Private travel · France
France, opened by the people who work itBurgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux and Paris — privately, on your dates.
- 4regions
- 1–12guests, your group only
- 1 day – 3 weeks
- 100%privately hosted
Private travel in France
France doesn't open through a booking page
France is not always experienced through what is listed, booked or publicly available. It unfolds more gradually — through introductions, timing, and relationships built over years.
Our approach reflects that. We create access through our Local Legends — the sommeliers, growers, chefs and hosts already inside the working world of each region — and shape private journeys around what they can open, rather than around what is advertised.
Amble began in Spain. Burgundy was where we first went in France, and it remains the region we know most deeply here — Champagne, Bordeaux and Paris have come the same way since: slowly, through people we already knew and trusted.
Explore France through relationships, not bookings.
Where we travel in France
Four regions, each entered through the people inside it
They are listed in the order we came to them, Burgundy first. Spend a whole journey in one, or move between them — Paris either side of a wine region is the shape most guests settle on.
Burgundy
Growers, village cellars and small family domaines
Our first region in France, and still the one we know best. Burgundy is not a place of large estates built for visitors — it is a region of growers, family domaines and village cellars, where allocation and introduction matter more than money. Many of the cellars we take you into have no tasting room and no sign. You are there because the person pouring is expecting you.
Beaune · Côte de Nuits · Côte de Beaune · Chablis
Champagne
The great houses, and the growers who farm their own parcels
Most visitors see one side of Champagne. We usually build in both — a grande marque and its chalk cellars in the morning, then a grower-producer who farms and makes everything themselves, at their own kitchen table, in the afternoon. Tasted side by side on the same day, the region finally makes sense.
Reims · Épernay · Aÿ · Côte des Bar
Bordeaux
Saint-Émilion's limestone, the Médoc and Pessac-Léognan
A more formal region than Burgundy, which is precisely why the introduction matters. Château visits are arranged through the people who work them rather than booked into a scheduled tour slot — a cellar tasting led by the winemaker, lunch at a family property, right bank and left bank in a single stay.
Saint-Émilion · Médoc · Pessac-Léognan
Paris
The gastronomic anchor either side of a wine region
Not a wine region, but where French food culture sits at its most concentrated. A market morning with a chef, an affineur's cheese cellar below the street, a caviste who opens bottles you would struggle to find, a table in a kitchen rather than a dining room. Two or three days here sits naturally before or after Burgundy or Champagne.
Paris · Île-de-France
Where we have people
We only go where we know the people
That keeps the list short, and it keeps the access real.
- Beaune
- Côte de Nuits
- Côte de Beaune
- Chablis
- Dijon
- Reims
- Épernay
- Aÿ
- Côte des Bar
- Saint-Émilion
- Médoc
- Pessac-Léognan
- Paris
Access, introductions and relationships
You travel with someone already inside the region
You are accompanied by a wine specialist who moves with you through cellars, vineyards and tables, connecting what you experience as it happens.
At certain moments others join — a producer, a maker, a chef — adding depth from within their own work. That might take place inside production, through hands-on craft, or in the wider context of the region itself.
One person holds the thread throughout, so each part connects without interruption. Nobody is working from a script, and there is no group to keep pace with — it is the difference between being shown a place and being taken into it.
What that makes possible
Four things you couldn't arrange yourself
Doors with no tasting room
Much of the best wine in France is made at estates that never receive visitors. The visit happens because of who asks, not because a slot was free.
Time with the person who made it
Poured by the family who farmed it, in their own cellar or at their own table, at the pace of a conversation rather than a tour.
Meals arranged, not booked
A long lunch at a domaine, a private kitchen in Paris, dinner cooked by someone who doesn't run a restaurant. Menu and wines chosen for your group.
One region, or all four
A single day with a sommelier in Beaune, or a fortnight across France with private transport between regions and no fixed schedule once you are there.
How it feels
Depth rather than volume
- Fewer visits, with more time in each place
- Conversations that unfold naturally
- Experiences shaped by presence rather than schedules
- A pace that allows for spontaneity and discovery
France rewards patience, trust and connection. This is a more personal, less transactional way of travelling — and it suits people who value depth and detail over a full itinerary.
What to expect on investment
$1,000 – $2,000 per person, per dayGuide price for the Amble experience · accommodation costed separately
Every private journey is priced according to your group size, the length of the trip and the experiences we design together. As a guide, plan for a minimum average of $1,000 to $2,000 per person per day depending on the region — covering your Local Legend host, private transport, tastings and a hosted lunch.
Accommodation is costed separately and tailored to your preferences, from town houses in Beaune to château stays and private villas. You will have a full, transparent proposal before you commit to anything.
Amble Journeys Ltd is a member of Protected Trust Services, member no. 5978. Every payment you make is held in a trust account and financially protected until your trip is complete.
How it comes together
From first conversation to arrival
Start with a conversation
Tell us how you want to travel — the pace, the regions, and the moments that matter most. Share a few details and we will set up a call.
We design your journey
An outline itinerary built around access, flow and the people who will bring it to life. A $500 planning fee, applied in full to your trip cost, begins detailed planning.
We refine the details
We adjust, add and shape until it feels exactly right. Once you are happy, a 50% deposit secures your booking.
You arrive
Your final balance is due 90 days before departure. From there we handle everything, so you can simply arrive and experience it.
Start here
Begin your French journey
We work with a limited number of clients each season, designing journeys shaped around individual interests, timing and access. Tell us a little about how you would like to travel using the form below, and we will come back to you to arrange a call.
Or write to us directly: customerservice@amblejourneys.com
Begin
Tell us how you would like to travel
A few details are enough to start. We read every enquiry ourselves, and we will come back to you to arrange a call.
Thank you — your enquiry is with us
We read every one ourselves and will come back to you within two working days to arrange a call.
