Loire Valley
 

We're going to Angers in the Loire Valley in September for 10 days and hiring a car. Suggestions please for great places to eat, places to visit, good markets
thanks

For places to see, you might want to get the Michelin Green Guide <i>Chateaux de la Loire</i>.

While in Angers, do not miss the tapestries in the chateau.

To whet your appetite: http://tinyurl.com/5lytom

The chateau is definitely worth a visit, along with the apocalypse tapestry there. I spent 2-3 hours there and found it fascinating.

The cathedral is not as impressive IMHO - but as long as you're there (and it's right by the chateau) you can stop in.

The tourist office is across from the chateau. They're very helpful and I'd recommend stopping by to pick up maps and other info.

There are nice gardens there but it started to rain when I was there, so I can't personally recommend them. There's also a museum with modern tapestries, but I didn't have time to stop there, unfortunately.

Well you will have a blessed trip, Loire Valley is the most underrated part of France and few understand the gems here. Have dinner at Domaine de la Tortiniere near Tours and if only for lunch there is a little portugeese shop in Mountbazon(on the main drag) that you can pick up an inexpensive picnic lunch for your Castle adventures.

Have a great trip!

Hi Muriel,

don't miss the gardens at Villandry - we went in May, at the end of the spring planting, and I've always wanted to go in september to see the summer planting at its peak. there is a restaurant in the grounds but the ones just outside are much more reasonable and quite OK.

for a good base, either saumur or amboise are good - or even both. the michelin red guide has recommendations for restaurants and hotels or have a look at alistair sawdays, who seems pretty reliable.

a plce I'd like to stay in Fontavraud abbey, where the plantagenets are buried - there's what looks like a nice hotel there. however, I've just looked at TA and it gets mixed reviews.

if you seach this forum for amboise, you'll see that one hotel [I've forgotten the name] gets consistently good reviews.

good luck,

regards, ann

We spent 3 wonderful nights last Sept. at the Chateau Perreux just outside of Amboise. If you check trip advisor, you'll see a few bad reviews(I guess they are not used to beautiful rooms and excellent, friendly service), but most of them are great. It really was &quot;luxury without the velvet rope&quot;.

Victoria and Alun were wonderful hosts. One of the restaurants they sent us to was L'Aubinere which was about 20 min. from the Chateau. It was one of our best meals.

We visited the usual, Chambord, Chenenceaux, and Villandry. All were stunning and the highlight of our trip.

We will be in Paris again this Sept. but sadly, we will not have enough time to revisit the Chateau Perreux. Maybe next year.

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions, it's really helpful. Please let me know of any great places to eat ( from market cafes to expensive restaurants, we're happy to travel to find them

You might want to try the restaurant or even stay at the Domaine des Hauts de Loire, It is a real experience that we've been lucky enough to have done twice.

www.domainehautsloire.com