Paris daytrip to Loire Valley
 

I would like to visit the Loire valley for a day, What part would be a good place to visit for a daytrip.
I would be travelling by train from Paris.

You'd waste an awful lot of time going by train, and most of the chateaux are not located near train stations.

Look for day trips by bus; ParisVision offers them, I think.

Most of the major chateaux are located in very small towns with no or very limited train service.

Either rent a car, take a bus tour from Paris or train to Tours and get a bus tour there.

You don;t say when you're going - but realize that opening hours (and day light hours) differ vastly by season.

There are some chateaux that you can access by train; the Rick Steves guide has good details on how to do this. You might also consider renting a car just for the day.

By taking the TGV to St. Pierre des Corps (Tours) you can hook up with a minivan tour in Tours (through the Tourist Bureau) and see several chateaux. Acco-Dispo is one such company, and can be booked through the Tours bureau, or they have their own website, (www.accodispo-tours.com) Some years ago I booked a daytrip from Paris to the Loire, and they arranged the train, pickup by van at St. Pierre des Corps, lunch, etc. It was great, and convenient (but expensive). You could do that yourself easily. I think the train is a better way to go than by Bus from Paris (quicker for sure). I enjoyed the daytrip so much that the next year I spent 10 days in the Loire, renting a car.

The one chateau which is very accessible by rail is Chenonceau. The chateau is just a couple minutes walk from the village train station. However, you would have to take a train to Tours and change there for another train to the village itself. That would probably be very time consuming and IMO you would be better off taking an organized tour, perhaps from Paris, which might afford the possibility of seeing more than one of the chateaux in a long day.

nytraveler,
I will be there in mid-october.
Thank you everyone for all the good advice.

I second the folks at ACCO-DISPO - once several years ago while researching an article i wrote on the Loire i called the husband and wife owners, at least owners at that time, and they seemed so sincerely and nice. It's not the only company but once with a track record.

At Paris train stations you can also ask about train tickets with such a tour - used to have such deals where you went by mini-van from the Tours train station.

Angers is also very accessible by train. The chateau is a short walk from the train station. You can also enjoy strolling through the medieval quarter, taking in the beautiful gardens, enjoying an excellent (and inexpensive) lunch at one of the restaurants, and sampling (for free) Loire Valley wines at the Maison du Vin across the street from the chateau. Local connections could also take you to Saumur or Chinon.
You could also go to Bourges (technically, it's in Berry), a handsome city with an amazing cathedral, lovely medieval quarter, and some quite good museums.

The original poster said he wanted to go to the Loire Valley for one (1) day from Paris by train.

The train makes perfect sense because he is obviously not interested in doing a grand circuit of the chateau, but rather just wants a taste of the Loire. Its a day trip from Paris. Chenonceau, Angers, Semur etc will be wonderful and all reachable by train.

Mike b12, take the train like you said you wanted and avoid all the costs and hastles of driving a car. If you have never driven in the Paris area before, ...well forget it. Take the train, sit back and relax, save money, and enjoy.

Or if you want to motor ask at stations about the sncf's Rail + Drive - train ticket plus car waiting in Tours. Chenonceaux is a short easy enough drive away from St Pierre des Corps station, which is on the outskirts of Tours heading that way. Also easy for Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon, etc.

Angers sounds good. easy to get to and sampleing wines in France is something i would like to do.

Angers was our kids' first real taste of France, hot off the boat from plymouth. do not miss the chateau with its fantastic tapestry in the basement, and its battlement gardens. They fell in love and we haven't looked back.

I felt Amboise made a great day-trip.
Chateaux Amboise is stunning and right in town. Leonardo Davinci's one time residence the Close Luce is there too. Beautiful town, great castle.

It is a 20Euro taxi ride one way to Chennonceau from Amboise, but I forked it out as there is only one public bus heading out there/day. It was well worth the cost for me personally. I managed to arrive first thing in the morning and beat all of the tour buses. I simply arranged a time for the taxi to pick me back up and had them drive me straight back to the train station. There were frequent train between Amboise and Paris and I believe it was only and 1/1.5hr? Wasn't too long and I enjoyed the train ride anyway.

Just a thought,

Good Travels,

Murphy

If you opt for Angers, start hunting early for train fare specials because the regular TGV fare is pretty steep. OTOH, I think the city is very attractive even without the chateau and makes a great day trip.

BTike,
I plan on getting a railpass for France and Italy on this holiday so that should cover this daytrip I think?

Thanks, BTilke for the correction...not having been to Angers I wasn't aware of the proximity to rail. For that matter, Blois is also a town with a chateau and easily rail accessible although you might enjoy the overall ambience of somewhere like Amboise more than Blois which is a much larger town.

Yes, Mike_b12 your pass will cover these rail trips.

It's good to know a railpass will cover the TGV trip because it's a fairly expensive ride (second class fare is about 90€, as I recall).
I know I stand alone--at least in Fodorville--with this opinion, but I didn't care for Amboise. I thought it was a little too commercialized and bland, esp. along the river. Also too many group tours. When we did a Loire Valley/Berry trip, staying several nights in Angers (for the western Loire), Amboise (central Loire), and Bourges (Berry), we felt that Amboise was the least favorite of those three spots and we probably wouldn't stay there again. But we would go back to Angers and Bourges anytime.

I really enjoyed visiting Angers for the day, also. I took the TGV and don't remember it being that expensive, but since it was something I really wanted to do, and it was far away and TGVs are more expensive than regular trains, I probably would have thought 90 euro was a fair price. The TGV to Lyon was more than that, as I recall, and I've done that for the day, also.

I was going to mention Amboise or Blois as day trips to the Loire, also, I enjoyed both of them. I also think Blois is an attractive small town and the chateau is actually closer to the train station than at Amboise, as I recall. So, I personally wouldn't say Amboise was better than Blois because the town was nicer or had a better ambience. I know the population of Blois is larger as a whole, but it didn't really feel that way to me, just walking from the station to the chateau and seeing some historic things in that area.

then it seems the special one-day France Railpass on sale now for $90 of unlimited travel, including TGVs would be a good deal for such a day trip - especially if flexibility on what trains to take was desired. this special ends Dec 31 but is valid for travel from six months after that date. It's i think $129 in first class. Still have to make TGV reservations, at 3 euro per seat in France however. Marketed by RailEurope and only sold in US i think - for details i always advise calling BETS (800-441-2387). Check www.voyages-sncf.com for discounted often highly restricted and hard to get unless far in advance for perhaps cheaper TGV fares, depending on the destination.