Hi - After a week of Paris as well as touring some of the cathedral cities of Beauvais, Amiens, and Reims we plan to tour some of the Loire Castles. This will be in November. Are the castles readily accessible then? Or are tours the better way to go?
Thank you
Yes. Depending on which ones you want to go to you can rent a bike, or go there by public bus (this is the hardest way) or go with a tour group. As a broke college student I went to Chambord by bus from Blois (which has a castle also), Chenonceaux and Amboise by train. You can Google the name of the castle and most have websites with schedules of the open hours
This will be in November. Are the castles readily accessible then?
Yes
are tours the better way to go?
Not really.
Do some research, make a plan, rent a car, and explore on your own.
I have been considering making a day of it in Amboise with the Amboise Chateau and the Clos-Luce Chateau. That should be fun as well as getting a feel for the town Amboise. Then that brings up the accessibility of Chenonceau from Amboise?
Does this little plan seem reasonable?
We visited Chenonceau from Amboise. Easy drive. I wouldn't go on a tour to the chateaus. Very easy to do on your own. Villandry has spectacular gardens but it might be worth emailing them to find out what the gardens look like in November. When we visited in the beginning of October the chateau gardens were still beautiful.
Chaumont is a lovely chateau with a connection to Chenonceau and it is very close to Amboise. It has nice views of the Loire, too.
If you want to spend the day in the Loire Valley, take the early morning TGV from Montparnasse to Tours (not St Pierre des Corps). Tours Centre, the old train station, is across the street from the Office de Tourisme from where a variety of minibus tours depart. The schedules typically work out that you arrive Tours Centre about 30 minutes before the morning minibus tours depart.
While Château Amboise is interesting on its own, most of it was destroyed during the Revolution and what remains is far less remarkable than what is otherwise available to visit nearby. I might suggest, in order of overall importance, these châteaux east of Tours:
Return to Paris later in the day or evening.
Not being "picky" but there are only a few actual "castles" in that area. Chinon, for example, has a castle built for defense. Most of the places being discussed are absolutely beautiful and well-worth seeing, but they aren't "castles."
Not being "picky" but there are only a few actual "castles" in that
area. Chinon, for example, has a castle built for defense. Most of the
places being discussed are absolutely beautiful and well-worth seeing,
but they aren't "castles."
Interestingly (perhaps), the French word "chateau" can mean either a castle or a large, country, estate house. Englsh makes a distinction between the 2, with castle being a fortified defensive building. I think the OP was simply referring to Chateaux in the general sense.
I visited Chenonceau, Amboise and Clos Luce in one day. I had a rented bicycle. I got up early and rode to Chenonceau. There's a good trail that starts at the west end of Amboise. The first mile (total 22km) or so is fairly steep up hill climbing away from the river. After that it's a nice ride in mostly gently rolling hills. There's a fairly long gentle down hill part, which becomes a fairly long uphill on the way back (then a steep downhill back into Amboise). Everything is paved and traffic, for the time you are on regular roads, was never scary.
I spent several hours there then ate lunch in a small town on the way back to Amboise. I turned in the bike then walked first to Chateau Amboise, then to Clos Luce. The only real problem was the grounds at Clos Luce were much more extensive than I had anticipated. I could have spent more time there than I gave myself.
I was there mid to late September and the weather was nice. Not too hot in the day and cool but not really cold at night.
Overall, it's very doable with a rented bike and reasonably sturdy legs.
