10-Day Paris & Normandy River Cruise
Roundtrip Paris
AmaWaterways
Paris, the Seine, Normandy's coast, and D-Day beaches — all connected by one of the world's most celebrated rivers. This is the itinerary I design for travelers who want France done right, without living out of a suitcase.
Ten days. Paris before. The Seine through Normandy. Paris to fly home.
This sample itinerary shows how I structure a Paris and Normandy river cruise on AmaWaterways — from your first morning in Saint-Germain to your last café au lait before the flight home. The cruise is round-trip Paris, which means clean flights, no transfer chaos, and a city worth savoring on both ends.
It isn't a package. It's a starting point.
Every hotel, experience, and detail is customized when we plan together. But this flow works beautifully — and it'll show you exactly what a well-managed France trip looks like from start to finish.
A Quick Note Before We Dive In
Who this trip is for
Couples, groups, and anyone who has always wanted to do Paris and Normandy but doesn't want to figure out trains, hotels, and logistics across two regions. Also for the traveler with a family connection to the D-Day beaches — this one tends to be personal.
Most people plan Paris and Normandy as two separate trips. This route does both — and the river connects them in a way that feels completely effortless.
AmaWaterways is one of the most consistent river cruise operators in the world. They run rivers on every continent, and the product is reliable, well-run, and genuinely warm. This is the cruise line for travelers who want local experiences, great food, and a ship that feels like it belongs on the Seine — not a floating hotel dropped in from somewhere else.
You unpack once in Paris. You board the ship. You see Normandy, Giverny, Rouen, and the D-Day beaches from the water and on the ground. Then you're back in Paris to fly home.
History, wine, incredible food, and the chance to see two of France's most iconic regions without once dragging your luggage through a train station. That's the trip.
Pre-Cruise: Paris
Days 1 to 3
Day 1: Arrival in Paris
Private transfer from Charles de Gaulle to your hotel. I put clients in Saint-Germain-des-Prés for the classic Paris experience — the neighborhood feels like the city is supposed to feel. Walkable, beautiful, full of brasseries worth sitting in for two hours. For clients who want more energy and a younger vibe, we look at Le Marais. Either way, it's a boutique property with character.
Day one is simple. Get there, eat something good, walk until you're tired. Paris adjusts you to itself if you let it.
Day 2: The Louvre, Privately
A private Louvre experience is one of the best things I can book for a client in Paris. No crowds blocking the Winged Victory. No fighting for space in front of the Mona Lisa. A guide who can actually explain what you're looking at and why it matters. It's a completely different museum when you're not being herded through it.
Afternoon is yours — Tuileries Garden, Palais Royal, a long dinner in Saint-Germain. Paris at your pace.
Versailles is worth considering as an add-on during the pre-cruise if it's on your list. It's a half-day from Paris and a world away. Tell me when we plan and I'll build it in.
Day 3: Paris by Food Tour or Tuk-Tuk
A food tour through Saint-Germain or the Marais is one of my favorite ways to spend a Paris morning — cheese, charcuterie, pastry, wine, and a guide who knows which bakery is actually worth the line. You learn the neighborhoods through eating. That's the right way to do Paris.
For clients who want to cover more ground, a private tuk-tuk or car tour hits the iconic sights efficiently without the misery of tour buses. Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées, Sacré-Cœur — seen properly, from the right angles, with someone who knows where to stop.
This is your last day before the ship. I keep it intentionally relaxed — a good dinner, an early night, and you board tomorrow feeling like you've actually been in Paris, not just passed through it.
Part 2: AmaWaterways
Days 4 to 9
The River: AmaWaterways
AmaWaterways keeps the ship as your floating hotel throughout — you board in Paris and you return to Paris. No repacking, no switching hotels, no logistics. You wake up somewhere new every morning and the city takes care of the rest.
The Seine itinerary typically includes Vernon and Giverny — Monet's garden is exactly as extraordinary as you've heard — Les Andelys and the ruins of Château Gaillard perched above the river, Rouen with its medieval streets and Gothic cathedral, and the D-Day beaches of Normandy.
The Normandy excursion is the one that stays with people longest. Omaha Beach. The American Cemetery. The scale of what happened there and what was preserved there. Many of my clients have a grandfather, a great-uncle, a family friend who was there. For those travelers, this isn't a history lesson — it's something else entirely. AmaWaterways handles this excursion with the weight it deserves.
I review the included excursions with every client before they board — flagging what's worth upgrading and what to skip in favor of time on your own, especially in Rouen.
Post Cruise: Paris
Days 11 - 12+
Post Cruise
The cruise ends back in Paris, which is one of the great advantages of this itinerary. Clean flights, no transfer chaos, and a city worth one more night in if you have it in you.
Most of my clients do one buffer night after disembarkation. It gives you a real Paris morning — a café, a walk, a final meal somewhere good — instead of a race to CDG with your bags still half-packed from the ship.
Our Options
One night in Paris
The right call for most travelers. A slow morning, a good lunch, a stress-free transfer to Charles de Gaulle. You fly home having done France properly.
Add Versailles
If it didn't fit in the pre-cruise, the post is your chance. A half-day from Paris and genuinely worth it — the Hall of Mirrors, the gardens, the scale of the whole thing.
CDG is not a place you want to be stressed in. I build the departure logistics around your flights so that never happens.
Ready to build your Paris & Normandy river cruise?
Paris, the Seine, Giverny, and the D-Day beaches — all in one trip, without once dragging your luggage through a train station. If this feels like your kind of France, let's build it right.