My husband and I will be taking a trip to Paris next spring. Thinking about taking a day tour to the Loire Valley. Has anyone gone on one of these and what was your opinion? Another possibility is to travel(car or train) to a town and tour the chateaux in the area. Anyone done this and what are the joys and the problems. Thanks.

We had a fantastic trip to the Loire Valley last September. We flew into Paris and rented a car at the airport. I would recommend renting a car so that you can get around yourself. The chateaux are fabulous and all very different. If you like flowers in the least bit, don't miss Villandry. The designs of the flower and vegetable gardens are amazing. We took many rolls of photos and several videos! We stayed at a rather expensive place for three days, but it was wonderful. What price range are you looking for? I'll get back to you again with more info, but I don't have it handy right now. <BR>Betsy

Thanks for your reply Betsy. Would love to hear where you exactly stayed. Have explored several different internet sites comparing places. Charlotte

We enjoyed a visit to the Loire Valley in June and stayed at a chambre d'hote recommended by a traveller on this forum. It's in an old manor house called Villa Medicis (thank you to whoever wrote about it) and is in a tiny village a few miles from Blois, reasonably priced, simple but very comfortable. Madame speaks fluent English and is very helpful; variety of guests from many countries. We wanted to take some bike rides, so we especially liked the fact that the village backs up to a bike path along the river--uncrowded, scenic and flat!! They don't rent bikes at the Villa anymore but there's a bike rental shop just down the road. We found the whole area great for sightseeing and restaurants; enjoyed all the major chateaux we saw, as they're all very different.

Charlotte, let me toss in my two cents worth. Do more than a day trip. Follow the above suggestions and drive down there. Find a chateau to stay in, doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. The meals are suberb, and you can drive around for two days or so seeing the castles, especially the "4 C's". Take your time down there, its beautiful, friendly, relaxed.

The only problem with the Loire Valley is keeping all the beautiful castles you'll see straight in your head. I would suggest renting a car, but there are three excellent ones on the rail line: Angers, Blois, and Amboise. A good base is Tours and you could rent and return a car there if you prefer. We stayed in a chateau in Montbazon near Tours called Domaine de la Tortiniere worth every franc we spent! In Tours the Hotel du Manoir is about a 10 minute walk from the train station and is considerably less expensive.