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car rental in Loire valley

Posted by (Washington DC) on

Hello! Our family will travel to France in June, and after spending some days in Paris, plan to spend a few days in the Loire. I'd be grateful for advice on whether to take a train to:

a)Chartres, see the cathedral and pick up a rental car there, drive to Amboise and see Chambord on the way. (If so, is there luggage storage available in Chartres, or safe to store in the car trunk? I suppose we'd have to leave luggage in the car at Chambord also.)

or

b) St. Pierre des Corps, driving to Amboise and backtracking north the next day to see Chambord.

My husband is a fluent French-speaker and has driven there before, though it's been many years.

Leaning toward (a) because I'd love to see the cathedral, but it probably means an earlier start from Paris, and there is the aforementioned issue with luggage. Any thoughts, or pros/cons I haven't considered? Thanks in advance!

Posted by
773 posts

If you decide to skip Chartres you can visit the cathedral in Tours instead. A lot of people think it has better stained glass than Chartres - it certainly has a wider range of stained glass than Chartres - and it's where the Chartres and Notre Dame windows go for conservation work.

The cathedral is the same age as Chartres, but because Tours was a much richer city the cathedral is a lot more ornate. It also has some Roman walls, but you do have to know where to look.

I've never had an issue with leaving luggage out of sight in the car.

Also, if I only had a few days in the Loire Valley I wouldn't bother with Chambord. It's a big, mainly empty, hunting lodge. The best thing about Chambord is the view of the outside (but the towers are scaffolded at the moment) and the forests.

Posted by
482 posts

Either of your destinations is convenient for visiting Chateau de Chenonceau. It has a fascinating history, is beautiful and is the most relatable chateau I've visited. Each time we've gone there, I begin planning where to put things when we move in.
I would also second what Simon said about not having had any issues with leaving luggage out of sight in rental cars.

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