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East vs west Loire Valley
I am planning a trip 1st week of October,will be heading into west Loire arriving from Normandy via Fougeres Vitré and*Laval, will be*there for about 4-5 full days before heading back to CDG airport.I plan on visiting maybe 1 or 2 Château but want to spend time wine tasting, seeing caves, visiting small pretty towns and villages plus enjoying some good food.My plan was to start off in*Saumur or Chinon as they both have a castle, visit some small villages, wineries and caves , maybe stay a couple of days and nights.I then thought about heading to Loches *and Montresor for a day and night before heading to east Loire with a base of Bloise or Amboise.I have heard that East is more Touristy as it is closer to Paris.Is it worth moving West for a couple of days?, my top Châteaudun choice at the moment is Azay-le-Rideau *and or Chenonceau..Any advice appreciated, can’t find much information/ reviews for Loches and area,.Reason I am going west to *East is logistics and strategic as I am coming from Normandy and ending back in Paris, seemed to make sense to spend a day or two*east as we will be heading back to Paris |
I wouldn't miss Angers. Yes, I would split the time between East and West. If nothing else it will save you backtracking time, as there aren't a whole lot of options for how to travel along the valley.
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Angers yes nice old unique castle - Abbaye de Fontrevaud - Chinon - Saumur nice in western area but the world-famous chateaus are in east part with Amboise area a perfect base. Amboise has its own great chateau hovering over the Loire plus Leonardo's Clos Luce manor house with nice gardens.
If you really want a unique and relatively untouristed places check out Richelieu: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...valley-899835/ The Amboise area and other places along the Loire you can stay in a troglydyte house: https://www.airbnb.com/s/Amboise--Fr...types[]=18 |
Thanks for the info, Amboise is a strong possibility for my base in the west and I will look into the other suggested areas, lots of time left for me to research |
If you want to see a beautiful castle with amazing grounds and enjoy wine tasting, then visit Château de Brissac not far from Angers. https://www.chateau-brissac.fr/ We had two bases on the Loire Valley. One was in the small village close to Blois for*Châteaux de*Blois, Amboise, Chenonceau, Chaumont, Cheverny, Chambord - all of them magnificent...We stayed in the castle-like hotel, but it is closed now... it was an unforgettable adventure. Another base was near Saumur for gorgeous Château Breze with its underground world, Château de Saumur, and amazing privately owned Château de Montreuil-Bellay. We also visited magnificent gardens of Château de Villandry (the Château inside was not impressive) and Azay-Le-Rideau of course, which was luckily not in scaffoldings back in 2013. We also enjoyed the tranquil Abbey de Fontevraud with its rich history dating back to*the Plantagenets. |
We spent a week based near Amboise almost two years back and easily visited both the eastern and western parts of the Loire. The gardens at Villandry are stunning and a must-see IMO, the interiors not so much. Chenonceau of course is one of the loveliest in the region, another grand château*is Chambord. These would be my top three picks. I’m a huge fan of the Plantagenets and had to visit Abbaye de Fontevraud, though unfortunately I found it rather underwhelming... maybe I expected too much? Anyway, no regrets, was happy I got to see it. On the second list would be the following: Rigny Usse - again the exterior/setting, which was Charles Perrault's inspiration for la Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty) Blois - I recommend their sound and light show for a good insight of the Loire châteaux* |
I think it would be a good idea for you to decide on the specific chateaux you want to see before you try to figure out lodging. It's not that long a drive between Blois in the east and Angers in the west, so if you can find a really good place to stay that's centrally located, you might not need to move.
We've stayed just north of Loches and often talked with other guests about where they'd gone, and they'd ranged far and wide. I think driving an hour or more was possible since staying in the country makes the driving easier, especially coming back in the evening after packing in a few chateaux each day. In my opinion, the village of Montresor is not to be missed. Of the chateaux you mentioned, Azay le Rideau and Chenonceau are my and my husband's favorites. Loches is a great little town, especially on market days. And Loches is near Chedigny, with beautiful roses and clematis on all the buildings. There's also a jardin de cure in the village you can visit. |
I enjoyed Loches for a fortified castle - un chateau fort vs chateaus built for pleasure and not defense. And seeing the infamous Hanging Cages of some Louis in the dungeons was sobering - the king literally hung his enemies out to dry by putting them sometimes for years in the hanging cages where they could not even stand up and be in the dark most of the time - a replica hangs there.
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Yes, as Coquelicot says it really isn’t hard driving east-west, don’t believe we spent more than 1-1.25 hours each way getting to places farthest from where we stayed. Another vote for Montrésor and Loches, the former has quite frequently featured in the list of “les plus belles villes de France”. Apart from wineries do visit the wine coops where you will find wines from many local vineyards. We particularly liked the ones at Vouvray and Chinon. Maison Pelletier at Cancay near Vouvray was extremely welcoming, also a couple near Bourgeuil. |
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