SShprints

Want to do 3 days in the Loire Valley but not very familiar with the area. What is a good base to spend the evening? Amboise? Tours? I love cafes, people watching and great food. How is this itinerary for the drive from Paris:
Day 1 - Chombard & Chaneceu
Day 2 - Villadry & Ussey
Day 3 - strolling in Amboise and drive back to Paris.

Thanks

TuckH

I'd drop Chambord - besides being just a big pile, it's too far east - and I'd certainly include Chenonceaux. Amboise would be a good base, but so would Chinon, a delightful town IMO. Near Villandry is the wonderful Azay-le-Rideau chateau and I'd go there instead of Ussé. There's also the fascinating abbey at Fontevraud. All in all, there's more to see and do to the west of Tours.

bilboburgler

Why not take the train to Tours and base yourself there

nytraveler

To do the Loire properly you really need a car. And as long as you have one you don;t need to base in a town - but can take the opportunity to stay in an actual chateau.

We stayed in a 15th century fortress near Chinon that allowed us to do day trips both east and west. The owners were charming and helpful, and one night hosted a dinner en famille. And rates are usually perfectly reasonable unless you choose one of the deluxe chateaux-resorts.

Dukey

Strolling in Amboise won't take a whole lot of time but you could see the chateau there as well as the Leonardo museum. Driving-wise, Chenonceau is closest.

Tours would be better for Villandry with its superb gardens. Tours is, however, a much larger place than Amboise.

I agree with the utility of having a car. You could also train to somewhere such as Blois and rent there for the three days although there are TGV services from Tours.

2010

We stayed 7 nights in Amboise - a lovely town located on the Loire River, nice cafes, easy to come & go with a car. We visited Chenonceau, Chambord & Langais as well as, Chateau D'Amboise & Close Luce (Leonardo da Vinci's home) in Amboise. We spent the balance of our time just touring the beautiful countryside.

I would caution trying to visit 4 chateau in 2 days unless that is your primary reason to visit the Loire Valley. But then you will miss spending some time just to explore more of the area.

My recommendation is to start out early each morning; plan to visit Chenonceau on day 1 & Chambord on day 2; and then, take the afternoon to make your way back to Amboise. Maybe you will discover a lovely cafe in a little town & enjoy a wonderful dining experience along the way! Next, plan a return trip to the Loire to see some more!!!

coldwar27

My favorite area of France... ahhh.. anyways.

I hope you don't drop Chambord as I stare at a pic of it every day. I really enjoyed visiting there. Amboise was my base town too and it worked well. I would also add da Vinci's home as part of your tour (in Amboise). The grounds have an array of devices that were built based on da Vinci's sketches and it's really neat.

Enjoy!

FauxSteMarie

I once did a home exchange in Tours and did 18 of the chateaux in a month. I had difficulty doing more than one a day. If you try and pack too much in, you end up not having time to savor the moment. The chateaux are all interesting but seeing 2-3 of them for a short trip would be enough.

I do agree with eliminating Chambord as being too far East.

Personally, I feel it is difficult to combine the Loire with Paris. For a day trip, I always recommend Blois, which is easily reachable by train from Paris.

Also, I am surprised how rarely the name of Fontainebleau comes up on this board. Fontainebleau was Francis I's hunting lodge and is a nice day trip from Paris.

However, you structure your time in the Loire, just do not rush it. And I do not pick out which chateaux to visit for people. To my mind Chenonceau and Amboise are the most interesting, but it does depend on what YOU want and my mind may not agree with yours.

Have a great trip!

StCirq

First, to enjoy the Loire without wasting a lot of time on transportation, you need a car.

Assuming you have a car, stay out of Tours - really icky place to try to drive in and out of.

Amboise is my favorite place to use as a base, though I have used others. It's a really nice town with plenty of activity, plus the Clos Luce and the wonderful chateau and a lively Satuday market.

I've been to almost all the Loire chateaux, and I'd say Chambord and Chenonceaux are high on my list, but Villandry and Usse are not. I would try to fit in Blois and definitely Amboise (what's not to like about a castle where Marie de Medici invited the Huegenots to dinner, sat them down then had them all defenestrated before dessert was served?)

nytraveler

Villandry has fantastic gardens - but the chateau is of the second rank. For the first I would list Chambord and Chenonceaux. Amboise is a charming town with a fortress (older than the chateaux) and also Leonarado's home which was fascinating. We also found Fontevraud Abbey wonderful - with the tombs of Richard the Lion Heart etc. (We spent a week and saw many more of the chateaux - each interesting in it's own way - but after 6 days - they began to run together. Be sure to enjoy the small towns and wonderful restaurants - and taste some of the Sancerre that never seems to get to the US.

Also, if you're there in season definitely see one of the son et lumiere performances.

FauxSteMarie

I disagree that Tours is not good as a base for touring the Loire chateaux. It is a small city and quite easy to drive in and out of; I did that for a month when I exchanged there without a problem. It is nothing like driving in Paris. The main road to the chateaux that you are going to use is along the Loire. I drove that one every day when I exchanged there.

However, I would agree that Amboise is a fine place to situate yourself as well. It is a small town and you can get in and out of it at a snap. However, the choice of restaurants is not as extensive as the old city of Tours if you are going to be looking for that in the evening. Having said that, for a couple of days, there are enough choices in Amboise for you to be content.

