from overseas, arriving a day before the tour is a great idea. You will be able to recover from the overnight flight and in the event of your flight being late/canceled this should allow you to arrive on time for the beginning of the tour.

For our Southern France tour, and our Bordeaux & Dordogne tour you can add an extra night before the tour directly at booking. For our Normandy tour, please send us an email.

A $500 deposit is due at booking per participant. This deposit becomes non-refundable 180 days before the tour start date.

If you are booking a tour that is starting within 180 days, the full payment will be due at booking. You can still get a full refund if cancelling within 48hrs. After that time, cancellation fees will apply as described in our terms and conditions policy.

Here is our terms and conditions: https://tripusafrance.com/wp-content/uploads/TripUSAFrance-Tour-Conditions-2024.pdf

The remaining payment is due 180 days before your tour starts.

You will receive a notification 1 month before the payment is due with a payment link. This notification with the payment link will be resent 1 week before and 2 days before the payment due date.

Or you can pay for your balance before receiving the notification here: https://www.wetravel.com/users/sign_in

Tours booked more than 180 days before the tour starting date: Full refunds will occur if cancellation notice is received more than 180 days from the start date of the tour that was booked. Within 180 days from the tour start date, your payment is immediately subject to the cancellation fees that are outlined in our terms and conditions.

Tours booked within 180 days: Can be cancelled at no charge within 48 hours of booking, after that your payment is immediately subject to the cancellation fees that are outlined in our terms and conditions.

Here is our terms and conditions: https://tripusafrance.com/wp-content/uploads/TripUSAFrance-Tour-Conditions-2024.pdf

Normandy Tour:
- Starting point: a designated hotel in Paris (transfer to hotel not included)
- Ending point: Hotel in CDG. Hotel Shuttle available for CDG airport.

South of France Tour:
- Starting & Ending point: Montpellier's airport (MPL) or Train Station St Roch or Train Station Sud de France.

Bordeaux & Dordogne Tour:
- Starting Point: BOD airport or Sheraton Airport Hotel or Mercure Airport Hotel or St Jean train station. Please note that pick up is ONLY included on the 1st day of the tour. If you decide to arrive before the tour starts transfer to Hotel Vatel is not included.

- Ending Point: Sheraton BOD Airport Hotel. Drop off to train station St Jean or Hotel Shuttle for the airport is included.

These airport recommendations are for people flying directly to the tour starting point. If you have some pre-tour activities you may want to look into taking the train.

Normandy Tour: the main international airport in Paris is Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG). There is also an other airport in Paris called Orly (ORY) with fewer routes available.

South of France Tour: You should fly to Montpellier (MPL) airport. Be careful don't book a flight to Marseille (MRS) airport which is located about 2hrs from Montpellier.

Tip: You could fly to Barcelona and take a train from Barcelona to Montpellier if you wish to extend your trip to Spain. (3.5h train ride)

Bordeaux & Dordogne Tour: You should fly to Bordeaux (BOD) airport.

Unfortunately we cannot book your flight for you. But if you are having trouble finding a flight, you can contact us at contact@tripusafrance.com and we can help you finding a good flight.

Train tickets go on sale 3 months in advance (4 months early for trains coming from the rest of Europe, 6 months early for Eurostar coming from England) but you can already check the train schedule here: https://en.oui.sncf/en/ Enter your criteria, click search, and scroll down past the “it’s too early to book” message. You can even sign up to receive an alert when the train tickets will go on sale.

To book your train ticket you should do so at https://www.raileurope.com/ because the “Oui SNCF” website often won’t accept foreign credit cards.

Here are some ideas of pre or post tour cities according to which tour you are taking. You could also combine multiple TripUSAFrance tours!

Normandy tour:
- Paris is a great pre/post tour place to visit since the tour starts and ends in Paris. With so much to see and do in Paris there is always something new to see even for people that have been there many times. After booking your Normandy tour feel free to send us an email at contact@tripusafrance.com to receive our Paris guide.

- European cities: again since the tour starts from Paris the pre/post tour ideas are endless. You could come from anywhere in Europe by plane and even by train (London, Geneva, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands.

- Towns within France accessible by train: Reims (Champagne region), Beaune & Lyon (Burgundy region), Strasbourg, Montpellier, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bayonne, Brittany etc..

South of France Tour:
- Paris. Since the capital will most likely be a stop over for your flight going to Montpellier why not stay in Paris a few days and then take the train down to Montpellier.

- Amsterdam. Same as Paris, Amsterdam is often the stop over for the once flying with KLM, Air France or Delta.

- Barcelona. You could fly into Barcelona and then take the train to Montpellier.

- Other French cities accessible by train are Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lyon. Also Nice with a change of trains in Marseille.

- French/European cities by direct flight: Paris, Brest, Caen, Nantes, Strasbourg, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfort, Athens, Heraklion, Rome, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Lisbon, Seville, Mallorca, London Check the full list here.

- Istanbul, Morocco and Algeria also available by direct flight.

- Canal du midi cruise: you could take the train to Bezier or Narbonne or Carcassonne to catch your Canal du Midi boat.

Bordeaux & Dordogne Tour:
- Paris. Same as for the Normandy or South of France tour, Paris is a great post/pre tour town to visit.

- Basque country by train (Bayonne, Biarritz, St Jean de Luz and further down into Spain)

- South of France by train (Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Montpellier, Arles)

- Direct flights from BOD to Paris, Nice, Berlin, Athens, Santorini, Dublin, Florence, Milan, Venice, Rome, London, Madrid, Sevilla, Lisbon, Porto, Marrakech and many more. Check the full list here.

If you booked one of our tours, please send us an email at contact@tripusafrance.com and we will email you our Paris and Nice guide with hotel, restaurants and things to do recommendations and tips.