Private Cruise Excursion "Highlights of the French Riviera"

My wife and I just got back from a Mediterranean cruise that included a stop in Cannes, France. We booked a private tour with Ingrid at Best French Rivera Tours for a private tour based on the recommendation of our friends who toured with her last summer. One word to sum up our experience – MAGNIFICENT! Ingrid was an excellent communicator throughout the process and was very open to what we wanted to see and offered suggestions allowing us to make the final choices on what we would see during our fabulous day in the French Rivera. She suggested not going the path (Eze, Nice, and Monaco) that all the other people from the cruise ship would be going but instead a tour of the Western villages of our Riviera. This itinerary took us away from the busy streets of the tourist coast and allowed us to experience more true, authentic French local places. We when got off the tender, she was waiting for us with a sign with our name, a big smile (she had sent her picture so we knew how to find her and we did likewise so she could see us easily) and a Bonjour! We exited in her Mercedes touring van that is very modern and comfortable. She took us down the famous boulevard by the water in Cannes pointing out the high-end stores and the venue for the Cannes film festival. We then headed to our first stop in the lovely town of Antibes by the marina where we surveyed the large, mega-yachts. We then had walking tour of the area including a stop at a bakery for fresh baguettes and wine shop where we picked out a couple of bottles of wine for our picnic lunch that we would be having later that morning in the mountains. Next Ingrid drove up into the hills of the French back-country to the charming village of Gourdon where we stopped a local French street market where we procured cheeses, grapes, olives, and jam for our picnic lunch also. She had everything that we needed for our picnic (a table, chairs, and table cloth along with glasses and cutlery). She drove us high up to a bluff that overlooked the entire region and we could even see our cruise ship for our picnic lunch. In the afternoon we drove through the gorgeous Loup Canyon and finally make a stop in lovely Tourrettes sur Loup where we walked around the quaint village. It was a wonderful day getting to experience some local, non-touristy locations without the throngs of people. Ingrid was so knowledgeable and also warm and friendly – she was a joy to spend our day with while getting to see the local French Rivera country. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND using her touring services! Our day was c'est magnifique! FYI - I contacted her directly through her website (bestfrenchriviera.tours) and was able to customize the tour with her versus this 3rd party booking.

We took the medieval villages tour, and oh my it was tremendous!!! Ingrid was such an amazing and informative host. Ingrid spoiled us with knowledge and was extremely accommodating to what our interests were. She tailored the guide to us as she got to know us better which was so amazing. We felt like we were on a travel show, and Ingrid was a long-time friend showing us around. We got to know her better through lunch and the experience was so personal and immersive. My only complaint is that the guides after Ingrid will seem a little less interesting and a little more dull, because she will be a guaranteed highlight of your trip.

We spent an amazing day on the French Riviera with Ingrid Schmucker. She is an amazing guide who chose a fabulous itinerary for our group. The day flew by as we visited a wide variety of sites both on the coast and in the mountains. The pace was perfect, and we had sufficient time to enjoy each of our stops. The trip through the mountains above the coast was particularly enjoyable. The vistas were simply breathtaking. Bravo, Ingrid!