Hi, we are traveling to France for a week in September, and will be based in the Paris area but want to do a day trip to the Loire Valley Chateaus. We know we want a car to travel between Chateaus (not a minivan tour service) because we want to be in control of our own time at each location. We are debating between taking a train to Tours or Amboise and renting a car there for the day, or renting a car in Paris, but are nervous about parkin/driving in the city, and were thinking of taking a train to ORY airport and renting from there since it's at least in the right direction. We're looking for advice on any of those 3 options! Thank you!
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8813 posts
The easiest option, imo, would be to take the train to Tours and rent a car there. You will have a decent selection of rental cars and it's an easy drive to the Loire Valley from there.
FWIW, I don't even think you can rent a car in Amboise. You could pick it up at Orly, but unless you really want to drive there, I'd be getting as close as possible with the train, then picking up the car in Tours, a bit refreshed from your train ride. And I think that would probably be the quickest way of getting there.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
4142 posts
Do you mean to take the train to the Tours station or the St Pierre des Corps station? I suggest going to the latter and getting the car there.
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2142 posts
It was a few years ago but we took the train from Paris to St Pierre des Corps, the high speed train spur station for Tours and that’s where we picked up the car. There were several agencies to choose from. I don’t recall where we picked up the train in Paris but it was the high speed or TGV so that may narrow it down. It’s a small station and accessing the highway to the chateaux was very easy. Also check on hours for pick up and drop off…we dropped off in SPdC on a weekend and put the car in a garage and the keys in the rental office mailbox and it all worked like a charm. PS this region is beautiful, the driving was very easy along well marked roads and the chateaux are fabulous…sure you don’t want to make it 2 days? One of our best experiences ever and we spent 4 days. Just sayin’. Safe travels
EDIT. We had a larger choice, I know we rented from Avis. Now it appears perhaps Sixt is the only option and is more expensive than our rental pre Covid and several years ago. Good luck.
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2816 posts
My view is that the Loire Valley is too far for a day trip. However, what I would recommend to someone insisting upon making it a day trip, would be to take the early TGV from Gare Montparnasse to Tours Centre (not St Pierres des Corps). Walk across the street to the Office de Tourisme and arrange for a minibus tour. You´re not going to have much time to be in control of and be able to see a few châteaux if you are only in the Loire Valley for the day. The minibus tours do the job nicely, particularly for those who have never visited the Loire Valley previously.
You could take an early morning TGV to St Pierre des Corps and rent a car from there, but you would need to be very well organized with a very definite plan. For example, I would strongly advise you be at Château Chenonceau before it opens. The crowds there can be intense, even in September. Once the tour buses arrive, it can be wall to wall people.
Check train schedules here:
Once you do that, you might realize how impractical taking the train to Amboise really would be.