Planning a trip to Paris and Loire Valley for 9 days

With 3 of 9 days in the Loire, I would add no more than one other destination to your itinerary. Normandy is the most logistically congruent, with Burgundy a close second. Both are great choices, very different, and should be lovely this time of year. To get to Paris from either, return the car the night before and take the train. (Normandy is a little closer to the Loire while Burgundy has the better train connection to Paris.) Have a great trip!

You will only have 6 nights left after the Loire, that's 5 days - I would spend that time in Paris. Even 5 days isn't very long for Paris. For what exactly to do in Paris, RS Paris guide would be helpful. After the top sites, my favorite things to do in Paris are walking, sitting in cafes, and spending time in the Luxembourg Gardens.

I am also going to contradict Adam and suggest that, given travel time, etc., you spend time in the Loire and then in Paris, and skip Normandy this time. There is just so MUCH to do in Paris, and you will already have had a countryside "fix." The drive fro Paris to Tours (just as a point of reference, as it is smack dab in the center of the Loire) is only about 3 hours. On the way, you could detour to Chartes... probably my favorite cathedral in Europe. (Although the competition is stiff!) That would be a great place to break up the trip, tour the cathedral, and have lunch. From the perspective of driving, Chambord and Blois are both on the way to Tours, so you might skip Chartres and see the chateaux in Blois and Chambord on the way to Tours (again, as a theoretical place to get a hotel). There is a circular staircase at Blois that will blow your mind - and Chambord looks like something out of a fairy tale or the "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry." FANTASTIC. The town of Vouvray is about halfway between Tours and Amboise, and is in the hot center of a bunch of vineyards - might also be a nice place to stay. Well.... I could ramble endlessly. You will LOVE the Loire Valley. And I do think Paris deserves the rest of your time. Nothing against Normandy - but I think with 9 days (inclusive of travel time?) it might be too much. Just my two cents'!

What Susan and Kira said! Stick with the Loire Valley and Paris. Factor in the driving time of 6 + hours between Paris/Tours. This shows how adding another destination will eat up your available and valuable trip time. Just a heads up. September is a very popular travel time in Europe. It is still high season. Best to book your hotels soon. These are fabulous destinations and you will have a wonderful time! Bobbie

I agree with the other posters about devoting your time to Paris and the Loire. We did a similar trip last year.
We stayed in Amboise, a lovely little town. Don' t miss Chenoceaux, it is beautiful. Hope you have a wonderful time.

Thank you so much for such great feedback! Kira: I wrote down your suggestions... we were planning on staying in Tours since it's so central... Most Chateau's/Hotels I looked into were already booked so late in the game... I have reservation at Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, hope it's nice! Has anyone ever used a chauffeur service? I didn't know if having our personal guide would be a good idea (we're 4 adults). If not will look into renting a car from Paris airport. Any notable Restaurants recommendations? THANK YOU!

i just got back from france last night and i tried to post my itinerary but it keeps saying error. i wouldn't stay at tours, in fact i drove through it a couple times, and hated it, it was the only city in loire valley that just doesn't represent it's beautiful-ness. I stayed at Onzain, it was also quite central, I stayed at this chateau called Hotel Chateau des Tertres. i will try posting my itinerary again

i will share my itinerary cut out what you want: i will suggest cutting out my day5 in paris and there u go, 9 days in paris and loire valley paris: - get the paris museum pass at CDG, i didn't wait inline anywhere except for the notre dame. - buy your eiffel tower ticket ONLINE - we got 2 carnets and that was more than enough for our paris needs - RER C line is super confusing at first, so if you have never been to paris before, beware and try to pay more attention to the monitors and destinations we stayed at arrondissements 7 below all are in order day 1: paris (Montmartre, then bought the river batoubus day pass instead of river tours) day 2: paris (louvre, champ elysees, arc of triumph, eiffel tower and stuff around it, museum d'orsay) day 3: versailles (morning and early aftetnoon) & paris (museum de l'armee, les invalides, museum rodin, museum orangerie, eglise de la madeleine, opera, gallerie lafayette, place vendome) day 4: paris (notre dame, jewish deportation memorial, ile sainte-louis, latin quarter, conciergerie, palace of justice, luxembourg garden, and shopping areas around on the walk back to our hotel by les invalides)
day 5: paris (museum of decrotives, royal garden, les halles, pompidou)

day 6: Rouen (joan of arc, cathedral, clock), then rented a car, drove to Bayeux (british cemetery, tapestry, cathedral, dday museum, walked all over bayeux) day 7: arromanches, gold beach, german gun, american cemetary, omaha beach, pointe du hoc, utah beach, some beach side town don't remember had a picnic on the beach, then german cemetery, arrived at mont saint michel at 4:30pm walked all over mont saint michel and visited the night tour day 8: drove to Fougeres, drove to Onzain where out hotel is, visited chateaux of Chaumont sur Loire, and valencay day 9: chateaux Chenonceau, chateaux chambord, chateaux cheverny, visited blois and it's chateaux
day 10: chateaux villandry, chateaux langeais, chateaux Ussé, then visited amboise and it's chateaux.

conclusion: - get the paris museum pass - get the carnet - buy ur train tickets 3 months in advance if everything is locked, way cheaper than rail passes, and your tgv seats are reserved. - driving is a breeze, barely any cars on the road, but beware that people will just pull out in front of you or change lanes and expect you to give them the right of way. bring a gps, i have no idea how i would navigate without one. get one that warn you about the speed cameras. - try your best to speak some french (where is... i have a reservation for tonight, hello, thank you, good bye, i would like...) they will upgrade you to a larger room or better view room without asking, and they will be so much nicer and helpful.
- stop worrying about your american credit card, my visa was accepted everywhere, even the toll roads. the only place rejected my card was at the shop of chateaux villandry, but i also brought 650 euros in cash, largest note 50. hope this helps and not too long...

background of me and my fiancee: we are young in our late 20s and early 30s we only have 1 bag each we love walking, so we walked alot, by alot i meant really alot, meaning majority of paris sites we walked, the only time we took a metro was first in the morning and don't feel like walking back to the hotel or next destination is over 1.3 miles away. more tips: - bring sun screen, you can't find sun screen in france anywhere, if you do find sun screens, they are over 15 euros each
- bring some blister prevention stuff, sholls stuff is super expensive in france so you may not be able to do as much, but with my itinerary, it's easy to cut out stuff that doesn't interest you.

one more thing: you can "smell" the pick pockets from feet away.
always beware and hold onto your stuff. during our time in paris, 5 pick pockets have tried and failed. and gypsies all over the pace with their boards, just wave and say no and walk away. also sholved a gypsie guy out of our way. so really always have ur hand on your purse

before you cancel TOURS. We didn't like Tours because we wanted peace and quiet in Loire with simple life, trees and vegetation. Tours was a large city. Onzain was a tiny tiny town. Which translate to, Tours most likely has some nightlife, Onzain definitely does not. We went to bed around 2100-2200 every night and woke up around 0700. So if you want night life, I would re-think your decision.

FRANK: You are my savior!!! Thank you soooo much for sharing your itinerary - it's great! We're in our 30's and seems ideal what you did... I'm canceling my reservation right now at TOURS!!!

We've stayed in Amboise twice and liked it very much. It's charming, has a castle, Leonardo di Vinci's home, restaurants, shops, and most important... bakeries : ) It's very central. I can recommend Le Manoir les Minimes (but it's expensive).