Hello! My husband and I and our two children (11, 12) are going to be travelling through the Loire Valley for 3 days, 2 nights this April. We would like to stay in two "castles", in the Angers and Tours areas. I would love to stay in a true castle with a moat and all! I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions that aren't too far off the beaten path (not too far south in the valley) as we will then be heading back to Paris. Thank you in advance!

. I would love to stay in a true castle with a moat and all!>

Very few of the Loire chateaux are chateaux forts or fortified castles with moats (Angers castle an exception)-but rather were not built in most part for defense but pleasure domes - so ones you want I think are few and far between in this area.

Even some of the chateaux forts like Loches and Amboise do not have moats.

But there are plenty of lesser chateaux that do take overnight guests.

What PQ said. They're not fortified castles, they're play palaces.

I stayed at Chateau de Chissay quite a few years ago. No moat, but walls. Small and very historical. Belonged to the kings mistress Diane du Pottier and was a meeting place for world leaders during WWII. Quite close to Tours. At the time they had a highly rated restaurant. Also a pool. Loved it! Its been many years so check current reviews if you are interested.

http://www.chateaudepray.fr/?lang=en

On the outskirts of Amboise -a great tactical base for seeing the most popular of the chateaux -the Chateaus de Pray gets good reviews and you can walk to Amboise.

Most castle hotels have been so tarted-up that there is little resemblance to the original; however, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Look at the site Relais Et Chateaux they have rooms on very nice places.
As said above moats and most of fortifications disappeared at the end of middle age due to pacification and uselessness of fort ovation in front of artillery. Castles became palaces.

Most of the châteaux of the Loire Valley are from the period of the Rénaissance. The building of moats was obsolete by this time. Sometimes moats were included strictly for decorative purposes such as at Château Chambord. Azay le Rideau has water around it and maybe at some earlier period it was for protection but when the château was constructed into its current form, the water was decorative. You can´t stay at either of these locations, they just illustrate that what you are seeking might not be widely available.

One place you might consider is Château de Chémery, just to the south of Blois. Renovations were started here by its previous owner, Alain Souchon, a name some might recognize as a very successful and well known signer/song writer. Souchon sold the château to a couple wanting to turn it into a chambre d´hôte (B&B) which it now is. Château de Chémery has a mote which was originally used for protection.

http://www.chateaudechemery.fr/

Also near Chémery is the Cave de la Grande Brosse which you can visit by calling Philippe Oudin in advance and arranging a tour. You children should find this particularly interesting.

http://www.cavegrandebrosse.com/

Thank you for the responses. I had seen some that have moats, but I guess those haven't been converted to B and B's at this point....

So then we can skip the moat but would still love to stay in a nice 'castle'! Appreciate all the advice!

http://castleandpalacehotels.com/cou...ays_loire.html