My husband and I are spending 3 nights and 4 days in the Loire Valley. We were thinking of having Amboise be our home for that time and take day trips from there. We are interested in seeing Chambord, Chenencoux, Fougere and possibly visiting a vineyard. We are looking to get the french feel and not so touristy areas. Are we planning this right or should our home base be somewhere else? Also does anyone have any must sees in this area? Thanks!

We stayed in Amboise in 2003 and found it to be a perfect base for exploring the Loire Valley. Sorry, I can't remember the name of the place where we stayed.

Amboise is a wonderful base, IMO. Love that town.

A must-see for me in the area is a visit to Le Cheval Blanc in Bléré for a fabulous dinner.

If you're going to Fougère, take the time to detour to Vitré.

Amboise is a good base for many chateaux, but hardly Fougeres.

Blois is worth a visit en route to Chambord.

We loved Amboise. Here is a trip report of our visit there:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=653

We, too, found Amboise to be a perfect base for Chambord & Chenoncoux - can't speak to Fougere. That's the perfect amount of time, too.

ougères is quite out of the way and not really in the Loire Valley. I think your time would be better spent staying within the Loire Valley. Loches is a favorite of ours because the whole town is worth a visit, not just the chateau. Blois chateau's setting is not as dramatic, but is a great study in different architectural styles and in history. Chambord has a horse show at the royal stables that we missed...adverts looked really good.

If you really wanted to see something a little different, I would head east to the Sologne and visit Gien and Briare with its famous water bridge concieved by Eiffel. The countryside and architecture vary somewhat from the Loire proper. But if it was me, I would would concentrate on a few chateaux in the area.

As for wine...just down the road from Amboise is the wine town of Vouvray - one of my favorite whites!

http://www.manoirlesminimes.com/
'nuff said.

Like the cheese, I'll stand alone and say we didn't care for Amboise. Of all the places we've stayed in the Loire Valley, it was our least favorite. We thought there was a definite tour bus, honky-tonk vibe along the river (not too mention mosquitoes).
Re Fougeres, remember there are two...the more well known one, which isn't close to Amboise, and the lesser known Fougeres sur Bievre, which isn't that far away. Which one did you mean?
This is the lesser known one...we visited it and did enjoy it a lot:

http://www.ac-orleans-tours.fr/crdp/...esentation.htm