I'll be in the Loire Valley with my children, 10 and 12 years old, for 4 days in the beginning of April. We are staying at La Roseraie in Chenonceaux. We do have a rental car for the 4 days, but I would like to do a half-day bike trip that 1)would be scenic 2) be less than 15 miles round trip and 3) not go up any major hills. Any suggestions for routes/destinations? It wouldn't have to be in Chenonceaux or even start from Chenonceaux, as I believe the chateau is not far from our hotel.

Monique, I would talk to your hotel for suggestions. Whatever you do, take backroads! One thing that occurred to me (an experienced cyclist) is that the roads are quite narrow and the cars are quite fast!

Agree that a lot of these roads have minimal shoulders. I would talk to your hotel about a route - and not do any except the smallest of back roads unless your kids are used to riding with fast moving traffic.

My mom and I rode rented bikes from Blere to Chenonceaux quite some time ago. It was a nice, easy, level ride, but the traffic was such that I wouldn't have wanted to take kids on that road.

Having driven a fair bit in the Loire - the roads are fairly narrow with not much shoulder - I really would caution against letting kids cycle on these roads. It's OK if you are only putting yourself at risk!

Thanks for the input. Since I have a clear picture now of what cycling in the Loire Valley would entail,we will definitely not be cycling.