Bandol Wine Tour - 4 hour Private tour

We enjoyed learning about the grapes, how the wine is made, the region’s wineries, and of course the wine. Our guide Laurent was knowledgeable, friendly, and thoughtful.

Laurent led a wonderful wine tour in the Bandol region. We saw a few different estates while driving through the countryside. He gave us some great recommendations for dinner too.

Scheduled day before trip through GetYourGuide for a 9am 4-hour tour; Laurent was quick to tell me he was available at 1pm, which was a concern due to an early cruise departure of 5:30pm. Laurent arrived 30 minutes late and was able to adjust: only 1 winery (which was amazing — very organic, “real-life” tour with the 6th generation sole owner of a family winery — fresh apricots off the tree as a bonus!), and a drive through the national park as a make-up for not having time to do the planned 2nd winery. Plan ahead, nail down details, and Laurent is a great guide!

My family of four (two parents and two female adult children) booked the Half-Day Bandol Wine Appellation Tour from Marseille for our short visit through France. Our tour guides, Gilles and Michel, were absolutely phenomenal! This tour included tasting 3-6 wines at two different wineries and exploring the neighboring areas of Le Castellet and Cassis, but they took it above and beyond! They were extremely knowledgeable of the wineries and history of the villages. The wineries were family owned, boasted fantastic white, rosé, and red wines and were breathtaking to look at. They took us down to the port town of Cassis to eat lunch from a delicious bakery where we enjoyed our food sitting near the beach. We then got to finish off the tour by visiting the Notre-Dame de la Garde, which is a must see as a Marseille tourist. Gilles and Michel were the most hospitable tour guides I have I ever had the pleasure of meeting. They gave us dinner recommendations as well as recommendations for the rest of our trip through Europe. I would 100% recommend this tour and our tour guides for anyone looking for a half day wine tour of great French wineries and must hit spots in Marseille.

+12

Do not book! We were on a cruise. I Had a medical emergency, needed to leave my cruise and canceled our tour 30 hrs prior to arriving to marseille. No where in Laurent’s website does he list refund policy. He showed no compassion and refused to issue even a partial refund. And he is somewhat confused. Called me a month prior to my trip asking where we should meet the next day. Then questioned where and when I paid—and I needed to show him my receipt. I had to do his bookkeeping and he refuses to answer my emails now. Shady dude

Not much exciting Vs our expectation!The two winery we visited are very small one and not much to see!

This tour was the highlight of our trip. Laurent was very accommodating with pickup and drop-off and communication through email was clear. He took us to local wineries that were a bit off the beaten path and the experience was super authentic. Laurent is very knowledgeable about the region and even took us through the national park. Definitely recommend!

Booked a 4 hour wine tour, this was not communicated to our driver. We drove an hour before our first sight seeing stop at which point we asked the driver when we would get to the wine tour. He called back to speak with the coordinator who advised him to go to one of the vineyards, buy a couple bottles then take us somewhere to drink. The tour was advertised as stopping at 2-3 vineyards for tastings. The driver tried his best to recover from the lack of communication, but he was not able to make up the lack of planning. We went to one winery and the driver paid for two bottles to take back on the ship with us. Overall a huge disappointment and not worth the money. We did not sample any wines and were riding in a van for four hours.

We booked this tour as a cruise excursion and we didn’t realize we were arriving at Toulon and not Marseille until that morning. But lucky moment #1, Laurent was flexible and accommodating and came to pick us up at the other port in an hour. He informed us it was a holiday in France and most places were closed. He would try his best to get us into a winery that was open until noon, but it was going to take a little luck to get us there in time. Lucky moment #2: they were open when we arrived. We tasted two old vine Rhône blends and a 92-point rose. All delicious. The kind owner stayed open an extra 25 minutes for us, lucky moment #3. Then because we wouldn’t be able to make it to any other wineries, we had to pivot. We bought 3 bottles of wine and a salami that the owner sliced for us and put into a paper bag. Next stop, the bakery was open! Lucky #4! We purchased two baguettes. Then off to the charming town of Le Castellet, with its narrow cobblestone streets and centuries old buildings. Lucky moment #5: we got a great parking spot and set off to explore. What to do on a national holiday when shops and restaurants are closed? Head to the National Park and have a picnic! But not just anywhere, Laurent’s secret spot at the top of the mountain. I can’t say where it is because we were sworn to secrecy. Just as we arrived, another car pulled in. Would they beat us to a seat at the best view in France? Nope. Lucky moment #6, they went the other way and the secret spot was all ours. A fresh French bread and salami sandwich washed done with a great Mourvèdre while gazing down at that amazing blue of the Mediterranean. This is the essence of travel—connecting with a stranger who takes you through his country as though you are a friend and you become exactly that. You talk about life and politics and food and wine and culture. We wanted to have 7 lucky experiences because after all 7 is the luckiest number, but our #7 became our #1. Because the luckiest thing that happened to us was that we had our friend Laurent sharing his world with us for one unforgettable day.

Booked through get your guide as an 8 hour tour. Provence tours booked it as a 4 hr tour. When we brought this up initially customer service rep said if this is true we'll help you. Emailed the Provence help site our voucher for 8hrs and they emailed back with their booking as 4hrs. Explained to them again that we booked for 8hrs and only received 4 hrs. Received rude e-mails back. They need a better customer service representative and need to ensure if they are getting tours through third party websites that it is valid advertising. Feels like we were ripped off. It is a shame because their guide was very good. Their customer support is abysmal.