Stay in Tours or Amboise without a car?

I've done two one week Loire trips in the past 3 years. If you are able-bodied, Amboise is a perfectly fine base for seeing various chateaux. It's about a half mile walk to the train station from the center, rather pleasant walk on pretty bridges across the river.

Amboise is a charming town, more to it than the touristy core, which, to be fair, is very nice.

Tours is a small city. I stayed a couple nights there a few years back and didn't particularly like it. But I think it just hit me wrong - lots of pee smell, drew bad luck on rude people, picked a noisy and not friendly hotel. Many people like Tours, and I probably would too if it hadn't been rolling snake eyes a couple times in a row.

You can easily get where you want to get from Tours as well. It would probably be easier to connect to chateaux to the west and well as east.

If you are game, the rental e-bike ride (or regular bike) from Amboise to Chenonceau is superb. Beautiful! Various scenery and a wonderful way to get to and see the chateau. I ride bikes all over Europe like a crazy person, and I have done the Amboise Chenonceau Amboise ride three times.

Anyway, my strong preference is a rental apartment in pretty, relaxing Amboise. You just need to a lot 20 minute walk to and from the train station if that's your mode of transit (less if you stay on the island in the middle of the river).

Month of the year?

I do not particularly like renting cars in Europe, but there are some locations (Tuscany, for example) that reward having a car. I feel that the Loire is another such location. You don't mention "a bike", but the first reply does. You cannot see Chateaux west of Tours with a bike from Amboise (opinion, not fact.) I might say that Chateaux parking lots usually overflow onto the meadows across the road, in the summer. BTW, note that many French car rental offices close for scheduled, two-hour meal breaks.

I see Tours as a dividing point, as well as a train terminus. (Note that St. Pierre des Corps is at least as important a train station.) We made the rash (but not regretted) decision to sleep in Chinon, and not see the famous Chateaux east of Tours. I'm not defending that, we were just oriented to leaving for Brittany and Normandy (by car) after three nights. Our priority was Villandry and Azay, but we saw plenty of nice places without the driving time to the west. (Opinion.)

We love visiting the major cities of Europe without a car. But Tours is not a major city of France.

Without a car, you are probably better off staying in Tours, from where you will be able to sign up for any number of mini-bus tours taking you to various chateaus.

If you want to spend some time figuring out local transport options, you could stay in Amboise and make it to Chenonceau, but other options would probably be a little trickier.

Tim - we will be there in September.
Hank - it will probably still be biking weather but neither of us have been on regular bikes in a while, let alone ebikes, but we are fit and able to do it. It may even be a fun way to get to the chateaux. Are there dedicated bike lanes and how is the terrain, hilly?

Hank - I forgot to ask - which part of Tours did you stay in for that not so great experience? Thanks!

Without a car, and with a few days, Tours offers more for tourism than does Amboise, but only for those staying in the general vicinity of Place Plumereau, the train station, and the cathedral. Areas north of the Loire or south of the city center are not terribly compelling areas for tourists. This suggested area has many shops, restaurants, cafés, and is within easy walking distance of Tours Centre (the train station). Across the street from the train station is the Office de Tourisme from where minibus tours depart, providing access to almost all the region's important châteaux.

Tours is the geographical center of what many people come to see and to visit. As the region's transportation hub, there are numerous travel options, in addition to those offered at the Office de Tourisme. Train service is available to Blois, Amboise, and Chenenceaux.

Helen I wouldn't shy away from Tours because I had a bad stay. But we stayed at Hotel.du Manoir, to which I would return.

Cycling there are some hills to Chenonceau. Not huge but ebike if you don't ride a lot. Roads are small and safe, bikes on them all the time. This is the standard route:

https://www.outdooractive.com/mobile/en/route/bike-riding/indre-et-loire/amboise-to-chateau-chenonceau-loop-ride/22732424/

If you look at the map, you'll see the river Cher, which Chenonceau spans, basically meets the Loire river at Tours. It's easy also to rent a bike in Tours and ride the mostly flat cycle paths along the Cher to Chenonceau.

But of course cycling isn't for everyone! By train from Amboise Chenonceau is about 1h10m departing hourly, one change St. Pierre des Corps. From Tours 30-40 minutes.

Or day tour by mini bus as suggest above. There are many from Tours, and also plenty departing from Amboise.

If you rent a car everything is easy from either place.

