Fontainebleau and Barbizon Half Day Guided Tour from Paris

This was a great way to see the castle. Fountainebleau is a grandiose castle and a must visit destination. I found the Barbizon art village interesting. It was at the edge of the Fountainebleau forest. The journey was very scenic.

Fontainebleau was the most enjoyable surprise. The place is a real jewel. It is very different from Versailles: while Versailles, magnificent as it is, is cold and alienating, Fontainebleau is warm and cozy. The Renaissance architecture abs design at ts best.

This tour states a visit to two places. However it just goes to Fontainebleau, which I only learned when I mentioned to the guide that I was eager to see Barbizon--we were already on the highway--and he informed me that the "big bus" isn't allowed to go to Barbizon. Period. No other explanation. (Um, then why didn't they use the smaller bus?) No mention of the Barbizon omission in any Viator email before the trip, at the meeting point office or when getting on the bus, even though multiple staff checked my voucher that clearly stated BOTH Fontainebleau and Barbizon. After numerous unpleasant phone calls to both Viator and the company they contract with and being hung up on twice and put on hold a few long times, I finally got a 50% refund for the "skipped" Barbizon portion of the tour. BTW no staff apologized, and I was treated as a nuisance for having noticed that the Barbizon part of the tour that I paid for was "missing." Note that the "big bus" was only about a third full and it took an hour and a half for it to reach Fontainebleau (as well as the slow return) as it drove slowly in the slowest lane while other cars/vans whizzed by once we were outside of Paris traffic congestion. Finally, when at Fontainebleau, the all inclusive 2 hours and15 minutes we were given (that is, to meet back at the bus in 2 hours 15 min.) was much too short to tour the huge chateau, let alone walk in the gardens, even for a brisk walker like myself. The audio guide and the gift shop were excellent, but not enough time to explore the shop. It was a very hot day of 41 degrees C / 105 degrees F, and I didn't see a place to buy a bottle of water or stop for a coffee. In short, the road travel time was about 3 hours total (AC was very weak on the warm bus) and the time at Fontainebleau was much too short. We needed the full 2 hours and 15 min. just to explore the huge chateau and gardens. Not to rush from the bus parked rather far away from the entrance gate to the chateau itself and then back to the bus (I had to run back) on one of the hottest days in French history. The tour guide was professional though sullen. The Viator ground and office staff treat tourists as if we're nothing more than cash cows, and not even smart cows, at that. Every aspect of this tour was sub-standard and felt perfunctory and rushed. Guide didn't even offer going to a shop across the parked bus to buy a bottle of water for the return on the warm bus. This is the worst tour I've ever taken.

This is primarily an audio-tour when we got to the castle. The guide was very nice, but did not add much value. Fontainbleau is very interesting and certainly worth a visit Save money and take the bus from Paris.

This,tour is really a shuttle service to Fountainbleau, entrance ticket and audio guide with some commentary on the bus and walk up the Main Street of Barbizon at dusk when the shops were all closed! However, Fountainbleau is definitely,worth seeing and for me, this option was the best. Can definitely recommend seeing Fountainbleau.

Fabian was an excellent guide, giving us a historical background on Paris, Barbizon and Fontainebleau during our drive out of Paris. Would not have had that information, which really set the visit up, had we gone on our own - great trip - thank you Viatour and Fabian !

Great trip, great guide. Too little time in Barbizon

Driver, Luke was very nice. Got us there and back, though there was a fete going on so some of the areas were closed to visitors. The audio guide was confusing especially since some room were closed because of a conference.

A great trip half a day out of Paris. Barbizon was very cute and worth seeing. If you do the audio tour around Fontainebleau there is not enough time to see all of the outside which was unfortunate.

Pleased with what we saw and heard at Fontainbleau. Disappointed along with others on the tour that we did not visit Barbizon because the tour company bus taken instead of the mini bus as stated could not fit into the small streets of Barbizon. We have notified Viator and awaiting their response/explanation.