Chinon, Amboise, and Monte St. Michel

Oops on the Monte St. Michel part....nix that.

In Amboise: Chateau du Clos-Luce/Leonardo da Vinci Park, Chateau d'Amboise

Near Amboise (car is better for these): Chenonceau, Chaumont, Cheverny, Chambord

In Chinon: Chateau de Chinon

Near Chinon (car is better for these): Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau

Our absolute must see in Amboise was Le Clos Luce & its surrounding gardens--Leonardo da Vinci's last home, AND they've built several of his inventions and placed them around the gardens, you can even go inside some of them. It's right in the town--we walked from our hotel, and spent at least 3 hours there--one of the highlights of our trip to France.

We found Amboise itself to be much more touristy than we expected. That said, our other favorite site in that region was Chenonceau, in which we also spent 3 hours.

I think you could see Le Clos Luce and Chenonceau in one day, but you'd have to plan your time well--get to one or the other early.

We went to Vouvray and the Rhone Wine road rather than Chinon because of the distance, so can't comment on Chinon.

Bon journee!

Kristina & Ashley,

I was at all of those locations in June and Kent's suggestions for each one are spot-on.

The Chateau de Chinon is under renovation at the moment, but still open for visitors. It would be a good idea to pack along a copy of the France Guidebook, as it's a good source of reference during travel.

Happy travels!

We just returned from Amboise and saw all of the sites Kent listed over a 3 day period. You'll be exhausted trying to do that all in one day. For what it's worth my recommendation is to do one of the following...

1. Drive to Cheverny, get there when it opens. This was my favorite chateau for it's interior decoration, just beautiful. Then drive out to Chenonceaux, the drive between the two castles is beautiful and very typical of the countryside in that area. Take the afternoon to explore the route touristique des vignobles between Chenonceaux and Vouvray, stopping to do some tasting along the way. We loved the chilled Vouvray petillant demi-sec.

OR

1. Not sure what day you're there, but on Sunday mornings there's a great street market in Amboise along the quai and I think it's there Fridays too. Amble through the market, great place to pick up some picnic supplies. Tour the Chateau d'Amboise. (I would skip Clos Luce if your time is limited, I didn't find it that worthwhile, just reproductions of things I've seen in other museums for a too steep entry price in my opinion.) Spend the afternoon driving the wine route, or just wandering through Amboise. It's really a lovely, picturesque town.

Overall, my recommendation is to make sure you spend some time just relaxing in this area and absorbing the beauty and culture. It's such a great area. We especially loved Rick's recommended restaurant L'Amboiserie for dinner -- great, reasonably priced big salads and the terrace is just a perfect dining experience. The cave under the Chateau d'Amboise is also a great place to sample some wine and cheese, you can buy a package of 3 very good bottles of wine of your choosing for 15 euro. I enclosed it in an oversized ziploc bag, padded it well with dirty clothes, and it made all the way home with me. :)

We recently returned from a trip that included the Loire. We stayed in Amboise. The first full day we saw Chenonceau (the favorite for everyone in my family), and the chateau right in Amboise, and the Leonardo da Vinci house. The second day we saw Chamont, Chambord and Ceverny. Both days were fun but full. Be sure to account for the time it takes to get from one to another. We took a couple of wrong turns along the way!