Loire Valley Chateaux

My recommendation would be Chenonceau & Cheverny.

We were there last July and we really enjoyed the above two.

PS we stayed at Chateau des Ormeaux, which was Excellent !!!!!

Tours is as good as any a base for exploring the Loire, and a car makes things much easier.

Chambord is one of the most impressive from the outside, although much of the interior is rather stark.

If you visit Chambord, you may be tempted by the fairy-tale towers of Chaumont along the way. Chaumont's garden is also one of the more impressive in the region.

An interesting mental game you can play- take a picture of Disney World's Cinderella Castle with you. You will notice that the Castle is a direct amalgamation of various pieces of Loire chateaux (and one or two spare cathedral parts).

You asked if Tours is a good base: it's one of several choices but it's the "big city", for something smaller, try Rick's two recommended home bases in his book France 2008: Amboise or Chinon. But fortunately we don't have to slavishly follow everything Rick recommends (sorry Big Guy). But maybe you would like to read his reasons at pages 269-270 of that book.

if you are a Leonardo da Vinci 'fan', visit the Clos-Luce in Amboise. Amboise also has the King's Chateau d'Amboise which is open to the public. In the 'basement' of the Clos-Luce, there is a display of working miniature models based on Leonardo's sketches (war machines, flying machines, etc.). My vote is also for Chenonceau, also mentioned by a previous poster, and for Chambord, the biggest chateau in the valley, with a double spiral staircase said to have been designed by Leonardo. not much furniture in Chambord, though.

If you could only do one I would suggest Chenonceau. Dare I say it - save some time for the gardens. Wherever you stay, you are sure to be in Amboise as it is the center of the area and a pretty town. I forget the name but note that Amboise has an outstanding confectionery store. It is all done in burgundy. You'll see it.

My favorite chateau is Chenonceau and my favorite town to stay in is Amboise. Amboise is small, charming and simple to get in and out of. Whereas Tours is big, and we had a very hard time getting in and out and finding our way around.

We are also visiting this area for 3 days in september, our rooms are already reserved in Amboise. Our first day we plan on visiting the town of Amboise itself along with the Clos Lucé and maybe the parc of mini chateaux. 2nd day we will head to Chenonceau and if we aren't too tired we will visit Cheverny or Chambord. For the third day if we are up to it,we will either head to Blois (the town & chateau)for the day or possibly Villandry or Azay-le-Rideau. I am really looking forward to visiting this region, I've always been fascinated with chateaux.

Just returned from our stay in Amboise. We visited Chenonceau and then drove to the small village of Montresor (rated one of the most beautiful villages in France) which also has a chateau. And the wonderful thing about this little village & chateau is that you get to visit with maybe 5 of your "closest friends" instead of the hordes that are at the most publicized chateaux. We talked to some people that planned to do Chambord, Cheverny, and Chenonceau on the same day, but Chambord was so enormous they barely got to do Cheverny on the same day. Go to Chenonceau when it opens to beat the tour buses and the groups of school kids.

I think majority of those castles were built in the same period of time.( long one I mean)
They kind of have the same arhitectural built, not much furniture of tapestries inside.
I've been to many of them , but the best in my opinion are Amboise, Blois, Chambord.
You can see pictures and details here:
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/guillonniere/loirevalley/

If you are at all interested in the Plantagenet's and Eleanor of Aquitaine I recommend Chinon. It's a ruin, but it's wonderful. Also, you can then visit Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud where Henry and Eleanor and Richard the Lionheart are buried. The village is sweet and the Abbaye restored.

The other Chateaux are great too. This one is just different.

Pam