Nothing is included except the hotel level and the trains: what that means

We sell the Southern France trip this piece uses as its example, so read the reasoning with that in mind.

The short version: the price covers the hotel level you chose and the trains the route needs. It also covers the app and the group. Nothing else is bundled in. Dinners, tastings and transfers are extras that you add or leave out.

This guide explains why we draw the line there.

What the price covers

On the nine-day Southern France trip, the price covers eight nights in hotels: three in Nice, two in Avignon and three in Paris. Breakfast is part of the hotel. It also covers the reserved seats on the trains from Nice to Avignon and on to Paris, with tickets in your app.

It covers Your Guide, which is the digital itinerary in the app. That means Your Route day by day, maps, our recommendations, Your Group chat and a human on support. Your Guide is not a person.

The hotel level is the only thing that changes the price. The days are the same for everyone. The four levels are Explorer, Classic, Premium and Elite, and the FAQ explains what each means.

These prices are per person. The default is your own room. At most two travelers on the same booking may share one room on a scheduled trip like this one, at the sharing price shown. Whether a particular room fits a sharing pair depends on your party, the room's capacity and the check at checkout.

There is also a free layer. The jog on the Promenade, sunset at Castle Hill, the ramparts after dinner in Avignon and a run along the Seine are Live Moments. They cost nothing, need no sign-up, and you turn up or you do not.

Why only the hotel and the trains

The hotel and the trains are the fixed points of Your Route. You cannot do the trip without a bed in each city and a way between them. If the route needs it, we book it.

Everything else on the route is a choice. Some people want a long lunch in Avignon and a wine afternoon. Others want a market, a bike and nothing booked. A price that bundled the tasting and the dinner would charge both kinds of traveler for the same evening.

So the price stays small and the choices stay yours. You pay for the level of hotel you wanted and the trains that connect the cities. Then you add what you would actually use.

There is a second reason. Nothing is decided for you. There is no tour guide on a Guideless trip: nobody from the company travels with the group, and nothing about your day is decided for you. A bundled dinner is a decision made in advance about your evening. We would rather you made it.

There is a practical consequence too. A Guideless trip runs even if you are the only person on it, because there is no guide and no group cost to reach. Your trip going ahead is never a question of whether enough strangers book it. Nothing in the base price depends on the others who booked.

What is not included

The list of things outside the price is plain:

• Flights. You fly into Nice (NCE) and out of Paris (CDG or ORY). We tell you exactly when to arrive. The FAQ has more on booking flights.
• Most meals. Breakfast is included. The rest is yours, and we have recommendations.
• Travel insurance. Strongly recommended, and yours to arrange. Our cancellation policy refunds what we control; insurance covers your flights, your health and everything you booked yourself. See travel insurance and cancellation.
• Museum and attraction tickets. Yours to buy, as and when you choose.
• Optional add-ons. Listed below.

One item on the first evening deserves a note. On day 1 there is an optional meet-up at 8 pm at a bar in the old town. It is optional, unhosted and not included. Come and go as you like; the app shows who is coming.

The extras, one by one

Each extra below is optional. You pick it at booking or any time in the app, and you pay only for what you choose. Prices appear as they stand on the day you read this.

Boat day along the Riviera. On day 2 at 10 am, the whole boat goes from the old port to Villefranche and Cap Ferrat with swim stops. A skipper and snorkels are aboard, for up to ten of you. It is priced for your group as one unit: $1,345. The app shows who from Your Group is in.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine afternoon. On day 5, from 2 to 6 pm, a driver-guide from A la Française takes up to eight of you by minivan from Avignon's tourist office to two wineries for guided tastings. There is also a stop at the ruins of the popes' summer castle. It is per person: $110. Lunch is not part of it, so eat in town first. It runs once two people are booked on it.

Private airport transfer. On day 1, your own car from Nice airport to the hotel. It is handy if you land late or with more luggage than a tram wants. It is priced for your group as one unit: $45. The itinerary also describes tram line 2 from both terminals to the centre, about 25 minutes, if you would rather not add it.

Dinner at L'Ambassade d'Auvergne. On day 8 at 8 pm, a table at L'Ambassade d'Auvergne, a Marais bistro since 1966, for whoever adds it. It is on the restaurant's Bougnat menu: three courses with a choice of two at each. Drinks are ordered at the table. It is per person, with no minimum: $43.

Extra night in Paris. One more night in the same hotel after the trip ends, with breakfast. It is per person: $355.

An extra bought from us is never priced above the seller's own public price.

What this means for how you plan

Start with the hotel level, because it is the one decision that changes the base price. Then read the days and decide which extras fit your own pace.

Some travelers add all five. Some add none and eat where the recommendations in Explore suggest. Both are the same trip, on the same Route, with the same trains and the same Live Moments.

The free days are on purpose. Day 3 is a coastal day trip or a swim. Day 7 is Paris, all day, by neighborhood. Because the price does not assume what you will do with them, you are not paying for time you would have spent differently.

For how the free days work across four hotel levels, see the free days guide. For the full cost with flights and food, see what the trip costs. For the reasoning behind having no guide, see why there is no guide.

The dates, the route and the current prices are on the Southern France trip page, and more reading is in the guides.