User guide

Prices

The tour prices, which are per person, are based upon two people sharing a twin or double room. You have to pay an additional fee for a single room if you want to be alone in the room or if the group has an odd number of walkers.

the tour price include:
• Lodging and breakfast with or without dinner in a double or twin room (see tour description)
• luggage transfer from one hotel to the other during the tour
• the tour pack (one per party)
• a telephone assistance in case of emergency.

Reservation and Payment

You can’t make a provisional booking but we recommend you to call or e-mail us if you need to fit your tour dates, with flights or other travel arrangements. Don’t commit to buying flights without ensuring that we can confirm your land arrangements first.
The earlier you book you trip, the easier will be for us to ensure that we can book accommodation and get best rooms.

First decide on the tour and the date you want to start. Clic on “book” and fill the reservation form. We will send you an e-mail to confirm than we receive your booking. To confirm the reservation we asking a deposit of 30 % of the total. You will receive an e-mail from our bank for a secure payment. The balance is due one month before the departure date. Note that there is no surcharge for payment by credit card.

Insurance

We strongly recommend that you protect yourself, your equipment and luggage with a suitable holiday insurance policy. This insurance should also be arranged to cover non-returnable costs should you have to cancel your trip due to unexpected personal circumstances.

Traveling on your own

If you are very experienced walker and you are used to traveling on your own, there is no problem booking a self-guided tour. Please contact us for an individualized quote. You will pay a “lonely supplement fee” that reflects the additional cost of a single room, baggage transfers and the tour dossier for one customer rather than two. We don’t recommend that inexperienced single walkers take these holidays.

Small groups

Il you are more than 4 friends walking together, you can get discount under special conditions. We have only one correspondent (leader’s party) who pay for the other members of the party. We make out one contract and one bill for the party. Please contact us for the reservation.

Tailor-made tours for clubs and groups

Every year we organize tailor-made tours for clubs and groups. If you would like us to arrange a walking holiday for you, just let us to have the details and we will give you a quotation.

After booking

Passport /Visa

A valid passport is required for international travel with an expiry date of at least 6 months after your return. Please verify if you require a visa for France. All clients are responsible for obtaining their own visa.

Trip dossier

We shall send this dossier to you within 2 weeks before the departure date after receipt of the balance or total payment if you live in Europe. An additional special delivery (UPS, DHL) fee is requested for people living outside Europe who want receive the dossier at home . Otherwise you will find the dossier at the first hotel and we send you all the details to reach it by e-mail.

This trip dossier includes:
– detailed walk route notes and interesting background information about the area
– detailed local information about places to visit en route, recommendations for places to eat in the evening when dinner is not included
– a comprehensive list of what to take with you
– information and contact details of the different places of accommodation where you will stay, for different taxis that carry your luggage and that can escort you a day if you are tired or injured
– Labels to tie to your luggage in the tour
– Sentiers de France Passport instead of accommodation vouchers.

Equipment

– The most essential items of equipment are a good pair of walking boots and a suitable daypack.
– Waterproof jacket and over trousers (rain gear)
– Thick socks for use inside walking boots
– Comfortable trousers and/or shorts
– Extra sweater
– Sun hat
– Trekking pole (one or 2) or walking stick (3 or 4 grade tour).

This short list is for the walking side of the tour and we presume you will bring comfortable casual wear for use during the evenings or on the free day.

We encourage you to travel lightly and don’t have too much bags and clothes. It’s up to you to decide what additional things to bring. Depending on your total trip time in France, you may have bags which you won’t need on the walking tour. We suggest you make arrangements to store bags during the hike if you won’t need them (you can leave them in a locker room in a railway stations for example).

Preparing the tour

It is very important to be in good physical shape when you start the tour. We strongly recommend you to go for a number of walks of the same length of the tour’s stages during the weeks before the departure wearing the boots that you will use during the tour. You will make sure your boots are well broken-in and that they fit properly.

The tour

Arrival in Europe

We suggest you consider arranging your travel so that you arrive in Europe at least two days before your hike is scheduled to start. By planning to arrive early, you safeguard against potential delays or cancellations of flight and you have extra time to adjust to the new time zone so you’ll feel more relaxed when your hike begins.

Getting to the starting place

We explain in the detailed itinerary and in more details in the Route Notes how to reach the starting point and the first hotel where you will stay. We shall send you all these details if you take your trip dossier at the reception desk of the first hotel.

Transfer between the airport or the nearest station and the starting and finishing points of the tour are not included in the tour price. We shall be pleased to help you. Feel free to e-mail us if you are facing difficulties.

Lodging and food

One of the best time in these tours! You will discover and enjoy the cuisine of the region you visit.

Sentiers de France books and pays for you accommodation, normally in double or twin-bedded rooms, with en-suite facilities.

All breakfasts are included. We also include evening meals as specified in the brochure and dossier only when the restaurant attached to the hotel has good reputation, otherwise we invite you to have dinner outside and give you a list of nearby good restaurants. When we include dinners, these are from a menu of 3 or 4 courses (menu du terroir for CL tours and gourmet or degustation menu for LU tours) For each course you can choose between different suggestions. Drinks and coffee are not included.

Lunches or picnic lunches are not included, but many overnight stops are in small towns and villages where picnic material can be bought from local shops before you start your day’s walk ; alternatively, a packed lunch can be ordered the evening before from your hotel.

Luggage

Be careful, baggage-handling services are not available in the French hotels. Be prepared to carry you your own bags up narrow staircases, many hotels or inns do not have elevators.

We strongly advise you pack adequately but lightly and limit baggage to an amount that you can easily handle.

Luggage transfer

We arrange the transportation of your luggage from one hotel to the next. We ask you to leave your luggage at the reception desk on setting out each morning .

Sentiers de France passport

You will receive a nontransferable passport delivered by Sentiers de France (it looks like a credit card). It takes place of the traditional voucher. You will have to produce it at the reception desk in the hotel or to the taxi driver… Take care of it!