Jim_Tardio

I will be spending a few days in Ambroise in the Loire Valley.

I was going to rent a car at CDG in Paris, but I'm reading it may be better to train to Tours, and rent from there.

It seems more logical to me just to rent at the airport...where I'll be returning the car.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Jim_Tardio

Sorry for the spelling. That should be Amboise.

yk

I assume you'll be arriving at CDG after an overnight flight?

It depends on how you feel after the flight. Are you someone who can sleep well on flights? Are you someone who only needs a few hours of sleep? Have you driven in a foreign country after an overnight flight?

Last year we were in the Loire Valley for a wedding. A couple of the guests rented cars from CDG and drove down after their flights landed. Several people told me that they had to pull over at the rest stop for a power nap as they couldn't stay awake for the entire 3-hr drive.

Usually in France, there's no surcharge to return the car at a different location (within the country), so your concern about renting the car in Tours and returning it at CDG won't make any difference in price.

Jim_Tardio

Thanks Yk. I usually have no problem driving after landing. The fatigue usually hits me on day 2.

It seems it would be longer waiting for the train, followed by having to get to the car rental place in Tours...and also more expensive. I'd have to buy train tickets.

I ask because so many posters suggested the train to Tours option.

kerouac

Amboise is an easy drive from Paris. Just get the car at CDG -- then at least you'll know where the lot is to take it back.

Jim_Tardio

Good point, kerouac. Returning the car is usually an adventure of its own.

scrb

Are there trains which go directly from CDG to Tours?

Isn't there a TGV from Paris which goes to Tours?

You can't get to Versailles from CDG right, you have to go to St. Michel RER?

PalenQ

Though i agree better to drive

scr- there are several daily TGVs from CDG airport to St-Pierre-des-Corps, Tours' mainline station from which there are shuttle trains to Tours dead-end in town station two miles from SPC

yes you can get to Versailles from CDG by not going into Paris but not by direct mainline train - you could take a TGV from the airport to Massy-TGV and then walk over to the nearby Massy RER station to go to Versailles - really not practical since you need reservations on the CDG-Massy TGVs and that would be a hassle

There are several daily TGV trains from paris-montparnasse that go into the old Tours in town station (via St-Pierre-des-Corps)

or of course take the RER train from CDG to St-Michel then RER C to Versailles

scrb

Thanks Pal.

What about going to Amsterdam or getting on the Euro Star to London from CDG?

Thinking about possibly getting an award ticket to Paris and then going to the Loire/Amsterdam or Paris.

If it's possible to board a train directly from CDG, it would obviously save time and money on a CDG-Paris transfer.

PalenQ

No direct CDG-London Eurostar trains i believe (though the weekly or so winter Ski trains to French Alps may stop there)

but you can take a TGV from CDG to Lille-europa and change to Eurostar to London there. But this may cost a lot more as you pay for the CDG-Lille TGV and then pay almost as much for the Lille-London Chunnel train as you would Paris Gare du Nord to London (just a few bucks cheaper from Lille) - so adding the CDG to Lille TGV cost on would mean a quite a bit more expensive ticket i'd think - but can be done

For Amsterdam it's better - take a TGV train from CDG to Brussels then transfer to hourly IC trains to Amsterdam - may even be cheaper than taking the Thalys from Gare du Nord to Amsterdam as that train has a Byzantine fare structure where you could pay a whole lot more unless you nab the elusive cheaper tickets in advance.

Eurostar tickets should be bought far in advance as they too have a wildly varying fare structure - early bird gets the worm - same as on Thalys - check prices at www.eurostar.com and, for Thalys at www.thalys.com or www.voyages-sncf.com - i always advise comparing prices in the U.S. if an American thru RailEurope which markets Chunnel train tickets here - sometimes cheaper than eurostar.com - hard to tell as there seems little correspondence in fares - same with Thalys. I always advise talking to someone at budgeteuropetravel.com, whom i can attest to for their expertise in this, and having a manual search done for Eurostar or Thalys fares as RailEurope's web site is notorious for misleading fare info - not mentioning some cheaper ones or even giving a higher price once you actually go to book. RE is having a 50% off Thalys full fare for travel thru end of Sep 08 i believe - buy before the end of Aug - if you are traveling soon.

scrb

Thanks again.

Will make planning trips easier knowing the train options directly out of CDG.

kerouac

As an example of cheap Thalys fares that one can find sometimes, I am going from Paris to Amsterdam next month for 50€ round trip.