confusedtraveller

Hi

I'm going to the Loire valley in late July with my family (Dad-63, Mom-54, Sister-32 and my boyfirend - 28). We are renting a car from Gare du Nord station(is this a good idea or too scary???) and plan on spending 2 nights somewhere in the Loire valley. Does anyone have any suggestions on the nicer towns to stay in? We will have a car so we will be able to get to places and don't need to be too close to transport links. We don't want to stay in an area crawling with tourists(although I do realise that at that time of year it will be busy!). We just want simple accommodation in a lovely, peaceful area with some nice restaurants close by and we would like to do day trips to castles and wine farms. Any help will be greatly appreciated and if anyone has a 3 day itinery that would be great too!

Thanks!

jamikins

We are currently in France and were in Loire Valley last week. We stayed in Loches, which we loved (I'll post a link to our trip report in a sec where we talk about the B&B and the town).

It depends where you want to visit. Loches is a bit south, and it takes about 30 - 60 mins to get to the various chateaux, but we loved the drives and the fact that the town is not very touristy.

Other good options are Blois (although its pretty far east), Amboise is very central, Tours is central if you want to stay in a larger town, and I have heard that Chinon is also a good choice if you are interested in visiting the eastern chateaux.

I would get out a map, figure out which couple of chateaux (I wouldnt do more than 2 a day max) you want to visit and then see what towns are nearby.

Happy Planning!!

jamikins

Here is our ongoing trip report - Loire Valley starts on Day 4 (there are some pics as well...)

TPAYT

We've stayed in both Amboise for 4 days and Chinon for a week on different trips.

I would say Amboise is best for a first trip for location and charm. It's small, cute and has many restaurants. From there we visited the majors---Chambord, Chennenceau, Villandry, the Davinci House (right in Amboise). Since all of the chateaus are huge, it takes hours to tour them---choose your favorites carefully for the 2 days you have in the region.

We really loved Chinon and its lovely castle and outdoor restaurants, but to me it's a bit far west for only 2 days.

Good luck!

bellini

My sis.& husband are touring the Loire Valley this week. I know they took the train (TGV) from Paris to Tours. I just checked the Rail Europe website and there's direct trains from either Paris Austerlitz station or Montparnasse (faster) to Tours. They have hired a car once in Tours which sounds a whole lot easier than driving through Paris or via La Peripherique !!

annhig

I agree with Bellini - let the train take the strain.

if you like gardens, you may like to see the garden festival at Chaumont and/ or to visit the classic potager at Villandry. Chenonceau is also a classic, and while you are there, the "one of the most beautiful villages in France" at Candes Saint- Martins is also worth a visit.

Here's a link to the garden festival website:

http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr/

incidentally, we loved Chinon, but can't talk about the castle as it was "fermez".

confusedtraveller

Thank you! I'm going to do a bit of research in to the castles we want to visit as a starting point and then take your comments above into consideration! Merci!

jamikins

Sorry - realized I forgot the link:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ance-again.cfm

Happy Planning!