November 30 – December 6, 2021
About Our Trips
- At Girl’s Guide, we’re all about camaraderie & bonding
- We love adventure, knowledge and discovery
- We value kindness, down-time and little luxuries
- We delight in new-found friends, experiences and insight
- We celebrate diversity, in age, background and thought
- We are globally minded
- We don’t shy away from new tastes and smells
- We appreciate good wine, wonderful food (not to mention turn-down service at hotels)
- Discovery excites us
- Meeting new people intrigues us
- A beautiful doorway or a vibrant vista inspires us
- And we always say a big merci for all that life has to offer us
- We meet as strangers and leave as friends
Why women only?
Women traveling together and discovering a new place with a small group (6-12) is a completely different experience than going on your own or with a larger mixed group. While many of the women who travel with us are traveling alone, they’re no solo for long. As soon as you arrive, you’ll be greeted by a bevy of new friends. After our first glass of wine on night one, the stories and laughter begin. By the end of the week, people have made life-long friends. Watching this beautiful connection happen, for me, is the magic of Girls’ Guide to Paris & Beyond.
Do you just go to Paris?
NO, but it all began with a trip to Paris, showing women the beauty and unique sensibility of the City of Light, taking them to places and creating experiences you can’t find in a guide book. But there are so many other wonderful areas of France, so we expanded to create unique, highly-curated trips of small groups of women traveling together through Burgundy, Provence, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, Normandy & Brittany, Alsace and the undiscovered Aveyron. Those trips were so successful, ladies asked for more! We’re now going around the world presenting women-only trips in Europe (France, Italy, UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland, Croatia & Slovenia, and Estonia), Africa (Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa), Asia (Bali, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Bhutan, Laos, India, and Sri Lanka) and the Americas (Mexico, Honduras and the Napa/Sonoma valleys). And we’re adding new trips to new countries every year. If you want to go someplace we’re not already visiting, let us know!
What are your trips like?
We try to find the essence of every place we visit. It’s in the food, the wine, the architecture, the natural beauty, and most importantly, in the people. These are luxury trips for discerning travelers. But we’re not chasing luxury for luxury’s sake. We always eat and drink extremely well, but mix it up between local cafes/bistros and Michelin star restaurants. We stay in chateaux and castles, and also farm houses and private homes. We go truffle hunting; we meet with authors and artists; we drink wine with boat captains. These are trips for those ladies who would never be caught dead on a guided bus-driven trip with 30 strangers.
Do you support Authentic Responsible travel?
Girls’ Guide to Paris & Beyond is proud to be a part of the global Authentic Responsible Travel movement. We believe the way you travel and the choices you make along the way are just as important as where you go. Read more about our commitment to Authentic Responsible Travel and our Travel Code of Ethics here.
What’s the background of the women who travel?
The ladies who take our trips come from all backgrounds, ethnicities and nationalities. All of our clients either have English as their first language or speak English comfortably.
While others may organize trips based on age, we believe that’s unnecessarily limiting. Our travelers range in age from 23 to 83, with the majority being 40-65. But I’m always amazed at the close connections made between the 25 and the 75-year-old. It’s almost magical. It’s precisely this mix of women from different countries and at different points in their lives that I believe makes our trips so unique and special. Women of all ages know how to bond, and nurturing that process is what Girls’ Guide is all about. This connection and bonding experience is powerful and it feels empowering for all involved.
How many people are on a trip?
Our trips are small, varying between 6 and 12 people with the norm being 6-8. Each trip specifies the minimum and maximum numbers for the trip.
Do people come solo or bring friends/family?
About 75% of our intrepid travelers are women traveling alone. They’re single or widowed, married with husbands who can’t or don’t want to travel, or just want a new experience. The balance are mothers & daughters, sisters, and close friends who travel together. Many come back for their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th trips.
Does everyone have their own room?
All our trips are organized and priced based on single occupancy at all the places we stay. If you’re traveling with a friend/relative, or would prefer to save some money by sharing a room, we can often organize double occupancy at a reduction in cost. Occasionally, when we stay in private Chateaux properties that are older homes, some might need to share a bathroom. You will always be informed of this beforehand and normally we will offer a price reduction to all those who sign up to share bathrooms.
Can you accommodate my dietary or physical restrictions?
As long as we know ahead of time, we can accommodate almost any dietary restriction. On most trips, we’re moving around so you’ll need to be able to walk a few miles over the course of a day. If you have any concerns just ask us!
I think I want to go! What’s next?
We like to talk to everyone who’s interested in a trip. Information on our website only takes you so far. We want to make sure you get all your questions answered. Plus, this is a very personal experience. Spending a few minutes on the phone is a great way to begin to get to know one another. Please reach out to us via our Contact form and we’ll schedule a call with you.
Once you decide it’s a go, we invoice you 35% of the trip cost as a deposit. The balance is due 2 months before the trip departs. At that time, we hold a group video conference call to talk about the nitty gritty details: train times, transfers, what to pack, what to wear, weather, converters, phone connectivity, WhatsApp and photo sharing, etc.
What’s your cancellation policy?
Our Cancellation Policy can be found here.
What happens if I have a medical emergency during the trip?
When you leave your home country, your health insurance might not travel with you. Prior to traveling, we highly recommend that you purchase travel medical insurance that covers you for the length of your trip. Travel medical insurance is temporary coverage that pays for emergency medical expenses, evacuations, and provides 24/7 assistance to help you when you’re traveling. If you are over 50 years old, we mandate that you purchase travel medical insurance so you and our trip leaders can rest assured that you’ll be taken care of should the unforeseen happen. (See our Travel Insurance page or buy your own insurance from a trusted source).
Do I need vaccinations or other health tests?
Many countries require vaccinations and/or other health tests (e.g. negative PCR test) as a requirement for entering the country. We require everyone traveling with us to conform to the entry requirements of each country we visit. While it is everyone’s right to decide whether or not they want to receive a vaccination or perform any other health-related procedure, whether it’s for Covid-19 or any other contagious disease or medical condition, the failure to or decision not to meet the entry requirements of a country will prohibit you from joining the trip and does not qualify as a travel restriction that is the basis for a refund.
Please review the CDC website for the recommendations and guidance they provide for each country you’re joining us in. To help ensure your immunity, the CDC recommends that you get any vaccinations at least 1 month before you travel.
What documentation do I need to bring?
Don’t forget your Passport. It’s the one item that’s tough to replace. Please be sure you have enough empty pages without stamps in your passport and that it is good for a full 6 months after the date you return from your trip.
Partners
Yes we work with partners, resellers and travel agents. Please contact us at info@girlsguidetoparis.com if you want to work with us.
