Chinon France without a car

Where does your tour end up? You could buy a multi-trip (open jaw) ticket from your home airport in the US to Paris, then book your return ticket home from wherever your tour ends up.

So you would arrive in Paris, take a train to Chinon for the time you want, head back to Paris and from there either take the train to Rome (which will be a VERY long ride - around 10 hours) or fly from Paris to Rome (probably cheaper and definitely faster).

ETA: That's a lot of traveling for the time you have. I'm assuming you know that but seriously, you will be spending a lot of time and money for 3 nights in a place that is far removed from your final destination. Have you thought about adding on more time to Chinon?

I mean this in a kind way, but the one location has nothing to do with the other. And just like much of the rural USA, Chinon does not lend itself to visiting without a car. (We slept three nights in Chinon for our visit to the western Loire chateaux.) Is this your first trip to Europe? How long do you imagine it will be until the next?

I just mean, if you were visiting Chicago, would you plan to see an old friend in Madison Wisconsin on the same trip? They're not really in the same place. Sure, Europe has good trains, and sometimes a bargain airline (with fees for check-in and carry-on luggage) can move you a long distance for a decent price. But it's going to be hard to achieve what you hope for.

Chinon, the small city, it quite attractive and a nice place to walk around and look for a restaurant for dinner. But the general area is widely spread out. A major (local) sight is a nuclear power plant (!) that is much easier to get a look at (from a distance) than any in the USA! There's also a nice, mostly ruined castle/chateau on the high part of the city. But it's unclear WHAT you need to get to in order to visit ... the path of your husband's family. Do you have more details on their history and addresses?

It's important to arrive in the city for a tour at least the day before the tour gathers. Do you think you'll use the same hotel as the tour, or do they leave Rome immediately? Is it a Rick Steves tour, or something else. (You are welcome on this newsboard in any case, just trying to get you the best advice possible.)

To get to Chinon from Paris is a little tricky. You catch the train from Paris to Tours, and change to the train from Tours to Chinon. Trains from Paris to Tours leave from Gare Austerlitz (InterCity and TER) with a couple of direct TGVs a day from Montparnasse. There are also TGVs that stop at Saint Pierre des Corps, but you will have to catch the shuttle train to Tours.

Your problem will be making the connection to Chinon. There are a couple of trains a day, but most of the time it is a very slow bus service.

It can be done, but if you want to continue on to Rome it will mean returning to Paris.

In 2019, I stayed in Aux Quatre Chemins B&B, a very nice and welcoming accommodation just a ten-minute walk from the elevator (yep, it's outdoors) that drops (well, gently lowers) you right in the center of town. A number of restaurants, many with outdoor seating, are right there. Alain and Martine, who speak little English, were wonderful hosts.

https://www.aux4chemins.fr/

Thanks, I get it's out of the way. This will be our first trip to Europe in many years, My husband was born on an Army base in Chinon, he just wanted to see the area. We just thought we could arrive in Paris on the 14th then leave for Rome via plane or train on the 18th. Train from Paris to Chinon, 2 days there the 15th and 16th would be fine. , On the 17th return to Paris and fly back to Rome from there. Or get a flight from Tours to Rome so we didn't have to go back to Paris.
There is no family background. Our tour does not start until the 20th we plan to be in Rome at the same hotel as the tour starts on the 18th to relax before our Rick Steve's tour on the 20th.

I can't find my source immediately, because I can't actually remember when I did the research, but the army base was at Saint-Benoît-la-Forêt. There are a couple of online groups of American ex-inhabitants.

If your husband was born in Chinon, it's likely the building no longer exists. The site of the American hospital was taken over by the French Health Service in the 1970s(?) and completely rebuilt as the current hospital, just outside Chinon on the road to Azay le Rideau.

In May, we stayed at the Best Western Hotel de France in Chinon. I know, judging by the name it sounds terrible. It was a delightful, charming old hotel, pretty much in the center of the old city with a very nice breakfast. Despite the age of the hotel, the rooms were all modern (though with the original, exposed old timbers) and the bathrooms were great.

Its a 3 star hotel. To our way of traveling (which was in 3 and 4 star hotels), we actually preferred the 3 star hotels. The 4th star usually meant newer and otherwise much less appealing.