My wife and I will be in France this July without a car and wish to make our first trip to the Loire Valley and to the Bordeaux region to visit some vineyards and taste some wines. What would be the ideal place(s) to serve as a base from which to explore each region? Are there tour companies that you would recommend? We hope to spend about three days in each area but can be a little flexible. Thanks so much for whatever wisdom you can share with us. Best, Paul
Posted by
Loire Valley, France
9 posts
Hi Paul,
Tours would be a good base for the Loire Valley (wines of Vouvray, Amboise etc within easy reach), or Saumur (for Bourgueil, Chinon, Saumur wines). Our friends run a wine tourism business near Amboise - www.letastingroom.com and if you search for wine tourism around Saumur I'm sure some similar businesses will be operating in that area.
Alison
Posted by
Kelowna, Canada
118 posts
To see the most wineries you really need a car as some wineries are off the beaten track
Posted by
86 posts
In Bordeaux the tourist office has a lot of tours, where you usually see 2 or 3 wineries. We took two, and enjoyed them both, thought they were worth the money. https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/
As a bonus, across from the tourist office is Bar A Vin, a wine bar with a great wine list representing all the regions in the area. The prices start at 2 Euro a glass. they also have charcuterie and chocolate plates for really reasonable prices.
https://baravin.bordeaux.com/en/#presentation