Rule #1 still applies (we don't rent a car while on a trip in Europe) though it may become tempting to hire a private driver for part of a day and get things done.
The old Navette from Blois train station that runs from Gare Blois to Chambord and Cheverny is either eliminated or changed.
I found a link that indicates it runs every day from July 7 to the end of August. However, the operator's email to me indicate that it doesn't run on Mondays or Tuesdays. I'm trying to find out which is correct.
The schedule does not coinside with arriving trains and appears to be more of an excuse to show service than actually being of use. So maybe it doesn't matter when it runs.

There are separate bus routes from Gare Blois to Chambord and Gare Blois to Cheverny. However, these are not very good.though better than the Navette.
At this point in time I can't find my priority list of chateaux so I'm asking for some help.
If you had never been to the Loire chateaux and were making up a list of chateaux from most interesting to less what would it be?
The following are the possible chateaux in what might be my priority list but I can't be sure.

Chenoceau
Chambord
Amboise
Clos Luce
Cheverny
Blois
Aazay le Rideau
Chaumont

Thanks in advance for you assistance.

****
Chambord
Chenonceau
Gardens at Villandry

***
Chaumont sur Loire
Amboise/Clos Luce
Exterior of Azey le Rideau
Cheverny

**
Blois

We spent 2 weeks in the Loire chateaux area east of Chinon in 2014, 1 week west of Chinon in 2008, 2 weeks between Loches & Chenonceau in 2000, and 3 weeks on various trips prior to 2000.

My wife's Shutterfly books.

Loire starts on page 45
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/24

Chambord & Villandry
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/27

Stu Dudley

We spent a week near Amboise last September and my top picks in order of preference are

Chenonceau
Chambord
Villandry gardens

The second lot would be

Amboise
Azay le Rideau (as Stu says the exterior is lovely, we didn't go inside)
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 history of the Loire chateaux

We also visited Fonttevrault Abbey, I am a huge fan of Elenore d'Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart.

We had our own car, so I wont be able to help you with buses and local transport.

I'd heard mixed reviews about Clos Luce and decided to give it a pass.

Good list by Stu. Surprised no one mentioned Angers, which we enjoyed for its unique "fortress" style. Lots of pictures and commentary on six chateaus here: A week in the Loire Valley

I enjoyed some of the lesser chaeaux like Beaugency and Meung-sur-Loire - latter lady owner took us through and she also was mopping the floors.

My favorites:

Azay-le-Rideau
Chenonceau
Chambord

The OP seems to be focusing on chateaux east of Chinon - so Angers & several other lovely chateaux in that region are too far away.

One of my old tour books mentioned that Azay le Rideau was disappointing on the inside. But we went anyway in about 1985 & were disappointed. We returned again in about 1991 - and we were disappointed again. So we only visited the exterior in 2014. Same with Uzes - much better on the outside than the inside.

Stu Dudley

Thanks so far. This is a big help so far.

You could book a day minibus tour, many leave from Tours itself. It would be an efficient way to get arond to see several in one day. That's what I'd probably do if I really wanted to see several in one day. Some people have a fear or minibus tours but these are mainly just driving you around to the places anyway (more efficiently than local buses), at the cahteau, you'd do whatever you'd do if you came on your own.

This French tourism website lists many reasonable itineraries (like Azay+Villandry+Chambord+Cheverny) for about 60 euro per person. If you don't know French, just click on the "excursions chateaux" link to see some choices.
Visites et excursions vers les châteaux de la Loire | Tours Val de Loire tourisme

I think some of those are really this company, so maybe easier to see them listed here
Tourevasion.com - Excursions Program - Your reservation

Before I start putting things together again I have a couple of questions.

1) How much life is there in Tours between the train station and Place Plumereau on a Sunday in mid-July. My guess is from 5PM onward. People, stores, restaurants, etc.
2) How much of a walk around town is Amboise on a Sunday. I figure it probably has some life if not all stores open given that it's a tourist town.
3) Is the town of Blois anything more than a chateau?

.

Blois is a thriving regional town but besdies the imposing chateau little of touristic interest since the chocolate factory and tours closed up. Yet a very pleasant largely untouristed town.

Hi Myer

Two weeks ago I asked myself those questions here regarding shuttles from Blois to Chambord. I understand from your post that the information regarding this matter as it appears on Chambord's official website is useless, and now I myself have doubts whether or not I should go (I'll be in France the beginning of June).

As for your other questions, I did a nice chateaueax tours in the winter. Blois is magnificent. I recommend it warmly! The town itself is nice. Beautiful Cathedral to visit and just strolling in the streets, passing by the Escalier Denis Papin. In the summer it must be more welcoming than a rainy day of December!

