"Best" ways to see Chambord and Chenonceau

I also took a TGV from Paris to St. Pierre des Corps and stayed in Amboise to see the “Big 3 Chateau”—Chambord, Chenonceau and Cheverny.
By public transit, one might be able to see two chateau in a day— but the train and bus schedules in these parts of rural France are very skeletal with slow trains and very few buses. And Chambord is in the middle of a forest with no nearby train stations.

I rented a car through the Peugeot car dealer in Amboise. There also are car dealers in Tours and Amboise that rent out cars for the day. ( if you rent a car you’ll need an International Drivers Permit (IDP) which can be obtained at any American Automobile Association office for about $30. With two of you, renting a car will be less expensive than booking a tour.

The French castles and chateau were ransacked during the French Revolution.

Chenonceau is architecturally intact and the inside has non-original furnishings from the medieval era. The chateaux straddling the Cher River was actually the borderline between Nazi-occupied France and Vichy France during the 1940’s.
But the most accessible and authentic chateaux of the medieval period is Cheverny— 11 miles from Chambord.
The Vibraye family has lived in Cheverny for 600 years.. The family was so popular with local villagers. that they protected the family from any harm during the French revolution
As a result, Cheverny today is a perfect historic masterpiece of medieval architecture with its furnishings completely intact. If you want to see one of France’s most incredible historic chateaux—be sure to visit Cheverny.

Acco-dispo tours, based in Amboise, offers tours by van of the “Big 3 “chateau, along with other tours. Reserve early or you might find they’re sold out.
Then you ‘ll have to rent a car as I had to!

Having a car turned out to be a plus because I saw a number of famous chateau just driving past them between the “Big 3.”

www.SNCF-connect.com
www.accodispo-tours.com

It's remarkable how often and easy the word medieval is used for buildings or places dating back somewhere in history.

Both Chenonceau and Chambord are built in Renaissance style, the front of Cheverny is Baroque. That has little to do with medieval architecure. However most of the châteaux were built not from scratch but on the remains of a medieval fortress and in some cases clearly visible like Château Amboise.

Wil, Since you brought it up, Cheverny’s exterior is actually classified as French Classical style or Louis Xlll style.

Thanks for pointing this out.

edited: Kenko - You're welcome!

Sorry, but I can't help jumping in.
Medieval normally refers to 5th to 15th centuries (ie 1400s).

Once, on a London bus, I overhead a young American backpacker start a conversation with a young Australian backpacker. The latter asked if Stonehenge was worth a visit, to which the American replied, not really, it's just a pile of old medieval stones.

I saw Chambord by renting a bike in Blois and riding out to the chateau. Took about 45 mins. Very pleasant ride on country roads, and (for the last few km to the chateau) on a dedicated trail.

Saw Chenonceau in 2022. We stayed a few nights in Amboise and had a rental car. When we were done we turned the rental car in at the Saint-Pierre-des-Corps train station, then trained to the airport. It was pretty easy.

@Kenko - thanks for the detail, this will become a trip for me!

Thank you Kenko

I have heard of Cheverny, yet did not realize it was such "gotta see"
Very good info regarding the international driving permit/license -- thank you for that and for the link for acco-dispo tours.

I have seen almost every tour offered for 3 chateau, but not Cheverny; rather Chambord, Chenonceau, and Amboise.

Best regards

Thank you Mary C

You bring up a good point (waking my fuzzy memory) -- which station is preferred to/from Paris: Tours or St Pierre de Corps?

Best regards

Thank you for the detail WIl

Best regards

@darrenblois

I applaud and commend that you biked, in 45 minutes no less! From what I have seen that is about the same amount of time as driving a car -- well done.

Best regards

Amboise is just seven miles from the Chenonceau chateau. The St.-Pierre-des-Corps TGV station is a fifteen-minute train ride from Amboise. There are a couple of these 15-minute trains in the morning and a couple in the afternoon. So, if taking the one-hour TGV train from Gare Montparnasse in Paris, you’ll want to synchronize your trains so you can reach Amboise by train.

