Italian Art & French Romance Grand Tour - Paris + Lucerne + Milan + Venice + Rome + Florence + Pisa + Nice 9Days/8Nights

Brit Hotel Paris Orly Rungis is a new 4-star hotel on Avenue de Fontainebleau (the old N7) in Thiais, in the southern suburbs of Paris next to Orly airport and the Rungis wholesale food market; the T7 tram stops nearby and links to metro line 7, and metro line 14 now runs from Orly to the centre of Paris, while the A86 and A6 motorways are close for coach transfers. The 58 rooms are fully air-conditioned and non-smoking, with quality bedding, a TV, a phone, a bathroom with separate toilet and free fibre Wi-Fi; accessible rooms are available.

A breakfast buffet is served from 6:00 to 10:00 on weekdays and 7:00 to 11:00 at weekends (EUR 20), and there is a bar and room service, with restaurants nearby. Guests have a free fully equipped gym, a 24-hour reception with luggage service and a closed private car park (EUR 14 per night). Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 11:00; pets accepted for a EUR 20 supplement.

Brit Hotel Privilège Paris Rosny-sous-Bois stands on Rue de Lisbonne in Rosny-sous-Bois, east of Paris near the A86 and A3 motorways; Rosny-Bois-Perrier station (RER E, and metro line 11 since 2024) is 1.2 km away for trains into the city, Gare du Nord is 11 km, Charles de Gaulle airport 15 km and Disneyland Paris and Parc Astérix about 30 minutes by car. The 68 rooms are air-conditioned and soundproofed, with free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV, a tea and coffee maker and a bathroom with hairdryer.

A breakfast buffet is served from 6:00 to 10:00 on weekdays and 7:00 to 11:00 at weekends (EUR 20), the bar offers drinks and light meals with room service, and a partner restaurant is nearby. Guests can use the heated indoor pool (open until 22:00), a fitness room and a 30-seat seminar room; secure private parking costs EUR 17 per night. Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 11:00; pets accepted for a EUR 20 supplement.

Hotel Huatian Chinagora occupies the striking Chinese-palace complex where the Marne meets the Seine in Alfortville, in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris. Metro line 8 (École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort) is about a 10-minute walk and runs straight to Bastille, Opéra and Concorde; Bercy Village is 5 km away, Orly Airport about 16 km and Charles de Gaulle about 40 km. The building dates from 1992, was bought by the Hunan-province Huatian group in 2012 and reopened after a complete renovation in 2016.

The 187 air-conditioned rooms on 9 floors, from standard doubles and twins to 24 m² triples, family rooms and 70 m² suites, each have a balcony overlooking the river or the inner Chinese garden, a flat-screen TV, minibar, tea and coffee facilities and free Wi-Fi. A buffet breakfast is served daily (also in the room), the restaurant serves Hunan and Cantonese dishes including dim sum and wok specialities, and two top-floor terraces look towards the Eiffel Tower. Coaches and cars use the secure 500-space underground garage.

Huatian Chinagora stands on the tip of Alfortville where the Marne joins the Seine, about 5 km south-east of central Paris. The nine-storey building copies the roofs and courtyards of Beijing's Forbidden City; it opened in 1992, was bought by the Hunan-based Huatian group in 2012 and reopened in 2016 after a complete renovation. Metro line 8 (École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort) is a 10-minute walk, Orly airport about 16 km and Charles de Gaulle about 40 km.

The 187 air-conditioned rooms all have a private balcony facing the river or the traditional Chinese garden in the courtyard. Two restaurants serve Cantonese dishes, dim sum and wok specialities; a buffet breakfast is served daily. Free Wi-Fi covers the hotel and a 500-space underground car park makes coach parking easy. Check-in is from 3 pm and check-out by noon.

B&B HOTEL Oftringen is a no-frills stopover hotel just off exit 48 of the A1 in Oftringen, at the junction of Switzerland's two main motorways: Lucerne is roughly 35 minutes away, Zurich airport 45 minutes, Bern and Basel about 40-50 minutes, and the Aarburg-Oftringen railway station a 6-minute drive. The old towns of Zofingen and Aarburg are close by.

