Can anyone recommend a boat tour of a couple of hours to see one or more Loire Valley chateaux from the water? I found this site where you can search for "excursions" and "by boat."
http://www.loirevalleytourism.com/GetOrganised/Activities/Excursions-and-Walks/recherche
Among the results are many kayaking and canoeing outfitters, though that is not what we're looking for. The boats for more, ahem, sedate folks like ourselves include one sailboat company (La Brise Chapelonne) and one power boat company (L'Amarante et la Belle Adele). I also heard there are one or two that operate on the Cher River, but I don't know the names.
Recommendations would be appreciated!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I see that Rick's book only discusses the self-powered options, canoe and row boat. La Balendre operates a short cruise near Chenonceau from April to October.
Posted by
OP
3123 posts
Awesome! La Belandre is exactly the one I was hoping to find out about. It goes under the arches of the chateau of Chenonceaux, an experience I will surely treasure! We will be there in May so it looks like the boats will be running. Thank you!
Posted by
2 posts
Thanks! My friend and I will also be in the Loire valley in May and that cruise is exactly like what we are looking for!
Posted by
OP
3123 posts
Hey, we'll see you there. BTW I realize with apologies that I misspelled the name of the boat operator -- the correct spelling, as shown in the web link, is La Balendre.
Posted by
Blere
3 posts
Bonjour,
There are no real boat tour to see the chateaux ... as the chateaux are at different places, not always by a river where a boat can be. The boat for the Chenonceau castle is la Belandre, very nice trip on the Cher river. For Chaumont or Amboise, which are on the Loire River, you have a nice tour also, in a traditional boat http://www.milliere-raboton.net/Welcome.html, which is very romantic, specially at the end of the day. They have "small" boats (12 people max), this is a guaranty of enjoying the cruise ...
Posted by
OP
3123 posts
Lovely. This looks like it's ideal for those who really love nature and want to experience the river.
And I see the spelling of the motorized one that goes under the Chenonceaux arches is "La Belandre" after all, in spite of having gotten the spelling backwards previously.
http://www.labelandre.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=22&lang=en/