We are planning to spend five days in the Loire in July - can anyone help with some tips for the best place to be based - we would like to stay in one village (or town) and will have a car. It must be charming, good restaurants & hotels (a few suggestions here would be helpful too!!), but big enough to have car hire companies so we can drop off before hopping on a train for Paris. HELP! Amboise was suggested to me, does anyone agree with this?

I stayed in a manor house outside Bloise. The next time I will stay in Amboise. I thought Amboise was charming.

I was in the region this summer staying with family but spent the day in Amboise and would highly recommend staying there. The town is very cute, has a wonderful chateaux, a museum of Leonardo Da Vinci and some really nice restaurants and shops. In town is the hotel "Le Choiseul" which is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World Chain and is a wonderful spot to spend a few days. There are many Chateaus close to Amboise and I think it would make the perfect base. Have a great trip! Hans

Maybe Richelieu? <BR> <BR>Read a little bit about it at www.bienvenue-au-chateau.com/la-maison-gb.html - - whether you are actually interested in staying here or not. <BR> <BR>There is also a website - - www.cc-pays-de-richelieu.fr shared by Richelieu and 15 other neighboring towns. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

I have enjoyued staying in Onzain - a small town near Blois (where I'm sure you could get the car). I stayed at the Chateau de Tertes, but I haven't seen it listed the past couple of years, so I'm not sure if it is still in business. There was also a nice, inexpensive (but good) restaurant - Chez Collette in Chaumont which is jst across the river. <BR> <BR>The town is convenient to the major Chateau

Thank you all so much for the tips - I am exploring each suggestion and greatly appreciate the trouble you have taken to reply

Amboise is a great convenient place.

I have stayed in Tours a couple times, and though larger than some of the other suggestions, itis nice and central. It has a wonderful central square (Place Plumerau), a nice market, lovely half-timbered architecture, and even some small Roman ruins. There are also some museums of interest. It is easy to get just about anywhere from Tours.

Bob, how much of a hassle is parking in a city like Tours? <BR> <BR>Sorry, Nerida, for piggy-backing onto your post. I'm also going to be in the Loire - in late May. I'm trying to figure out where I want to go, where to stay, etc. I'm really looking forward to it. Good luck with your plans!

We stayed for several days in Amboise and several in Chinon. We also stayed at the wonderful Le Choiseaul in Amboise (thank you Hans, I couldn't remember the name of the place as we had booked to stay at the Bellevue which ended up being a huge disappointment and we didn't stay, found Le Choiseaul on our own and fortunately they had one room left). On the other hand, we really enjoyed the town of Chinon more -- partly because they had a Rabelais festival going on, but partly because we just found it a more charming town. Our hotel there was the delightful small Hotel Diderot. Tours is nice too, but of course, a much larger city.