Oh Coquelicot, that sounds grand!
What town should we take the train to get near the region?
Pick up a rental?

Judy, that house looks great, but it will just be the 2 of us.
But I will look up VRBO.

judy,

we loved staying in Saumur, and it is well places for seeing many of the sights in the Loire. we also stayed in Amboise, but didn't like that as much.

we haven't stayed there, but we stopped for a few hours in Chinon and were very impressed, and liked the idea of staying there too. you can get the train to any of these, I think. go to www.sncf.fr for timetables.

I've often read on Fodors about people renting a car at the train station of St Pierre Des Corps outside of Tours. We've only rented from CDG so that's all I know.

Hello Judyrem :)

Last September my husband and I spent nine nights exploring the Loire by car. We stayed one week in a gite in a tiny village named Monteaux (near Amboise), and then the final two nights were up in Angers to explore that area. It was fabulous!

We were on the go literally the entire time and still were not able to see everything on our itinerary. It was our third time to the Loire, and I couldn't believe how many new places we visited.

Happy travels!

Swisshiker, you are a dear!
Annhig, thanks for the info.
Coque, thanks again.