By Train in The Loire Valley

The great writer Henry James used the train system to tour Touraine back in the late 19th century and found it a most convenient way to get around. Things have only gotten better since then. Thanks to superbly organized timetables, you can whisk around from château to château with little worry or stress. True, you may sometimes need to avail yourself of a quick taxi ride from the station to the château door, but compared to renting a car, this adds up to little bother and expense. As gateways to the region, Tours (70 mins, EUR 38.40) and Angers (95 mins, EUR 58.50) are both served by the superfast TGV (Trains à Grande Vitesse) from Paris (Gare Montparnasse); note that the main-line station in Tours is in suburban St-Pierre-des-Corps. There are also TGV trains from Charles-de-Gaulle Airport direct to the Loire Valley to Angers (2 hrs, 30 mins, EUR 50.60), and St-Pierre-des-Corps (for Tours, 1 hr, 45 mins, EUR 43.50). Express trains run every two hours from Paris (Gare d'Austerlitz) to Orléans (1 hr, 5 mins, EUR 17, usually you must change at nearby Les Aubrais) and Blois (1 hr, 40 mins, EUR 23).

The main train line follows the Loire from Orléans to Angers (1 hr, 50 mins, EUR 26.70); there are trains every two hours or so, stopping in Blois, Tours, and Saumur; trains stop less frequently in Onzain (for Chaumont), Amboise, and Langeais. There are branch lines with trains from Tours to Chenonceaux (30 mins, EUR 5.60), Azay-le-Rideau (30 mins, EUR 5), and Chinon (50 mins, EUR 8). Ask the SNCF for the brochure Les Châteaux de la Loire en Train for more detailed information. Helpful train-schedule brochures are available at most stations.

Train Information

Gare SNCF Tours (Cour de la Gare. 03-80-43-16-34). Gare SNCF Orléans (1 pl. François Mitterand. 03-80-43-16-34). SNCF (36-35 EUR 0.34 per min. www.voyages-sncf.com). TGV (www.tgv.com).