Hi Fodorites,

We are finishing up our project in Madagsacar and on our way home to the states, we were going to take a few days in Paris. But - since we have been there many times we thought we would visit the Loire Valley. I have read some post and information on renting car, we won't drive in Paris, it looks like we should take a train to Tours and go from there. Family has been to Vendome, they say it is beautiful. Your thoughts on a base, Amboise? or suggestions for hotels or favorite restaurants and POI. We like a bit of nightlife, very little, some markets, and some good restaurants. We love the small villages of Provence so some place comparing, and want to visit the wine area.

Any help would be appreciated. Looking forward to returning home after many months and this will be a nice goodbye to this corner of the world.

Thanks,

There are two ways to approach visiting the Loire Valley; with or without a car.

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Without car

Either take the TGV to Tours from Montparnasse or a Corail or Intercite train to Blois from Austerlitz. From either of these two locations, visit the Office de Tourisme websites for mini bus tours and schedules. From Blois, you primarily visit its château, Chambord, Cheverny, or maybe Chenonceau. From Tours (which is the only place with any night life in the Loire Valley), mini bus tours are available to just about any of the primary châteaux.

http://www.bloispaysdechambord.com/
http://www.ligeris.com/

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With Car

Driving out of Paris is not driving in Paris. Driving out of Paris is very easy, just arrange to pick up a car at a rental office near your hotel, plan your exit and execute first to the périphérique, then along to A6/10.

With a car you could stop by Chartres on your way to the Loire Valley. Depending upon the time you have available, consider the following châteaux:

1. East of Tours: Chambord, Cheverny, Chenonceau. If you have time include in the following order: Chateau Blois, Chaumont or Amboise (which is best seen from across the Loire River.

2. West of Tours: Azay le Rideau and Villandry - primarily for the gardens but the interior has been recently improved somewhat. If you have time: Loches, Saumur, Chinon, Langeais, and Usse (a drive by Usse is sufficient).

As for places to stay, here are my recommendations:

1. The Cheval Blanc in the small village of Bléré, between Chenonceau and Tours. This hotel/restaurant changed hands in early 2008 with the long-time owners retiring. Under the new owners, (Hélène et Fabrice Tavernier) the service is reportedly much more efficient but their culinary reputation is yet to be established. During the week (Tuesday to Friday) two courses (entrée and main dish) are €22 with a €7 supplement for dessert. Despite a change of owners, I still find this location worth considering as a place to base oneself.

www.lechevalblancblere.com


2. Between Blois and Tours
Auberge de Launay
in a beautiful setting and a wonderful restaurant
http://www.aubergedelaunay.com/

3. Hostel du Roy
in Chenonceaux
http://www.hostelduroy.com/

4. la Ferme des Berthiers
just south of Tours in a very homey setting
http://www.lafermedesberthiers.fr/

5 Near Chenonceaux:

Le Bon Laboureur
http://www.bonlaboureur.com/

Note: unless you just enjoy an atmosphere resplendent with other tourists, avoid Amboise in the summer. It has come the cliche destination of the Loire Valley. If you prefer lively surroundings, stay in Tours at a hotel between the train station and Place Plumereau, avoid anywhere outside of the old part of the town as these areas are not interesting for tourists.

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For a truly unique wine tasting experience, contact Phillipe Oudin and ask to visit his winery and cave. The cave was itself an important source of limestone used in the construction of many of the areas famous châteaux. I find particularly interesting his Cabernet Franc selections:

http://cavegrandebrosse.com/

thank you for your suggestions, the wine visit looks great. We will be taking the train from airport, and will rent a car. Have to decide on the base. After looking today may consider taking a balloon ride over the area. We will be there in the month of April, so should not be too crowded.

You could also take a train to Blois and rent a car there (which we did the last time we stayed in Amboise and visited the chateaux, etc.) but most people seem to get a TGV to Tours and then rent from there.

The balloon ride...DO consider it. We used www.franceballoons.com for our float and it was excellent in every way. However, you must be prepared for the possibvility of a cancellation due to the weather..it happens frequently because of rain, lightning, wind issues, etc.

Thanks Dukey1,if there was weather issues I would want them to cancel I am a coward. I said that I would never ride in baloon but took a helicopter on Reunion Island and really enjoyed it, and after one over the grand canyon several years ago I said that I would never ride another one unless it was a medi-vac. As you get older you start thinking why not go for it. I have about six weeks to plan this and this is a start. Thanks

If you want a really nice place in Chenonceaux, look at the Bon Laboureur.

I drove from central Paris, which added to the 'excitement'. With a GPS, thing would be different.

In my case I drove east to west. At beginning I added Fontainbleau, at the end Chartres and Giverny.

If you do take a train, I would take it to Blois and pick up a car there (assuming you're renting one). Traffic in Tours is a pain.

