(with thanks to Dana, great idea!)

Can anyone recommend a knowledgeable private driver/tour guide who could take four of us around the Tours area to see it and a couple of chateaux? (Drop us off at the chateaux so we can see them, wait while we do that, take us to the next one, etc.). Ability of the driver/guide to take us THROUGH the chateaux would be even better. Fluent English required.

(I realize we have other options such as train travel, group tours and renting a car ourselves, but I'm not asking about those in this).

Thanks!

>>driver/guide to take us THROUGH the chateaux<<


Many of the "best" chateaux have audio head phones.

Stu Dudley

Check in with this couple who operate Loire Valley Time Travel. They are Australians who've been living in the area for years. Their tours use classic Citroens. They are very knowledgeable, witty, fun, and know the whole area very well--not just chateaux, but wineries, gardens, outstanding villages, old mills, the Calder stabile, Roman remains, restaurants, you name it. They have a list of tours they offer or, even better, you can tell them what you'd like to see and how much time you have and they'll come up with a custom tour for you.

https://loirevalleytours.blogspot.com/

I believe that Susan does guide you through the chateaux personally.

<<Check in with this couple who operate Loire Valley Time Travel. They are Australians who've been living in the area for years. >>

But he wanted people who spoke fluent English ...

;-)

Château guides have a well organized association. Additionally, there are special licensing requirements by the government that guides must meet. It may not be reasonable to assume that tour operators have licensed staff dedicated to take clients into venues such as château or museums.

Still, I would contact Loire Valley Time Travel for a quote.

Loirevalleytours looks like the perfect solution for me. Thanks!

Stu Dudley, I know what you mean, and I certainly have taken my share of audio-headphone tours.

My experiences combining private transportation with a knowledgeable private guide have been the best experiences in terms of time for us. (There was an especially good trip to Paris one year in which we had a great guide who picked up the four of us in his air-conditioned van as we exited the D'Orsay, drove us straight to Versailles, got us in a side door just for private guides and their clients (bypassing the long line of people waiting for admittance), then gave us headsets tuned to his microphone and we wandered together from room to room as he talked about what we were seeing in each room and we could each hear what he was saying and because he was speaking through our headphones, we didn't have to struggle to hear him above the crowds OR stay physically next to him at all times.