The Riviera Difference
A Free Night
Overseas travel is tiring. To help with the jet-lag, if you want to arrive the day before the tour starts, no problem. On European tours it’s on us, and we even include breakfast the next morning, see Dates and Prices section for details.
Not Groups, But Small Groups of Individuals
We love small groups and so do our guests. You will have more motor coach legroom, you will get to know your traveling companions on a much more personal level, and it allows us to often use charming and intimate hotels that will romance you with local culture.
International Branded and Boutique Hotels
At Riviera Tours our overwhelming aim is to get ‘under the skin’ of a destination and you will see these hallmarks emerging throughout our organization. First, every Tour Operator will tell you, they are proud to partner with well-known international hotel brands like Hilton, Crowne-Plaza and Inter-Continental. We are too, and we include many of these excellent suppliers in our tours. But to help achieve our aim, we mix major international hotels with stylish boutique-style properties. Why? Because their ambience is so refreshingly different and individual, the experience will be more representative of the country you are visiting. Dining in boutique hotels tends to be generally more regional and you cannot beat the service levels of good, ownermanaged businesses. The result is that your experience is very representative of the country you are in and our guests appreciate this contrast. For example, check out the Hotel Alhambra Palace (www.h-alhambrapalace.es) in Granada, Spain, built over 100 years ago in Moorish style, using traditional materials and methods, by the same craftsmen who restored the Alhambra Palace itself. This is just one of the hotels of character we feature and it is difficult to replicate this ambience. For us this is authenticity at its best and what we mean by ‘getting under the skin of a destination!
Not 'On The Go'
We avoid long motor coach journeys by making extensive use of Europe’s excellent (and the world’s finest) railroad network. For instance, Madrid to Seville by motor coach is eight hours, but by train, it is just over two, giving you more time to immerse yourself in the local culture and color. We consistently think of your comfort! When flying to Europe in particular, airline schedules ensure you fly overnight, landing early the next morning. When you arrive at your hotel, you usually have to wait until the afternoon to check-in. With Riviera, when you arrive on the start date of your tour, your room is available immediately so you can take a shower, freshen up and rest a little. A small point perhaps, but when you arrive we guarantee you will appreciate it.
Pre-Booked Visits and Excursions
Your vacation time is special and you do not want to spend it in lines, so we pre-book visits and guides. So for example, while the Vatican is one of the most visited places in Europe, with us, you and a maximum of just fourteen other people will have a private guide around these amazing buildings. We do this so you can learn and ask questions as you wish, providing you with an in-depth and intimate sightseeing experience, which will be truly memorable.
Fine Dining
We consider dining to be an integral part of any vacation. Certain destinations like France, Spain and Italy are inseparable from their love of fine cuisine. People from all backgrounds are eager to share their considerable knowledge with visitors. You can be in the simplest of bars and find the locals arguing passionately about the attributes, or otherwise of various restaurants, recipes, cheeses and wines! It’s almost a religion! To experience this heritage, on many tours, we visit several internationally recognized restaurants, acknowledged by Zagat and the world’s ‘foodie’s bible’, Michelin, as some of the finest establishments of their kind. You won’t find these places overrun with tourists, just people who appreciate fine dining at the highest level. Check out London’s Pont de la Tour (www.lepontdelatour.co.uk), where Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair entertained President Bill Clinton during his state visit. Or maybe Il Buco in Sorrento (www.ilbuco.it) one of southern Italy’s finest restaurants, or the stunning La Bastide de Cabries (www. bastidecabries.com) in Provence. You will enjoy superb dinners created by a chefs of the highest caliber, in the true tradition of European cuisine. Guests often ask how we find such establishments? It’s just years and years of extremely pleasant research!!
Find out more about Riviera here.