From Amboise to Chambord is about 30 miles with no convenient way to do the route by public transit.

Cheverny is eleven miles from the Chateau de Chambord. BTW, Chateau de Chambord has no furnishings at all inside of it. Just Leonardo da Vinci’s double helix staircase. And Chateau du Clos Luce, near the Chateau de Amboise. is where Da Vinci spent his final years in retirement.

Thank you kenko,

Yes, I see one of your points -- I looked at the train timetable and the rapid trains (1 hour or so) from Paris stopped mid-morning, and the rapid return to Paris appear to run only late afternoon/early evening. I noticed that there are several trains from Tours to Chenonceau (25 to 30 minutes), just not throughout the entire day.

Agreed that getting to Chambord by public transportation is definitely a challenge. Any idea how feasible that can be with Uber/Bolt?

I was not aware that there are no furnishings inside Chambord -- good to know!

In that first trip to France that my wife and I took 30 years, we had the good fortune of seeing Chateau du Clos Luce and Chateau de Amboise. It was a treat for me, as I am a DaVinci fan.

Best regards

Since you are asking for the BEST way, well I agree by bike is the best. The trails are wonderful. Much depends on time of year and if your able to ride a bike. Either way I would not do it by day-trip van ride. The area is so lovely I would spend at least 3 nights there to be able to enjoy it. Have a wonderful trip! J

Steve, The city closest to both Chambord and Cheverny is Blois. The train station there is actually called “Blois-Chambord.”

Blois is just 10 miles west of Chambord and it’s also ten miles north of Cheverny.

The good news is that Uber does operate in Blois, Amboise and Tours. So, you could train to Blois from Paris and then catch an Uber to the two chateaux.

It does take longer to train from Paris to Blois ( fastest train takes 1:40). than it does to train to St-Pierre-Des-Corps (1:05).
But it is doable.

You also can rent a car for 24 hours at the Blois-Chambord train station through AutoEurope for about $100. Driving in the Loire I found to be easy.

I’ve read that Blois Castle ( “Royal Chateau de Blois”) is very worthwhile. It played a big role in French history with Joan of Arc visiting in 1429 and also was the venue where Henry l of Guise was assassinated in 1588. Catherine de Medici also lived in the castle through her final days.
Anne Boleyn ( wife of England’s King Henry Vlll) also lived in Blois Castle for 7 years when she was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude, the wife of French King Francis l.

So, the castle played a big role in French history and has a lot of historic architecture and furnishings inside its walls.

There’s so much to see in the Loire Valley that you might also want to overnight in Blois so you can hit several of the historic sites.

If I were going to see Chambord, I would use a bus-train combination, certainly no Bolt or Uber.

If one is dep from Paris, take the train Paris to Orleans, change to Blois, where you can catch the bus at the Blois train station to Chambord. I did this in 2023, Paris to Orleans by train, but was too tempted to see and explore Orleans , its centre-ville, instead of continuing to Blois by train.

Thank you joanne1108,

I could only wish my wife and I are up to rigors of biking.
However, I agree -- it sounds like a lovely way to go, and as healthy and green as could be.

I look forward to this trip indeed. It's just under a year away; I have learned to plan far in advance.

Best regards

Thank you Fred,

I would never have thought of that route!
We will be departing from Paris.

Best regards

Thank you kenko,

This is great information and input, including taking the train to Blois and Auto Europe.
Apologies that I am not following -- Are you saying Uber is an option to get to Chambord and Cheverny?
From Amboise? Blois? and/or Tours?

You highlight a good point; while Paris to Blois will take longer than Paris to Tours or St-Pierre-Des-Corps, it could be much better logistically to go to Blois.

This is the reality (a nice problem to have), although we'll have to decide in the end what we can make fit.
"There’s so much to see in the Loire Valley that you might also want to overnight in Blois so you can hit several of the historic sites."