Looking for a place to stay for 3 nights in the Loire valley. There are two couples and we have a car. We would prefer a vrbo type. We are not sure if we stay in the small town or out in the country and drive in. We would like to do day trips to other places. We read about Amboise, Angers, Saumur. Where should we stay and where should we visit in the valley before heading back to Paris?
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
1542 posts
GoYears,
Welcome to the forum. To begin, the Loire Valley is not a small place, and sometimes it is better to stay a day or two in the eastern part and a day or two in the western part. Do you know which chateaux you are interested in visiting? It seems to work best visiting 2 per day (sometimes 3, depending on which ones). Where to stay is generally dependent on what you want to see.
Last time we were there was in 2017, we stayed in Saumur after driving from Brittany, and next day we went to Chenonceau in the morning, picnicked there then drove on toward Chambord, saw it in the afternoon and stayed at a gite that evening. The next day we drove on to Beaune (our next stop).
We stayed in a hotel in Saumur. In Chambord we found a lovely gite and had dinner with the owners in their home. Check out gites de France and look for chambres d'hote. You won't necessarily have a kitchen, but you will find some great lodgings. Gites de France has been around a lot longer than AirBnB and to me, is more reliable. We have always been happy with the places we found there, whether just a bed and breakfast for a night or two, or a whole house for ten days.
Be sure to check out the parking situation wherever you stay. It can make all the difference if you don't have to drive around looking for a nearby location to park the car.
Have fun!
Posted by
203 posts
I second the recommendation to check out gites. We stayed at one in Tours (it had parking) and we used that city as a base to visit surrounding chateaux. Tours itself (the old part of town) is very nice and you can spend a day there just seeing the sights. Peter
Posted by
143 posts
We stayed in an apartment in Amboise in 2022 just next to the Amboise Chateau. Karine was a wonderful host - I think I found it originally in the RS France/Loire book. They have a few different units, we stayed in the top floor as we needed 3 bedrooms. It is centrally located, and there is street parking but no dedicated off-street parking. Very good location for the east side of the Loire for visiting Chenonceau, Blois, and Chambord by car or train.
Posted by
PA, USA
86 posts
We can highly recommend a B&B nar Azay sur Indre (not to be confused with the chateau at Azay le Rideau) called La bihourderie. It's in the country just a few hundred feet from a main north-south road, and in the other direction a mile or so to the more scenic route that runs along the Indre river. Hosts speak English and French, rooms are comfortable and clean and pretty, breakfast is an opportunity to talk to other guests, the hosts are warm and friendly and know a lot about the area.
Nearby is the beautiful garden village of Chedigny, which is not to be missed during the growing season. In May it is spectacular, full of roses and wisteria and other perennials in bloom. The village has a Jardin de Cure behind the church (small entry fee) with a tearoom.
A little farther away is the town of Loches, which has a very interesting historic center and is overall a very nice small town. It's , particularly lively on market days. And a little farther along is one of France's 180 or so Plus Beaux Villages: Montresor. This village is small but beautiful.
La Bihourderie isn't smack dab next to the most famous chateaux, but we found it convenient for visits to the chateaux of Villandry, Chenonceaux, L'Islette, and Azay le Rideau over a two-day period.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
thanks for all your information.