The 85 non-smoking rooms have queen-size beds (double, twin, triple and accessible rooms), a desk, flat-screen TV with Chromecast, USB sockets, free high-speed Wi-Fi and a shower room; the hotel is non-smoking throughout and has a lift. Breakfast is an all-you-can-eat buffet served 6:00-9:30 for CHF 18 per adult, with gluten-free bread available; there is no restaurant, but a bar, vending machines, a guest microwave and an ordering service for nearby takeaways. Reception is open 24 hours with online check-in; parking is in a covered, paid underground garage with EV charging. Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 12:00; pets accepted for a fee.

B&B HOTEL Rothrist Olten sits right beside the A1 at exit 46 in Rothrist, in the Swiss Mittelland at the foot of the Jura, near where the A1 and A2 meet: Lucerne, Zurich, Bern and Basel are each about 30-50 minutes' drive, Zurich airport 50 minutes and Rothrist railway station 5 minutes (bus stop Gemeindehaus 800 m away). The hotel can arrange taxis from the station.

The recently renovated hotel has 64 non-smoking rooms, doubles and 4-person family rooms, with comfortable bedding, a desk, TV, private shower room and free high-speed Wi-Fi; rooms have a cooling system rather than full air conditioning. Breakfast is an all-you-can-eat sweet and savoury buffet (6:00-9:30, CHF 18 per adult); the bar serves hot and cold drinks to guests around the clock, and reception is open 24 hours. Three meeting rooms take up to 80 people. The secure private car park (80 spaces, CHF 5 per night) also accepts buses and camper vans. Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 12:00; early check-in and late check-out are available for a fee, and pets are welcome for CHF 20 per day.

Hotel President Venezia is on Via Forte Marghera in the centre of Mestre, on the mainland side of the lagoon: the tram and bus stops 300 m away reach Piazzale Roma in Venice in roughly 15 minutes, Mestre station is 2.6 km, Venice Marco Polo Airport 8.8 km, Treviso Airport 21.7 km and the Marghera cruise port 6.6 km. Rooms come as 20 m² standard and economy doubles, 25 m² classic doubles and triples and 40 m² family rooms for four, all with Wi-Fi.

A continental sweet and savoury buffet breakfast is served from 07:00 to 10:00, and the bar and lounge area is open for drinks and snacks. The reception is staffed 24 hours with a night porter, luggage storage is available before check-in and after check-out, parking in the hotel's outdoor car park is free, and airport or taxi transfers can be arranged; pets are accepted for a small fee. Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out by 11:00. Booking through the hotel exempts guests from the Venice day-tripper entry fee.

B&B HOTEL Quarto d'Altino is a modern chain hotel in the centre of Quarto d'Altino, a town in the province of Venice just off the A4 Milan-Venice motorway: Venice Marco Polo airport is about 15 minutes by car, Treviso airport 25 minutes, Mestre 15 minutes and Jesolo 30 minutes, while Quarto d'Altino railway station, a few minutes' walk away, has trains into Venice Santa Lucia in around 20-25 minutes.

The 80 rooms (single, twin, double, superior and accessible) all have a private shower room with hairdryer, air conditioning and heating, a mini-fridge, safe, desk and smart TV with Chromecast, plus free 300 Mb/s Wi-Fi; superior rooms add water, extra pillows and towels. A buffet breakfast with sweet and savoury choices is served 7:00-10:00 (about 10.50 EUR per adult). There is no restaurant, but the lobby B&B shop stocks snacks, drinks and microwave meals, and reception is open 24 hours. Free external parking is available on site, subject to availability, with a paid public car park nearby; there is a meeting room, and pets are accepted for 5 EUR per night. Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 12:00.

Warmthotel is on Via Giuseppe Prezzolini in the Fonte Ostiense/EUR area on the southern edge of Rome, about 2 km from the PalaLottomatica arena and 3.5 km from the La Nuvola convention centre; Laurentina station on Metro line B is 3 km away and the historic centre roughly 11–12 km, so most sightseeing is by coach or the hotel's shuttle plus metro. The 160 rooms (classic, comfort, superior, quadruple and junior suites) are air-conditioned and soundproofed with TV, minibar and fast free Wi-Fi; all floors are served by lifts.

