HI there, I'm looking for some Fodorite recommendations for a charming village, a quaint B&B, a delightful little self catering apartment, or small hotel along the way from Paris to the Loire Valley for our family of 4: 2 adults and 2 children. I'm hoping to use this as a more affordable and relaxing option for exploring some of the surrounding countryside after a busy (and expensive) week in Paris. I'd specifically like to show the kids Giverny, Versailles, and at least a couple Loire Valley chateaux.
I'm open to B&Bs, an apartment or self catering cottage, and even a hotel. Even if someone could recommend which towns to start looking in I can find the hotels. There are so many options online... how to whittle through it all is the challenge.
One option I thought of was to pick a convenient but charming location somewhere in the middle of those three points (if there is one).
Or the alternative (if that doesn't seem feasible) is to find 2 places... say one closer to Paris (for seeing Giverny and Versailles) and another one closer to the Loire valley. I'd try to stay 3-4 nights in each of these locations.
If it were just us adults I'd probably just spend a couple days here, then there, and meander our way through villages until we got to the Loire Valley. (Which I have done on other trips.) But this trip will be with our 2 children (7 and 10), and it'll be easier to keep it to one or two predetermined places to stay. It's the transitions to new accommodations that is such a challenge for them.
Thanks for the advice!
-skatterfly
Best family accommodations between Paris and Loire Valley?
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You could try browsing in the http://www.gites-de-france.com/location-vacances-appartement-maison,gite.html listing.
There really isn't much of great interest between Paris and the Loire. There are some areas worthy of exploration just south of Paris in the vicinity of Fontainebleau but further south in the direction of the Loire you'll be in the midst of a vast agricultural plain full of wheat fields and not much else to interest the tourist.
Versailles and Giverny are done easily as separate day trips from Paris and don't warrant a change of base. I would suggest doing day trips to each of these places and then move on directly to the Loire and spend the rest of your time exploring that area. The drive time from Paris to the closest part of the main tourist area of the Loire (near the city of Blois) is about 2-1/2 hours so there's not really a need to make an overnight stop on your way to the Loire from Paris.
In addition to the gites-de-france website mentioned above there are literally at least a dozen other websites you can use to find accommodation and many of them will allow you to search by specific criteria such as a chateau, farm building, manor or other typically quaint type of building you might be looking for. A couple of websites I use, among many, are www.abritel.fr and www.homelidays.com.
You should also look at the tourist office website for any town that interests you since they always list all of the available accommodation in their respective towns. You'll also learn about what to see and do in a region from the tourist office websites. Here are a few of the major tourist office websites for the Loire to get you started:
http://www.loirevalleytourism.com/
http://www.bloischambord.co.uk/
http://www.amboise-valdeloire.co.uk/
http://www.tours-tourisme.fr/index_en.php
http://www.loches-tourainecotesud.com/component/content/article/305
http://www.chinon-valdeloire.com/
Thanks for the advice and yes, I'm planning to search through all of those sites if needed.
And yes, I do remember the vast wheat fields and semi-agricultural-industrial buildings pass by me on the drive to the Loire... so thanks for the reminder. I think the best option is to find something near Versailles or Fountainbleu for a few days (from which I could also take a trip to Giverny with the kids). And then move on to a few days in the Loire.
I'm still looking for any specific personal recommendations or notable properties from people who have visited either of these areas with their family. Something charming and delightful.
Also, just to clarify, I know you meant well from a planning standpoint... but I do not wish to spend any of my Paris days taking day trips out of Paris, even if someone might say it *can* be done. I plan on spending every single minute I have in Paris, *in* Paris. Ahhh... Paris. Can't wait to go back.
Thanks again!
OK, I have a cleaer idea of what you are talking about. I can't help you with specific accommodation info but I can give you some ideas to consider for an itinerary.
Leave Paris and drive out to Giverny to visit Monet's gardens in the morning. Afterwards, head just up the Seine towards Rouen and make a stop at Chateau Gaillard, the ruin of Richard the Lionheart's fortress and a place I bet the kids would enjoy. Below the fortress is the medieval village of Le Petit Andely which is very charming and would make a good place to spend the night:
http://lesandelys.com/chateau-gaillard/
http://office-tourisme.ville-andelys.fr/cmspage.aspx?pid=208
http://office-tourisme.ville-andelys.fr/upload/Images/GB%20PETIT%20ANDELY%20BAT2.pdf
The next morning you can head to Versailles and do your visit and then you have a few options depending on what you want to do. You could head to Chartres and spend the night there.
http://www.versailles-tourisme.com/en/accueil.html
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage
http://www.chartres-tourisme.com/en
This is where you'll need to decide whether to stay in the area and explore a bit more or head right to the Loire. If you stay in the area for a couple more days you could visit the Vallee de Chevreuse, which has several chateau, lots of forests and parks and some quaint villages (such as Dourdan):
http://www.tourisme-valleedechevreuse91.com/
If you want to explore around Fontainebleau in addition to the chateau you could visit the artists village of Barbizon. Other towns of interest nearby are Milly-la-Foret, Moret-sur-Loing, Bourron-Marlotte, Grez-sur-Loing and some chateaux in the towns of Fleury-en-Biere (not open to the public) and the Chateau of Courance (open to the public). If you go to Milly-la-Foret I bet the kids would enjoy a stop to see Le Cyclop:
http://www.lecyclop.com/en/index.html
http://www.fontainebleau-tourisme.com/index.php/en/
http://www.msl-tourisme.fr/index.php/francais/accueil
http://tourisme-bourronmarlotte.jimdo.com/
http://www.barbizon-tourisme.fr/
http://www.millylaforet-tourisme.com/
http://www.courances.net/
I'm very familiar with the area around Fontainebleau and I've written a few reports (that have lots of photos and descriptions) that will show you the area if that interests you:
http://frenchmystiquetours.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=reports&action=display&thread=28
http://frenchmystiquetours.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=biking&action=display&thread=36
I don't know your budget but if you spend a night or two near Fontainebleau you can stay at the Chateau de Bourron:
http://www.bourron.fr/eng/
There are some really nice restaurants in the twin villages of Bourron-Marlotte.
Wonderful info. Thanks again. I am going to spend some time on the links and your trip reports. It gives me a quick idea of what else there is to do in the area if I want to make a few days of it. The transitions to new accommodations seem to screw my kids up... so I prefer to stay each place at least 3 nights if not 4. So my thinking (and correct me if I'm wrong on this) was that I could find someplace near maybe Versailles or even some quaint little suburban village near there to have as a home base. From there, I thought it wouldn't be that much driving to go even as far as Chartres or Giverny as short day trips so we're not changing hotels/apts as often.
I do agree it's better to find another place to sleep once we're all the way down in the Loire.
If you want to spend a few nights in each place then head to Versailles on your first day, check into your hotel and visit the chateau. From Versailles you can do trips to Giverny, Chateau Gaillard and Chartres. Fontainebleau is about a 1 hour drive from Versailles so it is possible to visit that area based in Versailles if you don't mind the drive time.
There isn't much in the way of quaint villages near Versailles since you are so close to Paris but one possible option just north of Versailles would be Marly-le-Roi, which despite its proximity to Paris has the feel of a country village.
http://www.pays-des-impressionnistes.fr/en/
Look at this report for photos of Marly and nearby towns:
http://frenchmystiquetours.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=biking&action=display&thread=5
Use the website www.viamichelin.com to get info on drive times and distances and understand the times don't consider stops, bad traffic or bad weather.