Loire Valley, France, Family Trip / Accommodation
 

Hi there

We're travelling from Mount St Michel to the Loire Valley (Chambord) and then onto Avignon in late March. We have two nights somewhere in the Loire Valley. We're keen to check out the following Villandry (garden)*, Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau (bridge)*, Chambord***. We will be travelling with 2 x 5 year old twins and 1 x 22 month old. We have our own car. A few questions please:

* Which of these chateaux do you think will be most appropriate for a family visit? Our kids are pretty good in museums and galleries etc and also love to run around outside. We're just trying to prioritise them in terms of time. We had thought first Chambord, then Villandry and Chenonceau. Is there others that you think are a better option for us.

* Is there a particular town you recommend we stay in to explore this area? And if possible, a recommendation for family friendly accommodation. We're ideally looking for a family suite within a B&B that also either offers a dinner option or access to a kitchenette. We don't want to spend a fortune, which for us is no more than around E150 per night. I've scoured so many websites and I'm going cross eyed from it.

Thanks so much

Hi Wombats !
Great to see you again. I have loved the castles you mention, couldn't really rank them.

Did you look at http://www.gites-de-france.com/ ?

Stay under french language, if you select english, site eliminates places who don't advertise in english.

Villandry Chateau is nothing special - you go there for the gardens - not the chateau. You have picked the 3 destinations I would pick to visit in that area. All three are in the countryside - so I would stay the nights in the countryside - not in a large city (which might take some "doing" driving in & out). You can walk to Chenonceaux from Auberge Bon Laboreur.

I would certainly not try to visit all 3 in one day. Visit Chenonceaux & Villandry on one day and Chambord the next. We were the first in line at Chambord & Chenonceaux when they opened - and an hour later they were mobbed - so get there early.

Stu Dudley

We did all three in one day, went to Chenonceau at 4pm when the tour buses leave. Stayed in Amboise, where we also caught the evening light show at their castle

Amboise Chateau is very nice as is the nearby Chateau de Clos Luce where Leonardo Va Vinci lived and died. Near the latter is a large playground with neat things to do for kids.

Also consider Chinon which is more rugged than the Loire Valley proper Chateaux and if I were a child, I'd like it a lot--I liked it a lot as a childish adult.

The gardens at Vllandry will not be at their best at the end of March. It will be too early for the flowers to be blooming. We were there at that time several years ago and planting was just starting. You can still walk around and see the layout etc, but do not go expecting the colours seen in photos taken in summer.

Thank you everyone. We'll aim to visit over two days.

dwdvagamundo, the playground sounds great, we'll certainly Look out for it! Thank you.

I like eddy idea of a light show at Amboise too.

Thank you. Holiday is creeping up on us and I'm finding it hard to plan while also chasing three little Wombats around!

Cheers

I think, we have visited all of the castles of the Loire Valley over the last decades and even slept in a few castles. Here just a few comments:

Chambord: It is impressive because of its cheer size. By far the largest of the castles and magnificent with all its towers, turrets and chimneys on the roof. Inside, you find a magnificent staircase, otherwise the interiors are somewhant blant.

Chenconceaux: The most romantic castle which the gallery that spans across the river. Everybody's darling.

Azay-le-Rideau: The most balanced of all Loire castles, with beautiful interiors. Has the look of a fairy-tale castle. If I could visit only one castle I would select this one.

Villandry: Yes, everyboday says the gardens. But, frankly, I have seen better gardens and the castle itsself is not worth the drive.

Amboise: Not exactly first rank among the Loire castles, but the nightly light and sound show is impressive. Do not miss the nearby residence and museum of Leonardo da Vinci Clos Luce with all his inventive machines (aircraft, submarine etc.).

Loches: This is a typical medieval castle and hence completely different from the refined palace-style renaissance castles.

This is a good website to give you more information:

http://loire-chateaux.co.uk/en-gb/

Area to stay: If you have a car it does not matter too much where you stay. I would select something around Tours or between Tours and Blois (Blois has an interesting castle too). For the light and sound show, staying directly in Amboise might be practical (it is a charming small town directly on the river and makes a good base).

We once stayed with our family of five here, but I am afraid the rate is with €244 per night above your price range:

http://www.tortiniere.com/fr/hotel-t...eaux-loire.php

>>Azay-le-Rideau: The most balanced of all Loire castles, with beautiful interiors. Has the look of a fairy-tale castle. If I could visit only one castle I would select this one.<<

We've visited it at least 4 times - maybe more. The exterior is fabulous. IMO, the interior is underwhelming. I've read this (underwhelming interior)in tour books also.

Chambord & the Gardens of Villandry

https://stududley.shutterfly.com/27

Click "full screen". Because of Shutterfly softare problems, many captions & titles are truncated or missing.



Stu Dudley

Note that in March the evening son et lumiere performances may not occur. we have seen a couple but it was in early June. Also check the opening hours that early in the year - since it gets dark much earlier then in June/July.

For anyone who stumbles upon this thread, Azay-le-Rideau is currently "wrapped in plastic " as one local described it. It's being completely renovated externally and given we're thought the interior was underwhelming, we wouldn't recommend it right now.

We loved
Chenconceaux. The sumptuous Easter themed floral arrangements were fantastic. And the roaring fire places on a cold day made it a lovely place to visit. The building itself is if course worth it alone.

Wombats - thank you for your update, particularly regarding Azay le Rideau. Where did you end up staying? We are heading to the Loire for two nights from Paris at the end of the month and traveling with our two kids. Trying to decide between staying in Amboise where we could walk to dinner or one of the many chateau style lodgings in the countryside.

We stayed in a Gite we found on AirBnB.

I think Amboise would be a Great base. Our kids loved the Da Vinci Chateau.

Have a nice trip.