Loire Valley

Are you planning on renting a car to explore the chateaus in the region ?

The villages of Amboise or Blois make a good base for the eastern Loire, and Saumur or Angers make a good base for the western part. Depends on how much time you want to spend in the area.

Here is a nice hotel in Amboise:

http://www.manoirlesminimes.com/en/

https://www.experienceloire.com/where-to-stay-in-loire-valley.htm

I was looking at travel plans also today here is more info on the Loire that has been covered the last 6 months

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=6m&filter=Travel+Forum&query=lOIRE+VALLEY&utf8=%E2%9C%93

Without a car, I would only consider staying in Tours and then only in the area around Place Plumereau or Old Tours (near the university). Other areas of Tours are not interesting for visitors.

Tours should be booked at the Office de Tourisme located across the street from Tours Centre (the train station), both of which are within easy walking distance of Place Plumereau.

I have a friend who recently returned from a week in Langeais and recommended I stay there or Amboise for a month. We are looking for a medium-sized town to plant ourselves in for a month to live, work from “home”, sightsee on weekends so I am in a different situation. That said, you might want to research Langeais.

Amboise- did three days there for the area - loved it

I agree with RJean......we toured the Loire Valley to see the chateaus and based in Amboise and stayed at Manior les Minimes....it was delightful. We were there in May and the crowds were not bad at all. We had a car and drove out of Amboise each day to the different chateaus and gardens......found coming back home to Amboise each night was a treat. We loved the size of Amboise and the ease of getting around......do not miss Villandry....it’s gardens are gorgeous. Chenonceau was our favorite castle and the fresh flowers put out each day by volunteers were something to see. Have fun!

Citi Hotel Europe. Rick doesn't do Tours justice when he says he wouldn't stay there. Its a beautiful city with gobs of history. This hotel is not near the old town, but it is literally foot steps to all the tour lines, TI, the regional train and bus stations. You can walk to old town as it isn't more than a 1/2 mile. You can see the hotel from Gare De Tours train station. Everyone on Staff was wonderful, as was the room and price and breakfast. https://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/de-l-europe-tours.html. As to the Chateau tours, we took a train to and back from Chenonceau. Had lots of time to visit the site. For Villandry and Azay Le Rideau we took a morning 9:30 to 12:30, 1/2 day mini bus excursion through Touraine Evasion. www.tourevasion.com Pick up and drop off was right at the Tours TI center. This was convenient, and a last minute change of plans, but it was also a bit hurried, and gave us 60 minutes at Azay La Rideau and only 45 minutes at the Villandry Gardens. 45 minutes was way too little time to fully appreciate and experience Villandry. Most of the full day tours, which included more and other chateau, were booked full. :)

Start with which chateaux you would like to visit, then find something central to those. I stayed in Amboise but the places I decided to visit were in the west side of the area. If those aren't your choices, it might be better to stay in Blois or further east.

You may want to consider renting a car. That area is not difficult to drive around (I did it in 17) and it opens up a lot of possibilities in where to stay as well as what you can do. Plus it allows you to stop and look at the scenery. We stopped a couple times just to look around and drive around a couple towns just to see them.

We stayed in Amboise. Found the narrow streets and fast drivers harrowing, plus very difficult to turn into the gate of the B&B where we stayed. On Sun and Mon you need a reservation for most decent restaurants since so many are closed on these days.