Choosing a region, building an itinerary, booking accommodation, meals and visits, arranging the coach: everything you need to know to make your group’s tour of France a success.
Why a group tour needs to be planned in advance
A group tour is not simply a trip with several people. You need to accommodate 20, 40 or 50 people in the same place, feed them at set times, link visits together without dead time, arrange coach parking and keep to a budget from the first day to the last. Each step depends on the one before: a restaurant that cannot seat the whole group, or a museum that does not accept group bookings, is enough to disrupt an entire day.
The four questions to settle first
Before looking for venues, set the framework: how many people are travelling, for how many days, at what time of year and with what budget per person. These four answers determine everything else, from the region to the type of accommodation. Think about the profile of your group too (age, mobility, interests): a group of walkers and a retired members’ club will not expect the same itinerary. To help you make this choice, see our page Which tour should your group choose?
Tailor-made tour or ready-to-go tour?
Organising a tour yourself means contacting hotels, restaurants, visitor attractions and guides separately, then coordinating everything. It can be done, but it takes time. A ready-to-go tour brings everything together in a single offer: accommodation, meals, excursions and entertainment are already designed for groups and have been tried and tested for years. With Circuitgroupes, every tour can be adapted: you can shorten the stay, swap a visit or add an activity. Browse all our group tours to get an idea.
Building the tour itinerary
Choosing the region and theme
France offers group tours in all its regions: Alsace and Champagne in the Grand Est, Auvergne and the Alps, Corsica, Brittany, the Basque Country and the Pyrenees, Occitanie, Provence and the Côte d’Azur, the Opal Coast… The theme matters as much as the destination. Our tours are grouped into five families: culture and heritage, walking, cycling and nature, gastronomy, events (Nice carnival, Basque festivals, New Year’s Eve) and snow. You can compare them by region or by theme.
Finding the right pace
A successful tour alternates guided visits, local discoveries and free time. Plan one major visit in the morning, a lighter activity in the afternoon and a return to the hotel at the end of the day so the group can enjoy dinner and the evening. Circuitgroupes tours last from 2 to 8 days: a weekend is enough for a short break, while a week lets you explore a region in depth. To enrich the itinerary, pick from our group activities: monuments and museums, parks, zoos, tastings and sporting activities.
Accommodation, meals and transport
A hotel that knows groups
The choice of hotel determines the success of the stay. An establishment used to groups knows how to handle the arrival of fifty people, serve a shared meal in good conditions and welcome the driver and the group leader. Circuitgroupes tours are built on 20 independent hoteliers who specialise in welcoming groups, who commit to a quality charter and who serve regional cuisine prepared with local produce.
Travelling by coach
Most group tours are made by coach. Journey times, the driver’s compulsory breaks and parking at each stop must be planned as soon as the itinerary is built. Our partner hotels make coach parking easy and offer a dedicated welcome for drivers and group leaders. Our practical advice is gathered on the page Preparing the coach journey for a group tour.
Budget, quote and booking
What an all-inclusive tour covers
To compare offers, check what is included. A Circuitgroupes tour includes accommodation, meals, excursions, entertainment and a welcome drink. Prices are group rates, with no intermediary commission, and one place is free for every 20 paying travellers. You will generally still need to arrange transport to the destination, personal spending and, in some cases, the tourist tax.
Requesting a quote and booking
Once you have found your tour, you can request a quote online, free of charge. State the number of travellers, your preferred dates and any special requests: you will receive a reply within 48 hours. All the details are on our page How to request a quote for a group tour? You can also request your quote right now, or download the Circuitgroupes guide to discover all our tours.
