Loire Valley--seeking advice
 

Will be heading to France in the spring, traveling alone. Have made a reservation for 5 nights in Paris. Then plan to take the train to Tours and rent a car there visiting this area for 5 nights, dropping it off at Chartres. (Does this sound like a good plan?) I would like to stay somewhere very special but have a low budget. Have read about Domaine de Haut de Loire and wonder if it is worth the splurge. Any other suggestions for memory-making accommodations in this area? On my agenda is visiting several of the major chateau, wandering through quaint, charming villages, and if I can come up with the cash, I would love to take a hot-air balloon ride over the chateaux. As I'm traveling alone, staying somewhere that people dine at the hotel as a group sounds like a good idea. Any feedback on that?

You might check out the Gites de France book for nice B&Bs. We stayed in lovely one near Chinon. Some of them have "table d'hote", which means a dinner is included and you get to eat with the family and other guests. This might be a nice, cheap and fun option for you. Not sure if the Gites de France guides are available in English, but check it out.

Hi Diane: <BR> <BR>Two years ago, my elderly mom and I used Tours as a hub to see the Loire valley. We stayed in a tiny (10 rooms) hotel called the Hotel du Cygne (we payed $85 for the biggest room which was huge and breakfast). Best things about the hotel were the incredibly fresh croissants for breakfast, it's owners (who live there too), its location in a pedestrian zone (but it has a garage)and its proximity to the Rue Colbert which had roughly speaking 2 dozen different little bistros and restaurants which we loved and which were right around the corner. You can find a description of the hotel with contact info on the Frommer's website. <BR> You might also consider not taking a car....we didn't have one and didn't miss it. The hotel will arrange tours to the chateaux for you (in a mini-van with about 8 other people and a young french guide/driver). Generally you do 2 or 3 chateaux in a tour which lasts from 1:00-7:00 pm. In any event, I think you'll love Hotel Cygne. We did.

Diane, <BR> <BR>We just returned from vacation in France -- we stayed in Paris for 4 nights then took the TGV to Tours, rented a car and stayed in the Loire Valley for 3 nights. On our last day we got up early and drove the car staright to Orly. It was very convenient having the car because we could spend as little or as much time at each place as we wanted. Plus, it's fun to drive through the charming villages and stop for a photo-op or lunch whenever you feel like it. <BR> <BR>We stayed for 2 nights at the Chateau de Pray, just outside of Amboise. It's a 13th century manor house complete with turrets and nice grounds. The rooms were very reasonable and spacious (we had a small apartment) and the dinners were truly wonderful. For breakfast we hopped into Amboise to eat at a local bakery. On our last night we splurged and stayed at Les Hautes Roches, which is just outside of Tours, near Vouvray. Our room was built into the limestone cliffs. Service was everything you'd expect from a 4-star hotel and the food was delicious. We almost stayed at Domaine des Hauts de Loire, but decided that for such a short visit it was a little out of the way. Check out the website www.france.com for a great listing of properties in the Loire Valley -- beware, though, it's hard to choose! They all sound perfectly charming. <BR> <BR>Happy planning, <BR>Adele <BR> <BR>P.S. I made my TGV reservations 2 months in advance on the Internet and got a great discount. You can pay by credit card and pick up the tickets at the station before you leave. I had printouts of the verification and had no problem whatsoever. <BR> <BR>

The Gites de France is a very good alternative. The main chateaux are all near Tours. Azay le Rideau, Villandry, Chambord, Cheverny, etc. <BR>

The Gites de France is a very good alternative. The main chateaux are all near Tours. Azay le Rideau, Villandry, Chambord, Cheverny, etc. <BR>

The Gites de France is a very good alternative. The main chateaux are all near Tours. Azay le Rideau, Villandry, Chambord, Cheverny, etc. <BR>

Thank you all for your great advice.

i did a lot of research on places to stay, etc. in loire valley, and found karen brown's guides very useful. we ended up at "le fleuray" near amboise but there were several we were interested in. there is one in that book called "ferme (farm) de ..." but it was booked. it sounded nice because of the chef who resides there. also, a friend at work had a wonderful time he says at the hotel du bon laboureur, near chenanceau. it was booked, too, when i tried it. see also rick steve's web site on loire valley http://www.ricksteves.com/services/loire.htm good details on the area good luck.

Have been to the Loire Valley area 3 times in as many years and Chateaux that must be seen are Azay-le-Rideau (there is a nice small hotel -- Le Grande Monarque --- with a good restaurant in this town), Chenonceaux and Chambord. The others are pretty fantastic too. Quite a few of the hotels and restaurants are seasonal and will open up after early/late March so you should see how this affects hours of business for Chateaux, etc. It is a beautiful area.

I second Bruce's Le Grande Monarque. I have stayed there twice ('81 and '84). They were very friendly, including taking us to the train station early one morning (No one seems to get up much before 7 AM there) when the bus didn't come and no cabs were available. <BR> <BR>In Onzain, I would skip the Domaine and try Chateau de Tertes. I have also stayed there twice. <BR> <BR>Also stayed in '70 at the Chateau de Gue Pean. Nice but I'm sure it was very expensive

Wow, I can't believe how many wonderful places there are to stay in this area. Thank you all for the advice -- Rick Steves' site, Karen Brown's site -- great information. I have no idea how I'll ever choose. I think I'll have to divide it up and stay 2 nights in one and 3 nights in another.

When traveling with friends last year we <BR>found a small hotel across the Loire river and on the Loiret River call Le <BR>Rivage. The terrace for drinks or lunch <BR>is right on the river, and a wonderful <BR>diningroom. The hotel is a three star***, staff pleasant if not fully <BR>conversant in english, but that makes it <BR>more exciting and interesting. <BR>The chateaus are all close and yet at theend of the day you come back to such <BR>restful and beautiful surroundings. <BR>The hotel is in a chain called Relais <BR>du Silence. <BR>Its the type of place you would like to <BR>return to again someday.

Look into Manoir de Clenord. We have booked in there for next April, looks like a good value. Check their web site at www.clenord.com.

DIANE- Yes, there are a ton of lovely places to stay in Loire BUT let me address your hot air balloon question. <BR> <BR>In August I took a breathtaking balloon ride over Chateau de Chenenceau very early in the morning. It still, and always will be most memorable. The best price company I found was, "FRANCE MONTGOLFIERES". Since I already wrote about them in this Forum, please put a search in under their name. See"Thank You/Chateau de Beaulieu" where I gave Kavey all the info. on this company. Jane Adamson uses bran new, British made equipment. My husband and I equated it to a Mercedes Benz class of baskets, ropes, balloon, gas containers and the vans for transportation(they were M-B). We were surprised with a lovely ending,in a farmer's field with the farmer in attendance with us, eating fresh croisant with OJ and champagne. It was a beautiful way to end our ride. And, the farmer was in awe that we landed on his empty field! You should have seen the look of the farmer as we came close to ground on his empty field! He said he never had anything like this happen to him before so he got his boots on to come check us out. By the way, we do not speak French but Jane, being British translated for us and my Italian help in speaking to those French in our basket.