We've just booked tickets for the first week of October, and beyond that have made no plans yet... of course we'll do the obligatory searching through guidebooks etc., but I'd love to hear some of your favorites (and least favorites) in the area. Thanks for your opinions!

Favorite town: Amboise. Least favorite town: Tours. Favorite sights we've seen: Chenonçeau, Azay-le-Rideau, Château d'Amboise, Clos Lucé (basement with all of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions), the tapestries in the château at Angers and the Jean Lurcát tapestries in the museum there (fascinating to see how Lurcát interpreted the ancient ones), Fontevraud l'Abbaye (it just took my breath away to see Eléanor d'Aquitaine and Henri II, and the story behind the founding order of nuns was remarkable), the staircase of the Blois château and Catherine de Médicis's medicine chest, and the troglodyte dwellings arund Saumur.Favorite restaurants: <BR> <BR>Le Cheval Blanc <BR>Place C. Bidault <BR>Bléré <BR> <BR>Les Caves de Marson <BR>Rou-Marson <BR>(just outside Saumur) <BR>This one's fun, as the restaurant is a troglodyte dwelling <BR> <BR>Au Plaisir Gourmand <BR>2, rue Parmentier <BR>Chinon <BR> <BR>L'Aigle d'Or <BR>10, rue Adelaide-Riche <BR>Azay-le-Rideau <BR>

We visited the Loire the first week of October several years ago; it was a great time to go. There were very few tourists, and we were not required to take any guided tours at any of the chateaux we visited; I'd much rather be able to refer to a printed guide. <BR> <BR>It didn't rain at all, and it was usually warm enough to sit at a cafe for an afternoon coffee or glass of wine. <BR> <BR>We stayed outside of Amboise at the Chateau du Pray. It's a lovely place, and the food was very good too (we ate there one night, and at other restaurants the other nights). <BR> <BR>I'd tell you my favorite chateaux, but the names have all blurred in my mind.

I am a big fan of Amboise as a base as well. We stayed at Le Manoir Les Minimes (check www.karenbrown.com for info). Great location looking at the chateau and a 5-10 minute walk into town. Chateau de Pray looked very nice too -- we had a meal there. You would need to drive or take a cab into Amboise. <BR> <BR>john

Dear St. Cirq, <BR>Why didn't you like Tours? I'm particularly curious because from my (limited, so far) reading, it seems intriguing. I'm inclined to trust your opinions... <BR>Thanks to all for your information - I'm very grateful!

Janice: I guess I don't like Tours much because I like all the other, smaller towns better - how's that for an answer? I prefer towns to cities, for one thing, and years ago when I took students to the Loire valley, we always had such a problem finding parking in Tours and navigating in the tourbus (these memories do tend to color one's impressions). It's congested and can be a pain to traverse in the summer and I can't think of a single outstanding cultural or historical offering it has except the cathedral. I guess my advice would be that, with a week's time in the Loire, I wouldn't avoid Tours if it interests you, but I wouldn't plan to spend a lot of time there, either.

Dear St. Cirq, <BR>Thanks for the clarification - I'm rather more of a city person, so... <BR>I'm going to let my travel companion decide! (how's that for avoiding responsibility?) <BR>I appreciate your quick response! <BR>best regards, <BR>Janice

Janice, <BR> <BR>As with StCirq, I enjoy the ambience of a small town from time to time. On my trips, I try to combine some overnight stops in cities with some in smaller towns. The Loire Valley seemed a good place to stay in a smaller town. Amboise is just very charming and well located (about 20 minutes from Chenonceaux, for example). <BR> <BR>One restaurant we really enjoyed was Le Manoir St.-Thomas. Check out this website: http://www.touraine-gourmande.com/en...s/present.html. It is a 1* Michelin restaurant in Amboise with very well priced fixed menus. <BR> <BR>john

Janice--I'm a New York City gal myself and several years ago my mom and I used Tours as a base for two weeks and fell in love with the town. I can understand why folks who just drive through the town or stay at the huge hotels don't like it, it's a place with lots of wonderful secret places like the Musee du Compagnage or the beautiful little garden park beside the Musee du Beaux Arts or the incredible gardens and park in the northern part of town. We stayed in the 18th century part of town near the cathedral in a tiny hotel right near the Rue du Colbert, a little street just a few blocks long filled with family-owned bistros. We don't drive and took numerous mini-van tours to the chateaux which we enjoyed very much--saw the countryside, had engaging driver-guides, never more than 8 people in the van, on your own at the sites. Just wanted to give you another opinion on Tours.

