Viking River Cruise: Lyon & Provence Map
Our goal was to see a different area of France, and hopefully have the same great river cruise experience we had on our River Seine Viking River Cruise.
Trip Beginnings/Planning
Because we had taken a Viking Cruise in 2014 from Paris to Normandy, Viking continued to send us emails containing offers that kept getting better & better. At some point where we could no longer ignore the offers, we decided to go for it. Perhaps because the airfare component of the trip was "free", it turned out to be a bit different than we were used to (see below). Go here to view Viking's information on this cruise.
The steps to get to the Viking Ship were as follows;
- Stage 1: we flew from Tampa International Airport to Cincinnati, OH.
- Stage 2: we flew from Cincinnati, OH to Paris, France. As you can no doubt imagine, due to the length of this leg, we upgraded our seats to the "larger seating area" option!
- Stage 3: we flew from Paris, France to Marseille, France.
Summary: We decided to "take" the Viking free air fare even though it placed us into economy seating. Yes, that is a very uncomfortable way to travel anywhere and we would never do this kind of thing again! If your tolerance level for uncomfortable airplane seating can be overcome by "no cost tickets", then perhaps your experience(s) might be different than ours.
Upon arrival in Marseilles, we collected our luggage and met the Viking River Cruises representative, who got us onto their bus, and took us to Avignon, France where we boarded the Viking Heimdal, our home for the next week.
This is a relatively new ship for Viking, it was built in Avignon and launched in March 2014. At 443 feet in length, it is longer than our first Viking trip (the Viking Spirit) in 2014 (that ship is 375 feet long).
Day 1 / Ship moved to Avignon, France
Avignon, France Exploration Map
This is an interesting city, still surrounded by massive stone walls and containing the "home of the popes"
during the period 1309–77 when the popes took up residence here, instead of at Rome, primarily because
of the political conditions during that time.
Please click here to view our Avignon Page.
Day 2 / Day Trip to Arles, France
Arles, France Tour Map
The ship moved from Avignon, south to Tarascon at 5AM (approximately 30 kilometers), which is just north of Arles.
Viking offered a day trip via charter bus to Arles, so we decided to take advantage of the event. Click here to view our day trip tour to Arles.
Day 3 / Day Trip to Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Day 3: Day Trip to Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tour Map
Click here to view our day trip tour to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and read about our wine tasting experience.
Day 4 / Tournon-sur-Rhône
Écluse de Caderousse Locks Map
The locks are located on the Rhône River (24 kilometers north of Avignon), and as you can
easily see, the limited height inside the lock is the primary reason why the
River Cruise Ships on the Rhône have to leave the sun deck in the collapsed position. On our River Seine
Viking Cruise the previous year, all of the locks were open at the top, so the ships could always leave
their sun decks in the upright position during the entire cruise.
Our ship passed through these locks on the way
to Tournon-sur-Rhône.
Click here for a really good Google
Image of the River and the locks.
Click here to view our Tournon Page.
Day 5 / Ship moved to Vienne, France
City of Vienne Map
The ship departed Tournon at 7PM on day 4, set to arrive in Vienne at midnight. It is Easter Sunday,
and it is not only chilly outside this morning, but most things are closed here in Vienne. The ship is
docked on the west side of the River Rhône, and to get to the other side, we hiked over a pedestrian
bridge.
Click here to view our Vienne Page.
The ship arrives in Lyon at 3PM, and we initially tied up at the Quai Claude Bernard - the eastern side of the Rhône River. This is a very scenic location, adjacent to the Université Lumière Lyon and only 2.2 kilometers from the Place des Terreaux.
The Rhône River splits away from the Saône River at the southern tip of the Lyon City Peninsula and swings east on the north side of Lyon. The Saône River continues it's northward march to Vioménil, France. We were told by Viking personnel, that the Saône River was too high to allow the Viking Heimdal to proceed to it's usual location.
