Hi B,

Train schedules are at
www.voyages-sncf.com for Paris/Amboise and Dijon/Paris.

Try www.novarentacar.com and www.autoeurope.com for car rental.

Have a nice visit.

When we traveled from Paris to the Loire last year we took the train to Blois and rented a car there, through AutoEurope. The Blois RR station has an Avis counter but I have no idea how good the selection of cars is.

We had considered renting a car in Amboise but couldn't find an agency (not saying they don't exist) through which to do so.

As an alternative you could also take TGV to Tours which takes less time than a regular train to Amboise, and rent the car there.

Of course, if you can get a better rate by renting in Paris and feel comfortable driving out of the city that would also be a possibility.

You can sometimes get a discounted rental rate if you rent the car in conjunction with an SNCF rail ticket through the SNCF site.

Unfortunately, I think if you want to rail from Amboise to Dijon all the connections are through Paris.

It may be easier to rent a car in the Loire valley, but if you want to see Chartres on the way, it would make more sense to rent the car in Paris. Once in the Loire valley, you will want to keep the car to see the area between the Loire and Burgundy. Bourges is a nice stop. Sancerre might be another. I like the village of La Borne for its pottery and its general store/restaurant in the middle of the village. A little further south is Apremont-sur-Allier with a beautiful English garden. The village itself is un des plus beaux villages de France. The center of La Charité-sur-Loire is worth a stop, especially the main church. Return the car in Beaune and take the train back (there may be a direct TGV to CDG)

You will see more if you rent a car to get from the Loire Valley to Burgudy than if you take the train.

I also find 4 nights in Beaune without a car to tour the environs would get rather boring. There is so much beauty to see in the countryside and the driving is not difficult (one you know how to put the car in reverse and open the gas tank!).

If you stick to trains, I personally would opt to stay in Paris an extra day or add the infamous "day side-trip" to Versailles, Chartres, Giverny etc. etc. than spend 4 in Beaune. It's lovely... but only so big after all.

We are doing the same trip this Fall and I've already made arrangements for a car through autoeurope. Costs about $450 for a midsize for 8 full days. We've driven in France before (including the circle around the Arc de Triomphe!), and it's not a problem. Roads are well-marked. We opted for the car because we like the independence of going when and where we choose. Also we wanted to stop in Chartres on the way to Onzain and stop in Vezelay on the way to Beaune. A car is a necessity in the Loire if you're going to see the chateaux. Also we wanted to tour on our own through the wine areas north and south of Beaune. I would think that overall having the car from Paris through the rest of your trip would save you a lot of time and hassle. No waiting for trains, no waiting at rental counters.

We looked at the rental car rates to help us make our decision on whether to take a train from Paris to Beaune vs. car. Turns out renting the car at Orly airport was much cheaper than renting in Dijon and the day we needed the car was a Sunday and the rental car offices aren't open except at the Paris airports. Check autoeurope to see what the cost is and this may influence your decision.

We did almost the same trip last summer, and this worked well for us-

We took the RER to CDG early in the morning, and rented from Autoeurope for 1 week. We hit the road mid morning when the traffic had eased a bit. Getting out of Paris from CDG is infinitely easier than the centre of Paris. But make sure you have good directions -because the route is a bit difficult (at least it was for us, because you get highway numbers and places I didn't recognise. It's not until you are well out of Paris that you get Loire signs.
Four days in Beaune without a car would be a definite dissadvantage. Beaune was great, but the surrounding area is the big attraction.
We stayed at budget Accor Hotels - I thought they were pretty good, and quite reasonable. The cost savings probably paid for the car rental - and in most cases you needed a car because they were mainly on the outskirts.

The night before our departure, we took the car back to CGD and stayed at the Ibis, because we didn't want the worry of fighting traffic into CDG for a noon flight. The Ibis wasn't that great, but it was reasonable and was just a short walk to our terminal.

G

You could also take the train to Chartres and pick up a car there for the balance of your trip.