A buffet breakfast is included and served from 6:30 am (7:00 on Sundays); the Graffiti Urban Bistrot serves Roman and creative dishes at dinner (7 to 10 pm) and the garden bar has an aperitivo hour. There is a 24-hour reception, a gym open until 10 pm, four meeting rooms, laundry service, a free covered garage with EV charging (subject to space) and a free electric shuttle to the nearest metro every hour from 8 am to midnight (book at reception). Check-in 3:00 pm, check-out noon; pets are not accepted.

The hotel lies beside the Fiano Romano exit of the A1 Rome–Florence motorway, roughly 40 km north of central Rome, making it a practical overnight stop for coach tours; the Fara Sabina–Montelibretti regional train station is about 10 minutes away by car and Fiumicino airport about 47 km. The 103 non-smoking rooms have free Wi-Fi, and connecting rooms and cribs are available.

A free hot breakfast buffet is served daily and the on-site restaurant serves dinner, with a kids' menu. There is a fitness centre, a business centre and two meeting rooms. Parking is free with EV charging on site. Check-in is at 3 pm and check-out at noon; no airport shuttle is offered.

Hotel Pineta Palace is in a peaceful residential neighbourhood on the north-western edge of Rome beside the Pineto park, well away from the tourist centre but outside the restricted traffic zone, which suits coach groups. Buses 200 m away run to Cornelia metro station (Line A) and the Vatican Museums, Gemelli station on the FL3 line is about 1.5 km away, and a private shuttle to Piazza del Popolo leaves at set times (free for Comfort Premium, Superior and suite guests, on request for others). Fiumicino airport is reached by train via Termini or Trastevere.

Room categories run from Standard Economy and Comfort rooms to renovated Comfort Premium rooms and the 7th-floor Executive 'Seventh Heaven' with Superior rooms, junior suites and suites; triples and quads suit families, and all have individually controlled air conditioning, flat-screen smart TV, free high-speed Wi-Fi, safe, minibar and private bathroom with hairdryer. A rich hot-and-cold buffet breakfast is served in the Aquarius restaurant, which also handles group dinners and banquets, while Il Focolare dei Cinque Sensi serves Roman and Mediterranean dishes à la carte; there is a lounge bar with summer terrace. Facilities include a gym and summer solarium, a 1,500 m² congress centre with six meeting rooms, a covered garage (paid) and tour-bus parking, 24-hour multilingual reception, luggage storage, laundry service and three accessible rooms; pets are not allowed.

Hotel Planet International lies at Rigutino on the SS71 state road, some 10 km south of Arezzo's historic centre (about 14 km to Piazza Grande by road) and roughly 20 km from Cortona, a practical overnight base between Rome, Florence and Perugia rather than a city-centre address. The 90 rooms, sold as Classic double, triple and quadruple, are simply furnished with air conditioning, Wi-Fi, TV, minibar, carpet and a private bathroom with hairdryer.

The hotel restaurant serves Tuscan and international cooking, breakfast is a continental buffet built around local products (gluten-free options available), and there is a bar, a garden and a terrace. Guests get free private parking on site, a lift, a 24-hour front desk with self check-in option, meeting rooms and a fitness room; pets are welcome. Check-in is from 16:00 and check-out by 11:00.

A Point Arezzo Park Hotel stands in open country at Battifolle, 500 m from the Arezzo toll gate on the A1 motorway; the old town and station are 8 km away (a taxi or the Viciomaggio bus takes about 15 minutes), Florence airport is 60 km and Rome Fiumicino 180 km. The 122 rooms are decorated in the group's modern style with Corian desks, LCD TV, minibar, safe and air conditioning; classic rooms are 25 m² and look over the hills, pool or hall, and there are triple, family (two connecting rooms), junior suite and suite options.

