Loire Valley for three nights; coming from Vannes?
 

I'll be travelling from Vannes and have three nights to spend in the Loire Valley - I don't necessarily need to see the most grand chateaux, but would like to have nice walking and biking options along the river if possible. After the Loire, I'm heading south to Bordeaux. If I stayed in between (or in) Saumur or Angers and took day trips would that make sense? I will have a car. So here are my questions:
1. With three nights available, where to stay on Western end of Loire Valley - small towns are fine.
2. Should I drive further to Tours or Blois and start there instead of further west?
Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated. Merci beaucoup!!

We stayed in Amboise for 3 or 4 nights and drove around the Loire Valley. We stayed at the Hotel Le Manoir Les Minimes which was just wonderful. The area is so picturesque, I recommend it. We went hot air ballooning, which I would also recommend. You can do a morning flight and still have the whole day for sightseeing.

We're chateaux freaks and have stayed for weeks in the western Loire & weeks in the eastern Loire. For a short trip, I would focus on the eastern Loire. Amboise, Blois, and even Chenonceaux make good bases. We're not fans of the cities or villages in the Loire - compared to cities & villages in other areas in France (except for Chinon). Also, the countryside is not as interesting, IMO.

My wife's Shutterfly books:
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/24
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/27
Hit "full screen". Because of some Shutterfly enhacements, captions I headings are often missing or truncated.

Western Loire is not viewable because of more Shutterfly enhancements

Stu Dudley

Perfect information and most helpful. Thank you!

Thank you - will target three nights in Amboise and day tours around the area!

With a car you can choose a scenic route using viamichelin.com. Scenic roads are shown in green on their maps. Taking scenic routes help us enjoy the journey which otherwise might take us on a duller, straighter route. I assume you're not pressed for time.

We find the Indre river much more scenic than the Loire, and there is a stretch of the road which hugs the river and takes you past lots of old mills and over many flowered bridges--say between Sache and Loches or Genille. We've stayed in five or six B&Bs and one hotel in that area and have a favorite B&B, La Bihourderie at Azay sur Indre (not Azay le Rideau). But we never stay in towns if we can avoid it, so all our B&B picks are out in the country. If you go to Loches or Azay sur Indre, don't miss the village of Chedigny, which is a Jardin Remarquable and is a floral extravaganza. Loches has two markets a week; the Saturday one is popular and has everything a traveler would want.

Noodling around I came across this website of bike routes near Veigne.

https://www.komoot.com/guide/1487471...-around-veigne

We find lots to enjoy in that area and sometimes we don't even visit one chateau. There are I think five villages in that area on the official list of France's most beautiful villages but even some not-famous villages are worth a visit.

Booked at Hotel le Manoir Les Minimes! Merci!

All booked? Oh well, I was going to suggest a place we stayed just outside Amboise.
Chateau Perreux….we loved it! But I do like the looks of your Manoir.

https://www.chateaudeperreux.fr/en/index.php

You already have a hotel booked, but tbh, we did not care for Amboise itself all that much, too many tour buses, reminded us of being in the lakeside part of Lucerne in the way that tourists were omnipresent. We preferred Angers as it's not as tourist-focused as Amboise. We liked that visitors were just a part of the city's life and not its central feature. OTOH, its hotels are pleasant but not in the same category as the chateau hotels (as for the Minimes, most people like it a lot, but beware the management response if you post a less than positive review on TA :serious: )