Where to stay in the Loire Valley
 

Family of four visiting France in 2022 (I know it's early). Just getting ideas at this point. What city do you recommend basing a 4 day stay? Looking to visit some of the more popular chateaux in the area. Thinking of renting an apartment to help save on the cost of eating out every meal. Thanks for the help.

I like someone who plans ahead! You'll have fun with this trip from now till you've posted your final trip report here.

Where to stay depends very much on which chateaux you want to visit and whether you'll have a car. The chateaux are spread out along the Loire and other rivers in that area.

You can use your long lead time to compare costs--city apartments vs country B&Bs, train vs car, city restaurants vs small country restaurants.

For me at least, planning is so much fun that I prefer to keep researching and not narrow things down till a few months ahead. Enjoy this stage of your trip.

If you have a car, I recommend Amboise. We rented an apartment there for 2 weeks some years ago and visited many (maybe most) of the chateaux along the Loire and Cher rivers. If no car, maybe Tours, where you could take tours to the various chateaux.

Many years ago we based in Pouilly-sur-Loire. Amazing food and wine and a great launch pad for the surrounding countryside!

Lavandula

Thank you for the replies. Yes, we plan to have a car. We will be coming from somewhere in Brittany, spending about 4 days in the Loire Valley, and then heading to Paris for about a week. Looking for a "small" town that's quiet and relaxing, but at the same time close to the major chateaux of the area. Thanks again.

Like an earlier poster we prefer Amboise. It still feels small enough to feel nice but is large enough to have a good selection of restaurants, cafes, etc. I know a lot of friends also like Blois as a base. The only place I would avoid would be Tours-big and not very scenic.

I'm fond of Amboise also. If If I'm going to be visiting places at the western end of the valley, too, though Chinon makes a good base.

We stayed in Saumur and Amboise and of the two i think I preferred Saumur but it rather depends what you want to see. for example from Saumur you can see Angers, Fontevraud, Villandry, Chinon, and Azay-le-Rideaux. From Amboise you could see Chenonceaux, Blois, Villandry, Chinon, and Azay-le-Rideaux. And of course in Amboise there is the Clos de Luce which is where Leonardo da Vinci ended his days as well as the chateau. oh look, I seem to have talked myself into Amboise!

I did exactly what annhig did. I divided my week between Amboise and Saumur, both charming places.

Maribel - to be clear we stayed in Saumur one year, and Amboise the next. But that's easy for us as we live so close, relatively speaking.

I like Blois, but everybody says to base oneself in Amboise.

I, too, stayed in Amboise and liked it a lot. We cycled to some of the châteaux, and drove by car to some others.

Thank you for the continued help and advice. I think I'll start my search in Amboise.

Whether you stay in Amboise or not be sure to visit Amorino for gelato-I love their petal shaped cones-so yummy and pretty

Address: 6 Place Michel Debré, 37400 Amboise, France

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e25a8133b0.png

I meant to add that since we only stayed 1 night we were in a hotel near Amboise versus an apartment but it was a nice property called The Manoir Saint Thomas:

Luxury hotel in Amboise, Manoir Saint Thomas

We stayed here in Amboise
 

Take a look at Le Vieux Manior

Lovely breakfast, beautifully decorated rooms. The whole house is spotlessly clean
Best night sleep of our vacation - very comfortable bed

We enjoyed both Madame du Barry and later Madame Lafayette rooms on a return trip

Let me throw out a suggestion, a B&B in the countryside toward Loches where we've stayed many times. A room for four would be 99 euro for 1 night, 94 euro per night for 3 or more nights. Breakfast is included in the price. There's a lounge with hot plate, microwave, tea, coffee, and a little fridge and we usually have supper there or on the patio of what we've bought during the day--bread, cheese, and more pastries than I should eat. Some people cook their evening meal in the lounge. Rooms are very clean, pretty, beds are comfortable. Breakfast comes with croissants, jams, yogurt, baguettes, tea, coffee, sometimes a plain cake. Host and hostess are bilingual. Lovely people. Parking right on the property.

https://www.labihourderie.com/fr/tarifs/

We stayed there last spring when we were with friends who wanted to see Azay le Rideau, Chenonceau, and Villandry and it was an easy drive to all three. Loches itself is well worth a visit, especially on its market days, and there are some beautiful villages in the area. The "remarkable garden" village of Chedigny is very close by and is not to be missed!

Every trip we think we won't go to the Loire, but if we have a few days unplanned, we're usually drawn back by this excellent B&B, the roses of Chedigny, and a few restaurants we really like.

In Amboise we stayed at le Manor les Minimes in a Manior Privilège room overlooking the Château Royal. It's a very elegant and classy place.
Amboise Hotel, Manoir les Minimes**** | Official WEBSITE.

And we thought the Sunday morning market in Amboise was wonderful.
We also enjoyed visiting very pretty Loches.