Nice: Gorges of Verdon and Fields of Lavender Tour

I rarely write reviews like this, but what happened on this tour was serious enough that I believe future travellers should know about it. I was genuinely looking forward to the Gorges du Verdon excursion. I arrived as requested, boarded the vehicle and fully intended to enjoy the day. Unfortunately, we never got there. From the beginning, our driver/guide Matthieu was sullen and unfriendly. The situation escalated dramatically while collecting another couple, when he became extremely aggressive towards the female passenger. I intervened because the way he was speaking to her was completely unacceptable. What followed became increasingly hostile and volatile. At one point, while visibly angry, he pulled the vehicle out into traffic without properly looking. This mattered particularly because we were about to spend approximately 12 hours with this man, much of it driving on winding mountain roads. The passenger who bore the brunt of his aggression later told me she genuinely did not feel safe with him driving us. Neither did I feel prepared to continue under those circumstances. Three of the six passengers therefore left the tour. We did not simply change our minds or decide we no longer wanted the excursion: we specifically asked whether another driver could take us so that we could continue the tour. No replacement was available to us and we were returned to Nice. I subsequently learned that the three passengers who remained were transferred to another driver. That fact speaks for itself. What disappoints me almost as much as the incident itself is the operator’s response afterwards. I sent a detailed written account immediately after being returned to Nice and requested a refund. I followed up twice. My messages were read but received no response. The other couple who left with me had booked the same tour through GetYourGuide; they have since told me that GetYourGuide initiated their refund. I booked through TripAdvisor and, at the time of writing, my refund has been refused after the operator declined to approve it. I am therefore not giving this rating simply because we encountered a rude guide. People can have bad days and personalities can clash. I am giving it because three passengers felt compelled to leave a tour they had paid for and wanted to take because of the driver’s behaviour, the remaining passengers were subsequently moved to another driver, and the operator has so far failed to engage with my complaint at all. Most frustrating of all, I lost a day trip I had been really looking forward to. A refund can return the price of a ticket; it cannot give somebody back a day of their holiday. I hope the operator takes this incident seriously. In my view, continuing to put a driver in charge of paying passengers after conduct of this nature has been reported would be extremely concerning.

Our tour guide, Alexander, managed the day very well; he was knowledgeable about the history, and it was an enjoyable excursion.

Getyyourguide did not notice that the excursion even having hired it in Spanish, would be in English, but Aleksandar at all times was aware of us and was very friendly, making the excursion enjoyable.

Tour to Canyon Verdon and little towns and attractions on the way was purely AWESOME! Aleksander was the best guide for that, tour was humorous, interesting and so cool! I highly recommend this tour and guide 🙌🏻👌🏻

Everything was very good, especially Roman, a full day. We really enjoyed the route and the lake, the small town too.

Tour of the Verdon Gorge and lavender fields, absolutely recommended, the tour was perfectly organized, our guide Dritan was exceptional

I enjoyed this tour and have no complaints. The roads definitely were curved, so I suggest taking motion sickness medicine. However, we stopped each hour or so, so it was never unbearable. Our first stop was a bathroom break at a waterfall and then on to Castellane. The visit there was long enough for a snack and wandering around to take photos. We had about an hour in Mousteirs St. Marie. I found this enough time to explore (but I skipped lunch to have more time to walk around and take in the town). The highlight for me was the lavender fields. There were still some unharvested fields (July 19) and I felt pleased to see at least some of the fields. The lake and gorge were gorgeous and the ride back was on a highway, so less twisted than the scenic route we took in the morning.

We were picked up in time and told that lavender fields had finished a week ago. We knew this might be likely but still excited about the other things. Our guide was an excellent driver- very confident and felt safe on the windy mountainous roads. Since no lavender fields we were able to have more time at the lake so we managed to swim there which was magical. We were taken to several good viewing spots to see the verdon gorge. The small village at the end was beautiful but the walk up to the monastery was hard - the stones were very slippery and a couple near us slipped on the way down. I would have liked our guide to tell us more about the region but the explanations were very brief. However aim glad he wasnt chatting when driving as the road needed concentration! Overall an excellent day.

Beautiful villages, but misleading on the gorges and lavender Pickup and drop-off were smooth and well organised. However, the trip didn't quite deliver on what it promised. The Gorges du Verdon, one of the main draws of this tour, was not covered properly - we were only given a brief photo stop rather than any real time to explore or get closer to them. Given how the route looks on the map, there was plenty of scope to include more time here on an 8-hour trip. The lavender fields had also largely been harvested by the time we visited (8th July), which the driver was clearly aware of beforehand. It felt misleading to market the trip around lavender when there was very little left to see. On top of this, the driver offered no commentary, history, or local insight along the way. For a full day in the car, some storytelling or context about the region would have made a huge difference. The villages we visited were genuinely lovely, and were, in fact, the highlight of the day - but the trip focused much more on villages than on the Gorges or Lavender fields it was advertised for. If you're booking this specifically to see the Gorges du Verdon or lavender fields, I wouldn't recommend it. As a village tour, it's pleasant enough, but it doesn't live up to its billing.

Travelers should be very careful that they do not get Rasul. Rasul was not a tour guide but a driver, and a very poor driver. He did not even introduce himself. The only reason that I know his name is because he sent me an email the night before. Rasul said that he spoke English and French. Throughout our journey, he did not give any commentary about the history of anything. He did not speak about any of the places that we were going. I learned nothing during this excursion because our driver chose not to talk. He took us to one field of lavender and did not stop for us to view the field of sunflowers. I paid a lot of money for these tickets and received a blah day. We spent 30 minutes at Lac du Croix which was not enough time to even go kayaking. I learned absolutely nothing about lavender but fortunately read about the Gorges du Verdon because I read about it in the museum. Rasul did not even say it WAS the gorges du Verdon. He said you can get out and take a picture. This was a long day with nothing new learned and an awful guide/driver.