DMuller

Would love some suggestions for places to stay within 2 hours of Paris...with interesting things to see in the same area. Thanks so much!

virginiafish

Senlis/Chantilly - lovely area, not too far with town life, market, chateau, horse country/museum.

AlessandraZoe

Hi, DMuller. Hope you get a lot of responses. I'll see what I can remember or dig up.

Stayed here our last night on a Loire cycling tour: Chateau d'Esclimont
http://www.grandesetapes.fr/en/Chate...ont/index.html

We had a really fabulous room, but others in our group did not (it's a luck of the draw), so you would have to be very careful about what room you arrange. You can see on Trip Advisor that experiences range from the sublime to the bottom.

One of the teens in the group had always wanted to sleep in a turret and she got her wish, though.

Our evening meal was fantastic.

Loire Valley is very wonderful to tour. What you might want to do is stay in a more "normal" accommodation for part of the time and then spend a night or two at a place like this.

Anyway, I'll try to remember more.

AlessandraZoe

Here's another one that I have NOT stayed at in another end of the Loire Valley:
Chateau de la Barre
http://www.chateaudelabarre.com/GB/accueil.htm

Its Trip Advisor ratings are high
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._la_Loire.html
but since it is an intimate experience, its guests are probably encouraged to give them a report on TA. That does not mean it can't live up to the hype, though.

The TGV from Paris to Vendome is under an hour, and then you'd rent a car at the station.

AlessandraZoe

I've been talking about the Loire, so what the heck, here was the favorite place we stayed there that was NOT a chateau:

Le Choiseul
http://www.grandesetapes.fr/en/Chate...eul/index.html

The photos on their website make it look as though it is in the middle of the country. It is not. But it has a fantastic location for touring. We could walk up to the Chateau d'Amboise and Le Clos Luce, Leonardo da Vinci's house. The main shopping area of Amboise was mere blocks away.

Main biking routes throughout the Loire are right out the door.

Amboise is a central location for touring most of the great Loire chateaux and it is just so easy to get to.

Ironically, our rooms here were in a garret--the worst rooms for our group--and we still loved the place. Our daughters' room was gorgeous.

DMuller

virginiafish...thank you! will check that out.

AlessandraZoe...thank you for helping out! Unfortunately Chateau de la Barre is booked for my dates...

I am finding that it is hard to locate places with rooms that will accommodate 4 people...I would prefer my 2 children to be in the same room. Don't want to spend $$$ on an extra room.

StCirq

Château de la Bellefontaine in Bayeux has some enormous rooms - plenty big enough for, at the time, our family of four. There's no restaurant (but they do serve breakfast), and it's only a 5-minute walk into town.

http://www.hotel-bellefontaine.com/FR_chateau.htm

AlessandraZoe

Good rec, St. Cirq. DMuller, Bayeux is a really neat area for exploration, too.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Are you going to have a car or are you relying on public transport? How many days will this excursion be and what time of year?

There are literally hundreds of beautiful (and often little visited and little known) châteaux within a two hour drive from Paris. Many are privately owned and only viewable from the street but you can make part of a great day exploring the countryside driving past the innumerable châteaux that dot the landscape. And beautiful and scenic countryside can be found as close as 40km-50km from Paris. I know because I spent extensive amounts of time exploring the countryside near Paris on my bike.

I write reports about my excursions into the countryside near Paris and they're full of photos so you can get an idea of what what kinds of châteaux there are to see and what the countryside and the small villages look like.

Here's a report about the area near Fontainebleau:

http://tinyurl.com/7ths9dj

Here's one about biking in the vicinity of the fabulous château of Pierrefonds:

http://tinyurl.com/7edejbz

Your criteria of "2 hours from Paris" covers an awful lot of territory, including the Normandy and Loire regions mentioned. It sounds from your previous response that you would like to stay in a châteaux so here are some websites that list château and similar type accommodation:

http://www.relaischateaux.com/
http://www.symbolesdefrance.com/
http://www.chateauxdemeures.fr/
http://www.chateauxhotels.com/
http://www.au-chateau.com/
http://www.bienvenueauchateau.com/
http://www.tablethotels.com/

I would suggest it would help you to refine your research and choose an area that interests you or you will get suggestions all over the place. As I mentioned, impressive châteaux and beautiful countryside can be found all over the place in many directions within 2 hours from Paris by car, assuming you'll have a car.

nytraveler

To stay in and visit chateauz you'll really need a car - since most are in the countryside and often esentially unreachable by public tranist.