Chambourd is probably the chateaux that I would rate as "most overrated". The roof is interesting (and was an inspiration, by the way for the roof on the Biltmore in North Carolina), but the history is not as riveting like some of the older places. When I visited Chambourd--and it has been a long time but I have been there several times--the chateau was largely empty of furniture. In fact, most of the chateaux have no furniture. Most of it was stolen or burnt in the French Revolution.

There are so many chateaux in the region that you really have to evaluate what bit of history is most riveting for you.

FauxSteMarie

I do agree with nytraveler on Fontevraud Abbey, but that is towards the western end of the Loire. If you only have a couple of days and are trying to do the ones closer to Paris to save driving time, I wouldn't go there. For a longer trip, I would recommend it.

I also agree with nytraveler that some of the chateaux seem to run together.

There is a small chateaux outside of Tours (on the north side of the Loire) that is still actually lived in by the family (with plenty of furniture), Luynes, that is interesting to see for a contrast. It doesn't have riveting history, but is still interesting because it is inhabited.

For those interested in writers, Balzac's home, Sache, can be visited. I also went to Georges Sand's home, Nohant (in Nohant), but that, strictly speaking, is not in the Loire.

Montrichard has a birds of prey show during the summer season.

pirouette

Rent a car and base yourseld in Chennonceau-there is a lovely inn called La Roseraie. There you are a stone's throw from the Chateau and a very short drive to Amboise. Tours is not all that far either. We did all of the Chateaux that have been mentioned. Chambord is east, but I wouldn't miss it.

BTilke

I know I'm in the minority, but Amboise was actually our LEAST favorite stopping point in the Loire Valley. Too many tour buses, too many tourist "shoppes" and a bit too honky tonk near the river.
We far preferred basing ourselves in Angers in the western Loire. Direct train service from Paris (faster than driving) and easy to pick up a car there. The city itself is delightful with tons of good restaurants (most cheaper than in Amboise as well)...an excellent base for cafes, people watching and great food. From Angers, we visited Saumur, Chinon, Azay le Rideau, Fontevraud, Nantes (definitely worth a visit) and a few other places.

We also really enjoyed our stay in Bourges, at the far eastern end of the Loire where Berry starts. Again, Bourges itself was attractive and there are many castles in the region worth exploring with only a small fraction of the tourists in the central Loire. For example, when we drove down to Ainay-le-Vieil, I had the castle gardens all to myself (and the dog) for about two hours while my husband got a personal tour of the castle's interior.

If you do go to Chambord, try and take the boat tour of the canals and moat system around the castle. Take the first boat of the morning if you can...we did and had a private guided tour with no other pax; after that the boats were completely filled.

FauxSteMarie

You have some good suggestions, BTilke. What most people do not realize is the Loire is a very large area. You can center yourself to do chateaux in the east, west, or center of the region. Most people tend to go to the same few chateaux the first time.

Please don't throw brickbats, but, aside from its dramatic location, Chenanceau is not the most interesting. For the most interesting history, I would vote for Amboise and Chinon. Chinon is just a ruin, but you can see the room where Joan of Arc allegedly recognized the disguised King Charles.

wrenwood

We stayed last year for 4 nights at Le Vieux Manoir in Amboise.

http://www.le-vieux-manoir.com/

Delightful place. Gloria and Bob (the owners) helped us with deciding what to do, where to eat, even got us tickets for a concert at the grounds of Leonardo da Vinci's house, Close Luce. They are American so they helped us feel less intimidated with our lack of ability to speak French.

Chenonceaux is a must. We enjoyed Villandry also, the drive didn't seem far, we stopped along the way to go through a town for some Antique Shops that Gloria knew about.

I also thought Amboise was very easy to drive around in, and had plenty of charm and good restaurants.

Coquelicot

I'll second the suggestion for Azay-le-Rideau over Usse. If you have time, drive along the Indre rather than the Loire. There's a Route du Moulins et Manoirs (I think it's called) that takes you along some scenic rural stretches.

Where to stay? If you are country people like us and don't like to stay overnight in cities, even on vacation, a car lets you choose a B&B (chambre d'hotes) in a scenic village. Alastair Sawday and Karen Brown have good guides to B&Bs, from chateaux to converted stables. Both are on the web. If cities don't faze you, well, I'm no help there.

For good food, consult Michelin online for maps, driving directions, and hotel and restaurant ratings. But don't worry about finding good food--if the place doesn't have plastic menus, the food will probably be good. Best of all, visit a boulangerie, patisserie, and local market for cheese, bread, and dessert.

When we're in France, we mostly have the feeling we pretty much can't go wrong wherever we drive. You'll have a wonderful time if you focus on the simple pleasures of French life and don't try to cram in everything the experts say you should see.

FauxSteMarie

Too little time, too many chateaux.

Many posters, many different opinions.

You make up your own mind and have a good trip.

bigtyke

I don't see anything wrong with 2 chateaux jper day. That's what I did - and I was bicycling beween them!

hopingtotravel

These answers must be confusing -- too far east---too far west.

If you can weed through them, you do have some good advice.