Licensed guides

Artventures is a Paris based company founded in 1998 by Didier Jordan a French professional guide in France for over 20 years.

Artventures' aim is to provide the discerning traveller with the best possible travel experience in France.

We are specialized in private sightseeing, museum guided tours, a great variety of excursions from Paris and custom tailored tours around France with a focus on Art and Wine.

What is a Licensed guide?

Licensed tourist guides are professionals of cultural tourism. They carry out activities of reception, information and transmission of knowledge, generally in a foreign language. Licensed guides in France hold a Guide-conférencier (Guide-lecturer) title and diploma.

The tourist guide is a professional, not only in cultural tourism, but also in making you feel welcome.

Tourist Guides help both French and foreign visitors discover and appreciate France's cultural heritage.

In order to succeed in their profession, tourist guides must acquire and master a wide variety of skills. For example, they must have a profound understanding of French culture and a deep knowledge of French history, as well as familiarity with art history, geography, ethnography, economics, and so on. Guides must be able to evoke the meanings and traditions of both France's past and present, and be able to express themselves fluently in one or more foreign languages.

Human and relationship qualities, along with the ability to teach and inform, also play an important role. Guides must always demonstrate their availability, their willingness to adapt to the needs, age and culture of their visitors. The ability to mediate and communicate, along with a strong knowledge of their visitors' culture are essential to the tourist guides.

"Welcome – Communication - Knowledge"

A Regulated Profession

For guided tours in museums and national monuments, travel operators are required by law to use the services of State licensed Tourist Guides

Why use the services of Licensed guides?

  • They are selected and trained for this profession. They are more knowledgeable and usually speak English better (and other foreign languages).
  • You keep within the French law when they take you inside museums and monuments.
  • You can avoid lines in the museums.