We stayed at the Chateau des Reaux near Chinon for 6 nights and saw many of the major - and some minor - chateaux of the Loire. The Chateau was 15th century - had walls many feet thick with arrow slits and youcould see remains of the moat. Hosts were charming and dinner en famille one night (offered a couple of night per weeks) was fascinating - since we got to talk with guests from Canada, Argentina, Aud, UK and Russia.

AlessandraZoe

FrenchMystique--Poster originally was looking at a chateau stay quite a distance from Paris with only a limited time available in France. She would have spent most of her time in transit.

A bunch of us talked her into either just staying in Paris or searching for something within two hours of Paris. She is actually looking for a lot of suggestions, and I think your links will be of help.

StCirq

And she was planning to rent a car at the other place, so I assume she's good with that no matter where she ends up.

DMuller

You are all wonderful...I have alot of things to look at.

I will have a car. Although I am not sure if I should pick up the car in Paris and drive to chateau destination or if I should take a train to nearest station to chateau and then get a car. So much to think about and plan...I am hoping to work this out soon. I am grateful for all the suggestions so far.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Since your trip isn't until October you've got plenty of time to get guidebooks about France and scour the forums for ideas on where you'd like to stay and explore outside of Paris. Whether you get a car in Paris or take a train elsewhere and get a car will be determined by where you want to go. If you want to see some more reports about exploring the countryside near Paris here are a few more reports you can look over:

The area near Giverny:

http://tinyurl.com/3m6h4hz

http://tinyurl.com/88ref4e

East of Paris starting in Crécy-la-Chapelle:

http://tinyurl.com/7wnybgw

East of Paris near Château-Thierry:

http://tinyurl.com/7keejcg

Laon and its environs:

http://tinyurl.com/3co8u28

Near the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte:

http://tinyurl.com/6cau3rv

Near the medieval walled town of Provins:

http://tinyurl.com/7xa5eok

If you took the train to Rennes (in Brittany, two hours by train from Paris) you could explore the area near Mont-Saint-Michel, Dinan and Saint-Malo:

http://tinyurl.com/82azcyh

If you wanted to head west of Paris to Normandy here's a thread with info about sites and attractions from Giverny to the D-Day beaches:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#39058384

AlessandraZoe

FMT--Now we're talkin'....

DMuller--FrenchMystique is a biking god/touring titan on this forum.

And we all do want to assure you again that you DO have time to plan. No stressing allowed.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Thanks Alessandra but I've read your advice on biking in France and you're no slouch yourself. When it comes to the subject of multi-day guided or self-guided bike tours and tour companies I defer to your expertise.

latedaytraveler

DMuller, I suggest reading PARIS TO THE PAST: Traveling Through French History by Ina Caro. Although this book suggests day trips from Paris by train, it describes a variety of interesting destinations which you might consider for overnight visits.


I recall that LaRochelle was one which was particularly highlighted by Caro. She and her husband have traveled and written about France extensively. Good read.

StCirq

I LOVE La Rochelle - that's where my next abode in France is going to be when I sell the house in St-Cirq. It's a bit more than 2 hours from Paris, though. I think, given the way this poster's plans have evolved, it would be better to stick closer to Paris.

Ina Caro is a great idea!

Stellar424

I have not yet stayed here, but will be staying at the Loire Valley Retreat in Chinon this September. It is a 14th century chateau bed and breakfast and the reviews on trip advisor are excellent. It was a 2012 Traveler's Choice winner. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ey_Centre.html

It is owned by a family with (I think) 3 kids, and they are supposedly very family friendly. There are also different sized rooms, and I know there are some that will hold 4 people.

The only thing I am concerned with is that the domain name for their website is now expired...although it just expired today. I am hoping that they just didn't have the time or forgot to renew it? I would definitely keep an eye on that before booking.

AlessandraZoe

DMuller--Hey, this could become a master thread!