This tour was awesome! Our guide, Marcel, was very knowledgeable about the areas we were visiting and was able to provide great information. He was also able to take us to a great little salami and cheese shop in Castellane!
As for the itinerary, it is not super accurate. The information provided states that the tour starts at 8:00 and pick-ups will begin 30-60 mins BEFORE this time. However, we were the first to be picked up (at 8:10 am) and by the time we had picked up the rest of the group around Nice, it was about 9:15 am. We ended up being dropped back off at the end of the day by 7:00 pm.
Also, it is a lot of driving with stops along the way that break it up pretty nicely. Although keep in mind that to come back to Nice, you are on the road for a good 2-3 hours straight (mountain driving and highway). The roads are VERY curvy and narrow, so if you get car sick easily definitely mention it beforehand so you can get a front seat and take some meds before.
To continue with the itinerary, we made a little stop of about 15 mins at a little waterfall and for a bathroom break, hit the road, then we stayed about 45 mins in Castellane, hit the road and stopped at a few viewpoints for Gorges-de-Verdon along the way, approx. 1 hour in Moustier-Sainte-Marie (we had lunch here), then back on the road, stayed for about 15-20 mins at the lavender fields (pictures only, no guided tour of a lavender processing plant as indicated in the description), then back on the road to reach Lac-Sainte-Croix which we ended up staying at for 30 mins. BRING YOUR BATHING SUIT TO SWIM HERE!!! We were the only ones that had brought their bathing suit and boy were we glad! We went swimming and the water was so refreshing! There were also activities like stand up paddle boarding and kayaking to do and our guide had given us the option of spending less time in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie so we could do water activities in Lac-Sainte-Croix.
All in all, it was a great experience, we had a great time with our guide and I would do it again.
A few other notes :
- There is NO wifi on the “bus”
- The “bus” is an 8 person van, plus the driver
- Make sure you supply a phone number that actually works in France for the booking because the guide will contact you with that number to schedule a pickup time and confirm the pickup address