This coming March I will be in Tours to do the rounds of the Loire Valley Chateaux. As presently planned, I fly into Tours on 03/10, and can stay until 03/16 (when I would leave for Paris). That's 5 full days. I'm not going to rush from one site to another, I like to take my time. I'm 67, but no mobility issues. I will not have a car, but am not adverse to renting bicycles (or scooters?) to get around for short distances locally. My question is, how many days do I really need to see the major tourist chateaux, and maybe a couple of extras? I certainly don't mind staying the whole five days, but is that too much? Is there somewhere else not too far away that would be a better use of, say 2 days? If I can fill up four days, with one extra, that would be about perfect. I'm just concerned that I will "run out" of places I want to see (or can easily reach). I prefer to be on my own rather than a tour group, but for places that can't easily be accessed unless you have a car, I will make exceptions. I realize this is kind of a open-ended question, and I haven't really sat down to plan out the details of my time in the valley, but any advice from people who have been there would be appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
6908 posts
Without knowing how many chateaux you want to visit, and where they are located, plus any other sites you want to visit; and without knowing how you will get to all these places without a car or a tour, it's impossible to say how many days you will need. Start with figuring out what you want to see. Then figure out how you can get from place to place by researching distances and public transportation. Unless you are very experienced with scooters, I'd be quite cautious about riding them on some of the roads, which can be quite often winding and narrow, and without paved shoulders. But there are a fairly large numbers of chateaux within a 50 km radius of Tours.
We spent 4 nights (3 full days) in the Loire and ran out of time before seeing even half of what we wanted. And we had a car and visited 3 chateaux each day. But i highly doubt you could manage that with public transportation or a bike.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
698 posts
I'm 67, but no mobility issues. I will not have a car, but am not adverse to renting bicycles (or scooters?) to get around for short distances locally.
Short distances. Not sure what you mean by short distances … or whether e-bikes to extend your range is something that you have considered; you do mention scooters.
My suggestion may well be more than you have considered, though I will make it anyway. Look at the possibilities of a cycling tour. There will be both guided and “self guided” options. 12 miles or a one hour e-bike ride from your hotel to a chateau, along pretty flat bike trails or farm roads, may be in your range. A couple of hours at a chateau and then another hour or hour and a half ride to the next hotel - with your luggage being transferred separately - is possible.
If this is of potential interest for consideration, start with a look at https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/. There you will find tours in the Loire Valley from about a half dozen operators ranging from two or three days to a week or longer. We used one of those, Velo Voyageur (link), for a 8 night self-guided tour in 2023. We started an Blois and spent a night there and then in Amboise (2), Tours, Azay le Rideau, Chinon and Saumur; we visited many chateaux: Chaumont. Chenonceau, Amboise, Clos Luce, Villandry, Usse and the fortress at Chinon. We also enjoyed one winery visit near Vouvray, had time to explore Tours, and we took a side trip to Fontevraud l’Abbaye so I could pay my respects to Ailenor of Acquitane. (We skipped entering chateaux at Blois, Azay Le Rideau and Saumur.)
Other popular vendors are Discover France and Backroads, though we’ve not used either. I believe both of those tend to provide guided, rather than self-guided tours. Maybe you’ll be more comfortable with a guided tour if you’re traveling solo, though guided tours tend to be twice the price of self-guided. One advantage of self-guided is that the operator can match your precise schedule, which seems locked in for you.
We did our first bike tour - guided - in 2018 in Croatia (with Meriden Ten, based in Split). Since then, we’ve done self-guided in France (2023 - Dordogne and Loire, one week each), Puglia (2024, one week) and SW Germany & Eastern France (2025, Mosel R. in Germany for a week, Alsace 4 cycling days, and Burgundy 3 cycling days.) We started these travels in 2018, just about at your present age.