planning a 6 day trip to paris and the loire valley. staying in paris first night then want to take the train to loire, renting a car and staying somewhere for the next two nights, then return to paris for the remaining time. looking for recommendations re: a hotel in paris as well as where to go in loire valley, a place to stay, and where to see vineyards. thanks for any help!

TTT

I would take the trin either to Tours (faster from Paris via TGV) or to Blois and rent the car in one of those two places.

Amboise might be a place to think about staying overnight.

Amboise is a neat town - on the Loire at its most wild looking spot and a great chateau in itself - i second Dukester in Amboise.

Blois may have more car rentals at or near train station and is a pleasant short drive from Amboise (if you take great side roads on northern side and not the main drag National road on the south side)

Trains to Blois can be much cheaper than TGVs to Tours and then going to Amboise

Blois has about hourly trains from Paris-Austerlitz station and on many of these trains reservations are not required and are a snap to make if you want. (CORIL TEOZ services however do require reservations on this route)

The TGV route via St-Pierre-des-Corps (where you'd change for train to Amboise generally costs more and is no faster if going to Blois.

Amboise is at the epicenter of the great Loire castles - Chenonceaux, Chambord and Azay-le-Rideau and many lesser ones as well: Chaumont, Chinon, Villandry, Usse, etc.

It's also a short drive from the famous Vouvray wine houses.

Do check out the chateaux to see which interest YOU. They're not al the same by any means - some huge, Amboise is actually a fortress - and Villandry is famous mostly for gardens.

thanks so much for sharing all of your knowledge. this is the first time i have used a thread like this and your recommendations are most helpful!

I recommend you stay in Blois. Amboise is also a good choice.

To see the chateaux I recommend the Michelin <i>Green Guide Chateaux of the Loire</i>. It has a great deal of detail and maps, plus some of the bloody history.

The Loire Valley has vineyards but it not known for that. With only two days I would see the chateaux.

Le Clos Luc&eacute; is in Amboise. This is a museum dedicated to one of its residents, Leonardo Da Vinci. He died there. It has many interesting models of machines he dreamed up that did not become commercial for 400 years.

If you have time stop over in Orleans, a city devoted to Joan of Arc. Orleans is on the train route from Paris to Blois.

Sans car from Blois you can hop the seasonal special buses that go to Chambord, to many the most awesome of all the awe-inspiring Loire castles and probably the most monumental.

Chinon has a nice fortress to visit, and is the location of Couly-Dutheil, considered one of the best red wine producers in the region. Sancerre is one of the better regional whites. There are many vineyards in the Loire, and it is nice to be able to try the local wines in their restaurants. They may not export a lot, which may be why they are not so well known.

we decided on domaine des hauts de loire and relais christine in paris. we will have 2-2.5 days in the loire valley with base at this chateau. definitely want to see some castles as well as do some wine tasting. Chinon and Sancerre sound great. I have to research the distances as we will not want to spend all of our time in the car.

To me Chinon is the nicest city in the Val de Loire - by far.

Depending on when you are going...check to see if there are any festivals going on. Chinon has a medieval fair that I found fun and interesting. Also, a lot of the castles have &quot;sons et lumieres&quot; which are night time sound and light show held outside the castle which can usually be enjoyed even without french language.