deshulma

From June 20 - 30, I am taking my 40 year old daughter, who has never been to Europe, to Paris for her birthday. Aside from the city and Versailles, we want to visit a few of the chateaus in Loire. Our plan was to take the train from Paris, rent a car, and stay one or two nights in the Loire.
What days would be best to visit the chateaus? We definitely want to include Chenanceau and Chambord in our itinerary and we aren't the biggest garden people, so we can skip Villandry.

Should we rent the car from Tours, or??

Suggestions on reasonably priced places to stay would also be appreciated.

Thanks.
Debbie

TPAYT

We took the train to Saint Pierre des Corps. Mid size town, easier than larger Tours to get out of.

For what you are looking for I'd suggest staying in Amboise. Lots of nice restaurants to walk to after a day of driving. Chenanceau and Chambord are fantastic and you might also like Usse and Azay de Rideau(Sp??)
Our personal favorite is Villandry---but we do love gardens. We stayed near Amboise but it was pricy and another time we stayed inear Chinon but that's a bit west for what you want. Regardless, the area is memorable.

I'm sure many Fodorites will sign in with their favorites.

aliced

What a great Mom you are to plan such a treat! Before I read any replies, I thought of Chenonceaux and Chambord, there is a charming lodge/auberge across the street from Chenonceau, Le Bon Laboreur with restaurant since the village has virtually nothing else around. This would be convenient, but not sure which direction Chambord is from there, from Chambord I think we continued toward Amboise then looped back westerly back to Paris.

StuDudley

Be first in line when Chambord and Chenonceau opens in the morning. It becomes a zoo a couple of hours later.

Stu Dudley

FrenchMystiqueTours

There really aren't any best days to visit the châteaux so just check the opening hours/days of the ones you want to visit. As far as finding a place to stay just check the tourist office website for any town you might consider and you'll find most, if not all, of the accommodation in town on the tourist office websites. If you look at the link below you'll see a list of the tourist office websites for the major towns in the Loire, including Amboise:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-de-france.cfm

If you're taking the train from Paris to the Loire then be sure to buy those tickets up to 3 months in advance to get the cheapest prices. Use www.capitainetrain.com to check schedules and prices and buy tickets. Schedules aren't available more than 3 months in advance so you'll have to wait a few months to buy your tickets.

The car rental agencies are across the street from the train station in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps outside of Tours. Use www.autoeurope.com for car rental info.

nytraveler

If you can I would arrange to stay in one of the private chateaux in the area. Many (of the non-resort type) are very moderately priced and as long as you have a car they are convenient and provide a truly unique experience.

We stayed in one near chinon - a Fifteenth century castle with moat and arrow-slit windows and one night had a lovely dinner en famile with guests from a umber of different countries. The French tourist office published an extensive list I believe.

deshulma

Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions.