I am going to be on the Loire to the South of France tour beginning 5 May. I will be arriving in Chartres on 1 May, and have been exploring sightseeing opportunities. Maintenon, Rambouillet, and LeMans look to be easily accessible from Chartres by train, and I was hoping to explore them on successive days. Is it best to buy the individual tickets each day or is there some sort of multi-day ticket or pass?
Posted by
Green Bay
20090 posts
They are TER's so its pretty inexpensive to just buy tickets.
Posted by
USA
383 posts
You might also want to make tentative plans for Monday afternoon on the first full day of the tour to take the train to a larger town. We did this tour a few years ago (great tour BTW) and after the Cathedral tour in the morning we were on our own by lunchtime. Just about the entire town of Chartres is shut down on Monday, as in many small French towns. You can walk around the pedestrian only area and look at the windows but just about every shop was closed, even many restaurants. I think the tour starts on Sunday evening because they want to be in Sarlat on market day.
Posted by
Birmingham, AL, USA
222 posts
I agree with the above comment. We also did this tour a few years ago and loved it! We arrived on Saturday evening and found that most shops and restaurants are also closed on Sunday. We wandered around town and happened upon a wonderful one day Medieval fair taking place in the old town. Our friends (who joined us for the second tour) found a WWII day event going on two weeks later on Sunday in Chartres. My advice would be to check for special events around Chartres planned for while you are there. We joined the Eastern France tour after completing the Loire tour. A month in France was wonderful! Enjoy!!
Posted by
Brussels, Belgium
71 posts
I see you will arrive on May 1, which is the equivalent of Labour Day in France (and most of Europe), and one of the few days (together wit Jan 1 and Christmas day) when a lot of places/monuments are closed. I quickly checked the castle of Rambouillet and it is indeed closed on May 1. Better double-check for the places you intend to visit, to avoid surprises.
Posted by
OP
St. Louis, Missouri
37 posts
Thank you for your replies. May 1 is actually a travel day from Amsterdam, so I’m just planning on getting to Chartres that day. Will the holiday affect my train travel to Chartres?