My favorite chateaux were Azay-le-Rideau, Amboise, Chenenceau and the gardens of Villandry.

Azay is a good place to stay for the western part of the Loire. Have stayed twice at the Grand Monarque (see Rants & Raves). They were very nice - even took us to the train early one morning before the town was awake

Hi Janice <BR> <BR>We went to the Loire in September 99 and loved it. I cant remember the names of all the places we visited but did post a long and boring but hopefully informative diary of our trip here on Fodor's on my return. <BR> <BR>I think you could probably search on three words, Kavey Loire Diary... <BR> <BR>Kavey

Actually you need to search with exact match phrase option ticked for "Kavey's Diary of Loire" <BR> <BR>It doesnt come up otherwise

The cathedral in Tours (Cathedral St-Gatien) made the stop in the city worthwhile to us. Other than that, I remember trying to get out of the city (driving) while avoiding some sort of student riots (October 1998)!

Hi, Janice. We're going to be in the Loire area the end of this month, driving around, so I'm interested in the responses to your post. <BR> <BR>I wonder if anyone here has done a day trip by bicycle from Blois to Chambord and back. I understand you can picnic on the chateau grounds at Chambord, or there are restaurants nearby. Or has anyone done any other bike rides in the area? I think that sounds like a nice way to spend a day.

Can't answer the bicycle question, but there are restaurants right there at the entrane to the château, near the parking lot. You could eat at one of them or pick up a baguette sandwich and drinks and have a picnic.

I found Bourges to be a great town to use as home base if visiting the Loire Valley. It is a small, untouristed town with the timbered houses and the old medieval squares, just lovely. The cathedral at Bourges, St. Ettienne, was in my humble opinion, far more impressive than Notre Dame. I also found the chateau at Sully a very nice place to wandered around. The town is a short, nice walk from the chateau and it was such a nice place to vist as well. Come to find out, this chateau was the first place where they took Joan of Arc right after she was arrested. Let me know if you need any recommendations for hotels in Bourges.

Maira, I definitely plan to stop in Bourges on our road trip - I'd love to know your hotel recommendations. Actually, we haven't made any hotel reservations except for our first and last nights. I couldn't decide where to stop in between so thought we would wing it. <BR> <BR>Also, is Bourges more easily navigable with a car than Tours or Orleans? I plan to skip the larger towns because I thought a car might be a hassle.

Bicylcling in the Loire is great and Blois to Chambord is an easy trip. Haven't had a picnic there but don't see any reason you couldn't. <BR> <BR>Another place I have stayed at twice is the Chateau des Tertes in Onzain. I haven't found it on the Web but looked at a couple of 2001 guidebooks in the bookstore today and it is still in business. Onzain is a nice quiet town located just across the river from Chaumont castle

The hotel we stayed during our second visit to Bourges is the one I would like to recommend. The name is Hotel du Bourbon, located at Boulevard De La Republique, phone number 33 24 870 7000. The price was about $115/double. This hotel is a restored 17th century monastery. The gardens were beautiful. It about 15 minutes walk to the center of the town, where there are wonderful restaurants, great perfume shops (great shopping). I loved this town! You can see a picture of the hotel at http://interhotel.com/france/en/localidades/24985.html I took a number of pictures of this hotel. If you need to see more, I may be able to scan some pics and e-mail you. Let me know. <BR> <BR>The following website has some information about Bourges, http://iee.tamu.edu/france/tour/bourges/bourges.html <BR> <BR>Also, I found this proposed itinerary for a tour of Royal Gardens and Castles around the Loire Valley. It's a reputable company and their schedule can give you ideas for sights, route, and time allocation, http://www.nthp.org/studytours/catal...e/27.loire.htm <BR> <BR>Have a great time!!!