Since the city tour we are interested in takes place on day 7 (Tuesday), we decided to go ahead and do our "own" walking tour and so we head off to Place Bellecour, and tramp around the Rue de Victor Hugo and Rue de la Charite. The goal was to see some of the city, walk off some of the good food being served on the Heimdal, and to earn our next meal!
Day 6 / Perouges, France Tour
Viking Bus Tour to Perouges France Map
Perouges is another of those
amazing medieval walled & cobblestoned little villages that are all
over Europe, but each is just different enough, to where it is always interesting to visit them. It is a medieval walled town 19 miles
northeast of Lyon and is perched on a small hill that overlooks the plain of the Ain River.
Please click here to view our Perouges Page.
Day 7 / Lyon, France
Last Day in Lyon Map
As this was the last day of the River Rhone Cruise, we did quite a bit of exploring.
Click here to
view our Lyon Page.
Day 8 / Cruise Departure Day
This was the "end of the cruise - departure day" and we woke up that morning to discover that not only had the French Air Traffic Controllers gone on strike sometime during the night, we also found to our horror, that the strike had caused many domestic flights to be cancelled. Including our Lyon to Paris flight, that was due to depart Lyon Airport at 1PM.
I'm not going to fully describe this part of the trip, suffice it to say that we eventually were able to get a semblance of normality restored, and we finally got back to Sarasota at 1:45AM. If it had not been for some very, very nice Air France personnel at the Lyon Airport, we would probably still be in Lyon today!
Trip Summary
This was our second Viking River Cruise, and it is difficult to compare it to our 2014 River Seine cruise. The stops we made on this cruise were very good, however, the River locks are frequent and are quite low compared to the River Seine lock systems. The River bridges are also quite low, which meant that the sun-deck area was never open throughout the entire cruise. Considering how chilly it frequently was, the sun-deck would probably have not been utilized often. As just an example, average temperatures for Lyon, France are in the mid to lower 50's (farenheit).
The wine on this ship was as good as the River Seine cruise, but the food was not quite as good. It is difficult to put the food into perspective, it was well prepared, it was good quality, but it was not as enjoyable as what we had on the previous cruise. Bear in mind that it was not "bad", it was just not as good when you compare the two ships, perhaps due to the chef?
Viking changes various parameters of this cruise from time to time, so you should Click here to go the Viking Site and read about this cruise in more detail.
The Viking Lyon & Provence Cruise Overview & Guide
Our Viking River Cruise from Marseilles to Lyon, north on the Rhône River with various ports of call,
click here to read more.
Avignon, France
The first stop as we head up the Rhône River,
click here to read more.
Arles, France
The town of Arles is a community situated in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in the
south eastern area of France.
click here to read more.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France
While docked in Avignon, Viking organized an afternoon tour to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine region, known in France as one of the
appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regions.
click here to read more.
Tournon-sur-Rhône, France
The Viking Heimdal cast off at 4AM to continue north on the River Rhône, to Tournon - set to arrive at 1PM. This
was the longest leg of the cruise, it is approximately 150 kilometers from Avignon to Tournon.
click here to read more.
Vienne, France
Vienne is a commune in southeastern France, located 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Lyon, on the river Rhône.
It is only the fourth largest city in the Isère department, of which it is a sub-prefecture, but was a major
center of the Roman Empire.
click here to read more.
Lyon, France
The ship arrives in Lyon at 3PM, and we initially tied up at the Quai Claude Bernard -
the eastern side of the Rhône River. This is a very scenic location, adjacent to the
Université Lumière Lyon and only 2.2 kilometers from the Place des Terreaux.
click here to read more.
Perouges, France
The optional free bus tour to Perouges departs at 2PM today, and we drive through some really beautiful
countryside on the way there. The La Dombes district is where fish are raised in a series of 1,200
ponds.
Click here to read more.
Our Thoughts on Viking River Cruises
Our perspective on Viking River Cruises, plus a few pros & cons to consider.
Click here to read more.
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To view our entire set of images from our Marseilles to Lyon Viking Cruise, click here 