Loire Valley exploring

La Roserie Hotel in Chenonceaux is lovely and the restaurant serves excellent food. If you stay there, you can walk to the Chenonceau Chateau. The town is about twenty miles from Amboise, where you can visit Leonardo's last home. Chenonceau is a very small town, so it is easy to drive from there to visit other chateau. Chinon and Loches are also interesting towns to visit with nicely ruined castles (not the restored types.) If you are driving to the Loire Valley via Chartres, stop at Lavardin which is a small village caught in a town warp. Also, if the chateau intrigue you, get a copy of Ina Caro's book called The Road from the Past.

A superb hotel in Amboise is the Manoir les Minimes. Don't miss Chenonceaux, Chinon, and Leonardo Da Vinci's home in Amboise itself. A nice winery to visit is the Marc Bredif in nearby Rochecorbon.

www.manoirlesminimes.com

Thank you both for your input. After posting, I realized most folks gave a better description of their vacation. We will be traveling in the Loire Valley for 4 days by car giving us access to the more remote locations. We do enjoy the smaller quieter villages. Thanks again for your comments.

David:

Here is another vote for La Rosearie in Chenonceaux. The innkeepers are very nice and the food is outstanding.

Plus, you get to stroll to the Chenonceau chateau first thing in the morning before the tour buses arrive.

Chenonceaux is indeed small but nearby Montrichard is a cute viilage with everything you'll need to assemble a picnic, etc. Have fun.

Another endorsement for La Roserie Hotel in Chenonceaux. Friendly couple who run the place and if you go there be sure to eat in their restaurant. The food is excellent but you would want to be sure to make a reservation because they usually fill up quickly with their limited seating. Best food we had in France in 2009. The castle is close enough to walk to and they( La Roserie) offer free parking as well.

David, my favorite chateaux were Chenonceau and Villandry.

I agree with Grier, my favorite chateau of all is Chenonceau.

I'd also recommend seeing Da Vinci's home in Amboise (Clos de Luce?). It was fascinating.

We stayed in Ambois at a GREAT hotel. Right under the castle. The web site shows the rooms. Not sure what you plan to spend. Hotel Le Manior Les Minimes. Our two favorite chateau de chenoceau and villandry. Both easy visit from Ambois.

Totally agree with Chenonceau and Villandry...may I add a third? We loved Cheverny - descendants of the original owners still live there, and it's reflected in the furnishings. They also maintain a group of foxhounds (~80) and the daily feeding is something to see! Finally, they offer a slow, quiet boat ride through a canal on the property. Just a wonderfully relaxed afternoon.

We stayed at Chateau de Pray in 2006 - about 3 miles outside Amboise. Recommended in Rick's book, we stayed there 2 nights for the dining room (ate there once - spent the next night in Amboise in a forgettable restaurant but watched the Rugby World Cup from the sidewalk of a local cafe w/ the locals and a couple of beers), best meal we had in France..... pricey, but much less than you would pay in Paris for a similarly elegant meal.

We arrived in St. Pierre des Corps via TGV from Gare Montparnasse near noon, took about 45 minutes to get to Amboise (after getting lost), checked in, visited Amboise and Clos de Luce in Amboise. Next day, Chennonceau and Cheverny with lunch in Cheverny and visited Chambord the following day on our drive to Beaune.......

Would recommend the Chateau de Pray, but word has it that the chef has left, when we stayed, the chef was the proprieter of the Chateau. Double check the reviews on TripAdvisor..........

The Chateau itself is 16th Century, yet fully modern bathrooms, marble, large tubs (no shower) - luxurious. They have a beautiful terrace garden in back of the Chateau (AND a swimming pool on a lower terrace!) where we went each day to enjoy a bottle of wine, bread and cheese we had purchased on the way back from Chateau-hopping - we would download our photos into my laptop, I'd put together a slideshow of the day's photos and we'd unwind before dinner over the wine/cheese.

Shopping in the local stores was also fun - NO TOURISTS were there (in October) so when we selected cheese/charcuterie we were attentively waited on by the butcher despite our pidgen French - since we were the only non-French in the store - in October, Americans in his shop amused him......., check-out was also entertaining - they actually complimented us on our French!

Again, the dining room at Chateau de Pray was the best meal I've ever had in France, not cheap, but I've heard the chef has since left...............

We very much enjoyed staying at the Auberge de Launay, a small hotel/gite across the river from Amboise. Lovely young couple with high-end hotel experience and training. We chose the meal plan that included dinner..multi-course, beautifully presented in their small garden, cont'l breakfast in a conservatory. Great value for the money and relished after a long day of touring. We made all our plans with them directly through email. Not in a town or village, so easy car travel in and out without negotiating city traffic. Short distances made it easy to see a lot each day with the car, and the central location made it easy to cover the area. We TGV'd from Paris to Tours/St Pierre des Corps, grabbed an Avis rental there and were set up within the hour. Along with the big 3 C's (Chambord, Chen', and Cheverny), we also liked Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry.
Driving around the area is easy, a good map helps plan stops as well as drive-by photo shoots(e.g., Usse). We also got to Valencay as we had some extra time, but would not rank it as highly as others. Our stay at this hotel and the ease with which we saw the area ranked it as probably the highlight of our 3 weeks in France. Have a great time.

We've stayed on 2 separate occasions at a very nice B&B (it was a Karen Brown recommendation) in the village of Onzain, which is on the north side of the river, right across from Chaumont, and about half-way between Ambois & Blois. The big advantage is that there is a bridge across the Loire from Ozain to Chaumont, so you have access to both sides of the river with a fraction of the traffic you'd experience in either Amboise or Blois. There isn't much in Onzain, but there is a supermarche with a gasoline/diesel and it's convenient for picking up picnic supplies. There are several restaurants in Chaumont & if you are there in September, there's a very interesting Garden Exhibition at the chateau. We found this location very convenient for visiting the various chateaux. It's been 10 years since we stayed there, so I'm not sure the B&B is even there anymore, but if you send me a private email, I'll be happy to give you the particulars.