I'm planning our first trip to the Loire Valley and need some help with where to base our stay. I've looked at some previous posts here on Fodors and most everyone suggests Amboise, Tours or Blois. I am looking for one or two locations, preferably in a smaller town or even in the countryside, if there are restaurants nearby. I would like to avoid Amboise or any place overflowing with tourists, if that's possible in early June.
We will have 6-7 full days and want to concentrate on the eastern and central parts of the valley. We will have a car and one of things we know we want to do is drive between Sache and Loches, which I realize is a bit off the standard path. Any ideas?

We are spending 4 days in Loire in May and have decided to stay in Loches. Will report back once we get home (not a lot of help I know haha). We decided on Loches because we felt it was central but not a large town as we prefer smaller places.

We stayed in a private chateau near Chinon - but actually in the countryside, but near Chinon and a major local road. Fascinating - since it was 15th century, good continental buffet breakfasts and the owners had dinner en famille a couple of nights a week with reservations. Prices were quite reasonable and owners very helofull with advice - check out the Chateau des Reaux.

Hello wanderfrau

We've stayed twice in a gite in the lovely tiny village of Monteaux. We found it very well situated for exploring the eastern/central sides of the Loire, including Chaumont, Villandry, Chambord, Blois, Cheverny, Orleans, Loches, and even as far as Valencay.

There was a bakery within a one-minute walk of our gite, and the supermarket (regular size plus clothing, etc.) was in the town of Onzian, about a 10-minute drive away.

I'd be glad to give you a link if you might be interested.

Wherever you choose, you'll have a great time!!

Happy travels!

We just returned from Chinon - and I can not recommend this town more. We loved every minute of it. Although we overhead several languages, most of the people we ran into in restaurants were speaking French. And boy, were the restaurants wonderful! We were there four nights, and there were still ones we wanted to try.

The town also has an interesting fortress that is a good change of pace after seeing one to many chateaus. It's also right on the river, with a lovely walk with huge trees.

Our favorite restaurants:

http://www.lesannees30.com/

Le Cafe de Arts (I don't have a website)

http://www.auchapeaurouge.fr/contact.php

The key factor you do not disclose is will you or will you not have a car.

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Without car:

Your choices are probably Tours, available by TGV from Montparnasse or Blois, available by intercité train from Austerlitz. From either of these two locations you can take minibus tours to the châteaux or other venues of your choice. Tour information is available here:

http://www.bloispaysdechambord.com/

http://www.ligeris.com/

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With a car:

Your choices are much more vast. You can stay in town or at a chambre d´hote in the country and visit what you want. The Michelin Green Guide for Châteaux de la Loire offers driving itineraries, restaurant suggestions, and hotel ideas.

Thanks for all your replies.

Hi swiss! I'd love the information on the gite. Thanks

Sarastro - we will have a car, so if you have any specific recommendations for places stay, please share.

Here's the link to their home page:

http://a.la.colombe.pagesperso-orange.fr/index_gb.htm

My husband and I have stayed twice in the "Le Romantique" and friends of ours have stayed in the "L'Insolite."

If you decide this might work for you, I'd be happy to give you a bit more info about them.

Happy travels!

you may use amboise as a base
it is lively
you have plenty of restaurants
you have the chateau with sound and light shows and leonard de vinci museum
it is within reach of the chateaux and montlouis/vouvray for wine tastings

Thanks everyone for your help. It looks like I've picked a busy week to be in the Loire, so my choices my end up on availability and price rather than first choice and location. Ahhh, the joys of not planning ahead.

Just wanted to add we stayed at Logis Saint Mexme - which is a B&B with only two rooms. I would highly recommend them in Chinon.

http://www.logis-saint-mexme.fr/