I think your choice between Amboise and Tours comes down to what you value more - Tours is a bit more convenient and a city; Amboise is a beautiful town and will take a bit more daily transit time. For me personally the bit of extra time is worth how relaxing and beautiful Amboise is. If you have a long check list Chateaux etc then Tours will be more convenient. Neither will disappoint I'm sure :)

I haven’t been in Tours, but I can say Amboise is a very small, though nice town. As a base, where you’re spending a few hours within the day/evening there it’s great, but it might feel limiting if you’re there a lot over five days. Tours feels like you’ll have more options if nothing else.

Having a car around here is almost essential in my eyes. I’m sure you can arrange some sightseeing tours, but those will also come with the own expense and hassle. I understand all the reasons to not rent, but you may find the limitations around your sightseeing to affect your enjoyment and efficiency. I mean, it already is because it’s determining where you can stay. It might be worth revisiting the topic.

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice. After much thought and weighing all the pros and cons, we've decided to stay in Tours for the convenience of it being a transportation hub. We found an AirBnB near Plumereau Square in the old town about 15 minutes from the train station.

We will definitely visit Amboise on a day trip to see its chateau and its Friday market.

Thank you Hank for the helpful link to the circular bike route, it is very tempting :)

On your day trip to Amboise include Leonardo da Vinci's home Clos du Luce and gardens as well as the Amboise Chateau Royal. Both are well worth it. There are several good restaurant choices in Amboise also. It will be a nice day trip!

If you are looking for an easy chateau visit from Tours jump on the train to Langeias. Beautiful chateau, interesting interior and also interesting grounds with the remnants of a very old donjon.

We did 4 days in Tours a few weeks ago. The old town was quite charming, rented an Airbnb close to place plumerau. Otherwise a big city…and not remarkable. We walked to train station every day about a 10 minute walk.

We took train to Chenonceau one day.
Next day took train to Amboise….we loved this town, and questioned why we didn’t stay there!

The next day we took a 4 chateau tour from Touraine Evasion. Basically they just drop you off, and you do them on your own. they also run these out of Amboise…but it was a great way to see all the chateaux with no car.

Absolute favorite chateau was Villandry and it’s gardens.

Next day took train to Amboise….we loved this town, and questioned why
we didn’t stay there!

It is a sweet little spot, big enough to range around a bit by foot over several days, but also quaint and little. The area where there are houses built into the sides of the cliff is pretty cool to see, as is the quiet neighborhood at the top of that hill if you walk up the stairs. It's also very close to the mini chateau park, fun to see all the chateau in miniature if you have some time.

Also a nice morning walk around the river island on a quiet morning, nice park path much of the way.

kkmintz - I'm expecting to love Amboise as well, but I'm not regretting the decision to stay in Tours! Villandry is on our list of chateaux. My friend used to work at a National Trust garden in Wales and loves gardens. Do you have any recommendations for restaurants, cafes or bakeries in Tours?

Hank - I looked up those cave homes (called troglodytes) and even found one for rent called Chez Hélène! It looks amazing but probably très chèr!

organizer8 - we will not miss Clos Lucé!

In Tours we had a nice meal at Le Chien Fou in the old town. We tried the bone marrow appetizer…which tasted like fat you cut off a steak, lol, but the meal was good.
Had drinks and a planchette at Le vieux murier in place plumerau and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere.
We also had drinks and a huge planchette at Strapontin cafe, which again we really enjoyed. They had live music.
My favorite meal was at le comptoir de mamie bigoude. Had lunch galettes and then the most delicious dessert galette. And the place was decorated so fun.

We stopped at Aux Delices des beaux arts bakery a couple times for treats. Very good.

The only bad meal we had was at les relais d’alsace brasserie, and that was on us for not making a reservation anywhere on a very busy night in Tours. But it was terrible.

Thank you kkmintz for all your recommendations! Good to know there are some good dining options in Tours. Looking forward to the trip :)

Helen,

We enjoyed Le Bistrio (NOT a misspelling) in Tours.

https://www.thefork.com/restaurant/le-bistrio-r723796

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187130-d10825019-Reviews-Le_Bistrio-Tours_Indre_et_Loire_Centre_Val_de_Loire.html

Hello Fred from Seattle - I'm in Vancouver. We're finally getting a good downpour today which should help with the wildfires burning all over BC. Thank you for your recommendation. If I'm not mistaken, it's close to the SNCF station, handy location for a meal upon returning from seeing all the chateaux.

kkmintz - I forgot to comment on the bone marrow. I happen to love marrow but my friend is vegetarian and would probably be disgusted. I'll have to sneak away for a solo meal and savour every bite!