Loire Valley

Denise - You say you want to do a day tour. Is that including picking up a rental car in Paris? If so, I think Tours and Saumur are too far away. I would look around Amboise - Chenonceau is great.

Please don't let me discourage you because others here may have better suggestions. But as a day trip I think you'd be better off with a tour. Renting a car in Paris takes a while and then you have to drive out. You could take a train out to the Loire and rent there but it takes longer to rent a car in France than it does in the US. So your time for getting out to the chateaux and any wine tasting is going to be limited in a day.

We were going to rent the car the morning of in Paris as there is a Hertz location near our hotel. I know the driving time per mappy.com is about 2.5 hrs to Tours. So, I should take the train down? Would we waste a lot of time waiting for trains to take us from, say, Tours to Saumur? As for a tour, could I join one IN Paris to the Loire or would I have to pick it up in the Loire Valley itself? Thank you so much for your advice.

We spent 3 days to do what you have suggested. We saw lots of tour buses at the castles. I guess they were from Paris. It seems like this would be easier.

I think we're narrowing it down to picking up our rental car the evening before. Then being near Tours by 10am the next day, seeing Chenonceau & vising one or 2 wineries in the area. This seem reasonable?

Oh, Denise. We're going to micromanage your trip here. Sorry if these comments are at all discouraging. If you rent the car in Paris the night before, of course you'll need a place to park it. And then leaving Paris itself is a challenge - not insurmountable but still an adventure of its own.

Tours is aways from Chenonceau. Aiming towards Blois would be better. Chambord is near there as well.

Regardless of my advice and any more that you read here,have your own adventure. As you consider responses you receive here, please ask more questions.

Two questions for you:

Where are you staying in Paris? That helps in advising you about driving a rental car out.

What Loire wine do you like? That helps suggesting where you might go.

I second what others have written, a day trip to the Loire, especially from Paris, really isn't feasible if you want to see anything, especially during the summer in peak tourist season. I stayed three nights in Amboise in early May(coming from Dijon, so really only two full days), and this was hardly enough time to see four chateaux at a comfortable pace. My advice? The car option is a good idea, but I would stay at least two nights in the region, giving you one full day, and pick one or two castles.

As for wine, along the south bank of the river, there are several delightful wine caves where you can sample and chat with the friendly owners (most don't speak English, though). Driving from one castel to another, you could easily stop and have a taste or two.

Hi Denise, I echo the what others have said. I'm a big supporter of renting a car in Europe for the flexibility as I've done it many times now. The only exception for me is Paris and London because of the parking situation and the time wasted driving in/out of such LARGE city centres. I took a Loire Valley castles/wine tasting day tour through Paris Vision in 2004. I'm sure you can look up their website. Their office is on Rue de Rivoli right outside the Jardin de Tuileries by the Louvre. It was quite expensive, but worth the stress free aspect of not driving. The tour I took was to Amboise, Chenonceau for lunch, and a winery for a tasting.

I'm assuming you decided to go with the rental car.

Look at the Logis de France website (www.logis-de-france.fr). It's an association of affordable small inns throughout France. They have many members in the Loire.

Have a great trip!

Ok, I really, really appreciate this advice. :) Now, can anyone recommend a good, inexpensive place to stay in the Loire Valley somewhere between Blois & Tours?

Denise,

Amboise is a nice small town and centrally located for many of the chatueax. We stayed at a great B&B in Poce sur Cisse, just across the river. Sylvie & Thierry were so friedly and did our laundry. I don't know if they are still in business, but their address was: info@amboise-closdesvignes.com

Thank you!

Hotel Le Blason is very friendly, reasonably priced, and centrally located. An added advantage is ample parking if you drive.

http://www.leblason.fr

Can't advise on Tours but Blois is a nice town and Ambois as well. These towns are good bases from which to visit, IMO, the best chateaux: Chenonceau, Chambord, and Cheverny. Two of the three can be seen in one day easily. You mentioned that your hotel in Paris was near a Hertz rental. I suppose that there are several Hertz locations but if it is the one located at Gare Nord, it is very, very easy to drive out of Paris. That being said, I have to add that it was a Sunday when we drove out--two right turns out of Hertz and you are on a major street/avenue. Drive just a few miles and you arrive at the Peripherique just passing the markets at Clignancourt--left on the Periph and you are on your way out of Paris.

Our hotel is in La Defense, actually, right off the peripherique, so I figured it would be easy to head out of town from there. If we were to get our car the evening before, the parking at the hotel would be 20 euros, but we could swing that for the one night we'd park it there. Chenonceaux & Chambord are must-sees for me, so nice to know that we could do both in a day. We want to hit a few wineries, too, so will try to book a room for one night to accomodate all this.

Just back from Loire last wk, for what you wish I would schedule a bus tour from Paris.

But I wonder if the bus tour would hit a winery or two as well as chateaux. Do you know, JS? Thank you for the tip.