Chenonceau is of course very famous and should be visited. Allow yourself enough time to visits the vast garden which I couldn't enjoy because of rain.

Amboise is not that interesting and the Clos Luce is a complete wast of time and money.

Zvi,

The Navette information for sure is useless. On the flyer is says that it runs on Wednesdays, Sundays and school holidays. However, I found a few web sites that are interesting.
The following 2 web sites give more information. The 2nd web site is actually a link from the first. It appears to indicate that the Navette runs in June and early July on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. And from July 7th to the end of August every day. When I email and ask questions the replies always refer me to the flyer that says Wed, Sun, etc. I even sent the web site links but got nowhere.
It's pretty much a waste of time trying to work the times because I can't be sure which days it actually runs.

https://www.remi-centrevaldeloire.fr...ette-chateaux/

jours-de-fonctionnement-navette-chateaux-2018.pdf

The following web site is run by the same company that runs the Navette Chateaux. There are 2 separate bus routes; one (#2) goes from Blois to Chambord among other places and the other (#4) goes from Blois to Cheverny.

Of course, the schedules that their office sent me are not the same as what the web site below shows.

https://www.remi-centrevaldeloire.fr/itineraire/

If you use the above web site be very careful as it has a bit of a mind of its own. It jumps to a different entry if you try to use some info from your previous request. So always make sure your request is what you wanted before even reading the result.

Quite frustrating. But eventually I'll get something worked out. Even if I have to hire a private car or something for a day.

How about a bicycle and cycling there?

Palenq,
If I was alone I might be tempted to rent a bike at the Blois station if they have a bike rental but with my wife in the middle of July and possible rain isn't a good idea.

And on a different topic. Does anybody know if there's a taxi or some sort of transportation from the train station in Onzain to Chateau Chaumont?

taxis I believe have to be arranged at sleepy stations like that. Doubt if any public transit - boats used to go Amboise to Chaumont in summer.

https://montransport.com/en/director...on/index2.html

It's only 2 km - little over a mile - could walk but don't know about sidewalks, etc.

Tours is a rather large city - and perhaps my least favorite city in France among those that are recommended in guide books. Much of it was destroyed in WWII and re-built "not so nicely". And, of course, just like almost all larges cities in France, most (maybe all) "shops of interest" will be closed on Sunday. Same with Blois - which is a C+ city even when shops are open. We stayed just outside of Blois when we were there for 2 weeks in 2014, and traveled there for dinners, chateau visit, exploring the city, visiting the car return office, visiting the train station, and a few other journeys through it on the way to elsewhere.

Stu Dudley

I don't understand what is so difficult about the up-to-date shuttle information from Blois to Chambord and other places. Unless I'm missing something, it's all detailed here on the link from the Chambord official website:

https://cdn.chambord.org/en/wp-conte...teaux-2018.pdf

This is current information/schedules from March through August or later in 2018.

I don't think of Blois as "magnificent." I find it quite ordinary, apart from the chateau. Tours, even though they've fixed up a lot of the nasty traffic problems that plagued the city years ago, is still a pain and just not that "worth it`' to me, though there are some nice parts of the old quarter. I do like Amboise, always have, but I'll go anywhere Leonardo DaVinci hung out, and I'm fond of the possibly dubious history of Catherine de Medici and her gang defenestrating the Huguenots in the dining room of the chateau.

To get information on taxis from small train stations in France, I always use the www.garesenmouvement.fr site and plug in the name of the town/station. There is almost invariably information about how to order a taxi.

StCirq,
This is supposed to be a chateau visitors shuttle.
Look at the Navette Remi. The one that goes from Blois to Chambord to Cheverny.
At the top it says that it runs Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Why only those days?
But then underneath.
Column 1 - Wednesdays and Sundays.
Column 2 - Saturdays.
Column 3, 4 and 5 - Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Then I came across the link that I posted at 12:22 today that shows the Chateau Navette Remi running every day from July 7 until the end of August.
But when I emailed the link to them and asked about it, they just ignored what I asked and sent me a link to that same flyer you sent.

Then I came across the Remi scheduled buses. Line 2 from Blois to Chambord and Line 4 from Blois to Cheverny and nothing between the two.
When I asked about them the reply included schedule sheets for Lines 2 & 4 which are similar though not exactly the same as the web site return with also some times missing.

And to make things a bit more difficult, if you request a schedule from, say, Gare Blois to Chambord and then change the Chambord to Cheverny to get another schedule it jumps to the top of the alphabet and shows Amboise. So on top of all you have to double check the schedule you get just to make sure it's what you really wanted.

So having the printed flyer and not having to plan things makes it appear clear. No.