We are planning a day trip to Saumur to see the Tank Museum. Not sure if we should rent car or train.

I would say a car. While you are there, be sure to visit the sparkling wine maker with the huge network of caves under the city. It played a big part during the war and the tour is incredibly interesting! The wine isn't bad, either!

If you're just going for a day or so just to see the tank museum, I think train would be easiest. It's usually impossible, or at least expensive, to rent a car for fewer than three days.

Is this part of a larger trip or just a one-off adventure? It would be helpful to know where you're coming from and where you'll go after Saumur. Surely if you're going to be in the area for a few days, a car is infinitely more practical than public transportation.

You probably already know this, but Saumur also has museums of mushrooms, horse, decorative arts, and masks. Also a lovely château. And there is an impressive dolmen in the suburb of Bagneux. Not to mention that there are all kinds of things to see and do in the immediate area.

The Château de Saumur is famous for its depiction in the Book of Hours that's on display in the library at Chantilly.

And the loveliest room is the Medievil Hall-chock-filled with furnishings, sculptures of the middle ages. For equestian fans, the upper story is a veritable international museum of the horse.

I believe you would need a car, but the Mushroom museum is a great visit. It is a fun "self-guided" tour with literature. They turn you loose down in a maize of tunnels in a cave. There are literally hundreds of varieties. If you go, be sure to try some of the freshly prepared mushroom dishes and a glass off bubbly in the troglydite above. Yum! It also has an amazing collection of decorative mushrooms to enjoy while you eat.

For a destination like that I almost always opt for the train. Single day car rentals can be so expensive. Unless you have a group of 5 the train might easily be your cheapest alternative. Saumur has great sparkling wines to try. Who wants to drive after an incredible afternoon of wine tasting?

klondike is right the mushroom museum is a bit west of downtown. A bit of a hike without a car, but I'm sure you could get a taxi there and back. When I've done things like that I arrange with the taxi driver who takes me to come back and get me. Even with my primitive French I've not had problems doing that. A piece of paper and jotting down a pre-arranged time seems to work just fine. That might work with you and the tank museum.

I'm going to wax nostalgic now. After 5 overcast/rainy days in Paris in June of 2001 I arrived with my Dad, niece and nephew in Saumur. The sun came out, it was 74 degrees and unbelievably lovely. We spent two nights there at the Loire Hotel on the island in the Loire. That happened to be the weekend of their music festival. We wandered the streets from plaza to plaza hearing different music at each turn. Accordion, rock, folk at every turn it was different and fun.

Another thing I did in Saumur was arrange a tour in a small sailboat down the Loire. It seated the four of us plus our guide. It was serene floating down the river and watching the river banks go by. At one point we startled a flock of sheep grazing by the river bank. It's quiet enough even the sheep aren't used to boaters.