My mother and I are traveling in early June to Paris and the Loire Valley. We are taking a train from Paris and we will not be renting a car. Which part of the Loire Valley (we will be there for 3 days) do you suggest going to? And some kind of itinerary as well?

Any help would be appreciated!

I would seriously reconsider not having a car. It will be laborious to get anywhere worth seeing in the Loire without one. I would take the train to Tours and pick up a car there and drive to Amboise or Blois. Spend two nights there, visiting the chateaux in the region and the Clos Lucé, then move to the Western Loire to visit Saumur and Angers.Then drive to Chartres, drop off the car, see the cathedral, and take the train back to Paris.

There are plenty of bus operators in Tours and Blois (both on rail lines) who will be delighted to take you out to the chateaux on day trips. I agree with StCirq's itinerary - with the addition of http://www.abbaye-fontevraud.com/v3/home/

Do some wine tastings, too. We had a nice time at http://www.monmousseau.com/ (and a free bottle of bubbly).

We stayed in Amboise at Le Vieux Manoir in fall 2007 and StCirq's itinerary is spot on. You can easily reach Chenonceau from Amboise and we enjoyed Clos Luce. I would not miss Villandry, near Saumur, and you could see it and Fontevraud together.

May I ask about your hesitation to drive? My husband and I are in our 50s and have rented cars in the Loire twice after our first European driving experience in Normandie. As StCirq recommends we picked up our car in Tours and reserved cars with automatic transmissions. We found they were not much more expensive than manual when booking from the US. Navigating was not difficult with good maps and we stuck to secondary roads which allowed us to maintain a relaxed pace. We even came to appreciate the logic of round-abouts.

I wish you a wonderful time however you plan to travel.

both angers and saumur have a wine tasting centre on the main drag. Good value roughly 5 Euros for 6 wines recently.

Can make a pleasant time

If you are going to spend 3 days, do consider renting a car:

www.autoeurope.com

It's not absolutely necessary but it will give you a great deal more flexibility. The Loire Valley in very rural and the logistics of getting from place to place is greatly simplified with your own transportation. I recommend finding a good central location and settling in for three days (though I should avoid Amboise itself and the hordes that flock to this over recommended and overrated location).

Tours has the largest number of group tours available to the largest number of destinations; (Blois has tours to Châteaux de Blois, Cheverny, and Chambord). Chenonceau is a short train ride from Tours or can be included in a general tour.

Information about the tours from Blois and Tours is available here:

http://www.bloispaysdechambord.com/
http://www.ligeris.com/

Scootoir, We are considering a few nights at Le Vieux Manoir this September. Your thoughts? Which room did you stay in?