The Gloss Restaurant, with views of the pool, serves lunch (12:30–14:30) and dinner (19:30–22:00) of Tuscan and international cooking, and a buffet breakfast is included in most rates. Guests have an outdoor pool with poolside bar in summer, lawns and a 100 m² wellness area with Finnish sauna and heated counter-current pool, plus meeting rooms. Parking is free and Tesla Superchargers are on site.

Hotel San Matteo lies just above the coast in the Pairola area of San Bartolomeo al Mare, a short drive from the motorway exit and about 5 minutes from the beach, between Diano Marina and Imperia in western Liguria; Nice airport is about 78 km away. It has 49 rooms with views over the Ligurian hills, 24 in the main building and 25 in the newer annex served by a lift, all with air conditioning, satellite TV, safe and fridge, and the whole property is run by the Lisato family.

The hotel restaurant serves Ligurian and traditional Italian dishes with both land and sea menus and a buffet, and there is a bar and a sun terrace. Outside are a swimming pool for adults and children with a solarium, gardens, a children's play area and free private parking with a covered garage for motorbikes and bicycles; the hotel is used to hosting coach groups and banquets. Pets are accepted.

Grand Hotel Mediterranée occupies the former patrician residence of the Lomellini family (Palazzo Lomellini) right on the Lungomare di Pegli, the seafront promenade of Pegli on Genoa's western Riviera. The public beach is a few steps away, Genova Pegli station and the Villa Durazzo Pallavicini park are about a 5-minute walk, and Cristoforo Colombo airport and the A10 motorway exit are a short drive, which makes it a convenient base for coach tours of Genoa and the two Rivieras.

The 90 rooms are single, double, triple and quadruple (11-23 m²), all soundproofed with private bathroom, air conditioning, direct-dial phone, TV with Sky channels, minibar, safe and Wi-Fi; many look onto the sea. Le Cantine del Medi, the in-house restaurant, serves Ligurian specialities alongside international dishes and handles group meals and banquets, and a buffet breakfast is included in most rates. The hotel has several air-conditioned meeting rooms for 10 to 150 people, a large free private car park and a shuttle service on request.

ibis Avignon Sud stands on chemin de la Cristole at the southern entrance to Avignon, a few minutes from the A7/A9 Avignon-Sud exit (7 km), 6 km from Avignon TGV station and about 4 km (15 minutes by car) from the walled old town with the Palais des Papes and Pont d'Avignon; the Bon Vent bus stop is 100 m away and the Pathe cinema and Cap Sud shopping area 1 km. The 93 rooms (about 14 m², double or twin, some with a sofa bed) have air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and private bathrooms, and are being refitted to the new ibis Plaza design.

The restaurant serves traditional dishes every evening and a breakfast buffet in the morning, and the bar offers snacks 24 hours a day. There is an outdoor pool with solarium overlooking the garden, a web corner, a 70 m² meeting room and a free, secure, enclosed car park with room for coaches. Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out by 12:00; the hotel is wheelchair accessible and pets are welcome.

ibis Styles Avignon Sud sits on avenue de l'Amandier in the southern suburbs of Avignon, close to the A7 and A9 motorway exits and surrounded by the Cap Sud, Fontcouverte, Mistral 7 and Agroparc shopping and business parks; the Pathe Cap Sud cinema is 1 km away, Avignon TGV station 6 km and the old town with the Pont d'Avignon and Palais des Papes about 6 km (15 minutes by car). The colourful 'Happy mood, happy colors' rooms are 25 m² and sleep 1 to 4 people, with air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and a choice of bath or shower.

Breakfast is included: a buffet of more than 40 items with local produce, fresh fruit, gluten-free and organic options and scrambled eggs. The L'Entre-Deux brasserie serves home-made dishes from regional ingredients, and the bar is open daily from 6 am to 11 pm with a summer terrace by the pool under the mulberry trees. Guests can use the outdoor pool (opened 2023), garden, fitness room, petanque, table tennis, billiards and foosball; parking in the enclosed car park is free and electric charging is available for a fee. Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out by 12:00; the hotel is wheelchair accessible, non-smoking and pet-friendly, with 380 m² of meeting rooms.