Just a couple of thoughts to throw at you. It seems that renting the car at Tours and taking the TGV wouldn't be any more of an issue than changing stations to get a train to Blois. Also was thinking of perhaps adding on the champagne area on the way down. Still have not come up with a base, but staying in a Chateau sounds more appealing than a hotel in one of the busier town areas. We are going to be there 2nd week of April so thinking that it won't be as crowded. Want to have a cheese/wine tour from someplace but just stopping into one of these is always an options and doesn't have to have a plan. Thanks for your replies. p.s. Do we need to buy train tickets online or get at the stations once we decide which connection from CDG.

Will be taking the TGV from CDG to Riems, rent a car, see the area around there and then drive to LV. Awaiting word from Avis on drop off charges I have found a wonderful blog/trip report from someone who has done many of the things we want to do and have restaurant reviews. These blogs are wonderful tools.

Have any of you stayed at the Le Manoir Les Minimes Hotel? I didn't like the fact that there is no cancellation policy for some of the rooms, I have never canceled a trip but want option if done in a timely respectful manner. Is a week doable for this plan or are we pushing ourselves too hard to take it all in.

My favorite hotel and restaurant in the Loire Valley is Domaine des Hauts de Loire in Onzain , between Amboise and Blois. Lovely setting, supurb food and excellent accomadations

http://www.domainehautsloire.com

<b>Azay le Rideau </b> I can not say enough about this beautiful town. If you click on my T/R below and head to the January 1st portion you will see photos and description of this lovely place.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...f-memories.cfm

We drove from Paris with absolutely no issues, remembering for us Aussies its all in reverse. We headed to the TI & asked for recommendations for a "pretty village' base for touring Chateaus in the Loire Valley, in Tours first and they booked us into the Best Western in Azay le Rideau, which was above average with fantastic staff.

have stayed at Le Manoir..very nice and directly next to Le Choiseul. Would probably forego due to cancellation policy. Amboise isn't any more visitor-crowded than some of the chateaux. The balloon ride is VERY subject to cancellation due to inopportune wind conditions are any questionable weather.

Read you trip report aussiedreamer, I enjoyed it very much. It is rewarding to hear of people's adventures. I just came back from my first trip to aussie land. I had a spectacular time, went to my first tennis match in Melbourne and loved it. I met some wonderful people.

The hotel link you sent avalon is a WOW factor. As I said I just came back from two weeks in Australia and before that two weeks during holiday in Paris and Vienna so I may try to put myself on a budget. There is just something about walking into a wonderful room when you are traveling that I always have problem giving up. Thank you all for your advice and if anyone has a hotel they like in Riems area (which I cannot figure out for the life of me how the french pronounce Ronce).

avalon, I definitely agree about Domain des Hauts de Loire.....just wonderful!

I had one of my most memorable meals ever in the garden of La Roseriae next to Chenonceau. They have a nice hotel too: http://www.hotel-chenonceau.com/

I have searched the internet all afternoon, and I have come to the conclusion that (don't get me wrong, sure it is beautiful, all of France is) ...but there doesn't seem as many travelers saying so much about the champagne area as the Loire valley, I am thinking I should save the train and hotel expenses for that portion and go directly to the LV and try to get into the Domain des Hauts de Loire or something comparable. My son's fiance grew up in Vendome so I think I should concentrate on what her area is all about. Sounds like I have, at least made a decision, aren't we all glad of that. Thanks again for your post. Now it almost time for a glass of wine

I saw the Tours website Sarastro posted above with the list of mini-bus excursion companies. A couple years ago I looked into booking a 1/2 day tour of the chateaux in the off-season and the company I called (Acco-Dispo) had a 2 person minimum. Anyone know if any of these companies will take one person only, or are any of the companies more popular and thus more likely to have several bookings on a given day in the off-season? I'm going to try again for a tour at the beginning of March.

Several years ago we picked up our rental car at the airport, and drove directly to the Loire. mappy.com was my friend! I'd chosen a small hotel that offered half-board which we took and were thrilled with. It was the Hotel St Hubert in Cour-Cheverny. I used Logis de France to find it. The website for Logis has an advanced search option, so you may want to use it to narrow down choices to 2 or 3 chimneys (for example). This will return a number of small (generally around 6-10 rooms) hotels with dining rooms (which are also rated!) and the descriptions will place them near certain chateaus. I understand that Tours is also good spot to base yourself, but driving in the area is very easy and you can certainly see a great deal whether you base yourself Haut-Loir or Centre.

Would those of you that have stayed at the Domain des Hauts de Loire mind tell me what you know of the rooms, from their website the standard room looks wonderful and there is a huge saving in cost.

We stayed in a standard room and were very happy with it. We had just been in a small Paris hotel room for a week before staying in Onzain so that may have colored our memory of the room! It has been 6 years since our stay.