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Advice on where to stay in the Loire Valley

Posted by (Louisiana) on

Hi all--

We will be taking a 10 day road trip in France in mid-June and plan to spend three nights in Honfleur (our base to hike around Etretat and play in Deauville) and three nights in Bayeaux (our base to see D-day beaches and Mont Saint-Michel).

We plan on ending the trip with a three night stay in the Loire Valley. Rick Steves recommends staying in Amboise (which looks really cool as a base for us to explore Chateaus and other cools spots in the Loire Valley). However, my question is whether we should instead consider staying in a more rural area (we will have a car) and enjoy the countryside. We've seen a particular property that looks appealing with a nice restaurant (Les Sources de Cheverny) but it's definitely a splurge. We of course are open to other similar properties.

So, considering we will be in Honfleur and Bayeaux for three days each, should we continue to have homebases in small towns/cities with three days in Amboise or should we try something different? Thank you very much for your thoughts!

Posted by
7155 posts

Amboise is not large. A one minute drive would get you into the countryside. We stayed at the Chateau de Pray, which is about a 5 minute drive outside of Amboise. It was very convenient for day trips around the region.

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks for this. I guess my question was more along the lines of: are we missing anything by not staying in Amboise? It does look small from videos I've seen.

Btw, did you eat at the restaurant there at the Chateau de Pays? I believe it has a Michelin star (I also believe Rick Steves ate there in the video with his colleague/friend Steve Smith-- who always seems to show up around dinner time).

Posted by
7155 posts

We did. Breakfast every morning was very good. We had dinner there one night. Its Michelin star was not without merit. The meal was excellent, as was the service. Since it was a warm evening we ate on the terrace, which only added to the ambiance. Definitely a splurge. On our other nights we ate at different restaurants in Amboise. No complaints at any of them.

Posted by
7954 posts

We stayed at Chateau de Pray and ate at the restaurant. The restaurant was excellent and not as pricey as I would have thought. We really enjoyed staying at a Chateau. Highly recommend. I liked Amboise, the town was charming to stroll. We also thought the DaVinci chateau was really interesting and special. We visited a few chateau from Chateau de Pray. We returned to Loire a few years later and stayed in Saumur. We liked Amboise a bit better, but both areas were charming.

Posted by
3030 posts

Chateau des Tertres in Veuzain-sur-Loire. ( formerly Onzain) is where I stayed a couple of times in the 80s. Nice location, across from Chaumont-sur-Loire. I could see the castle from my room. Conveniently located between Blois and Amboise. We cycled to Chambord, Blois, Amboise, Chenonceaux, Cheverny, so of course with a car there are many more places that can be visited.

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