Friday, March 30, 2012

Best Central Location for Loire Visit

we are traveling to the loire with kids in April.



Hoping to find a nice hotel or b %26amp; b in a central location that makes it a little easier to see the various chateaus. Nothing too far out of the way. I%26#39;m thinking something in town might be better with kids....





We also have to drive back to Paris on a Sunday morning to catch our return flight so we want to select our lodging with that in mind as well.





Thank you!




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Personally I enjoy staying in the center of Tours, it%26#39;s central to all of the châteaux of the valley and there are plenty of restaurants, cafés, museums, and shopping for everyone%26#39;s taste. There are however a number of chambre d%26#39;hote (B%26amp;Bs) in Tours as well as outside of town.





For a complete list of area%26#39;s lodging possibilities, check here:





http://www.ligeris.com/





Sunday is an excellent departure day as the traffic around Paris is minimal (early in the day). Unfortunately you do not mention your CDF (or ORY) departure time but I should think leaving the Loire Valley 5-6 hours before a Sunday departure is sufficient time.




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The chateaux are ranged along and near the Loire for around 100 km (60 miles) east to west. There is nowhere that is central and convenient to all of them. I think you need to read up on the chateaux to decide which of them you really want to see. That in turn will help you decide which town you want to stay in.





I hope your return flight leaves in the afternoon. It would take around 3 hours to drive from Tours to CDG airport.




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Staying in Tours to see the Loire Valley is a good starting point. I stayed in Tours and thought is was quite comfortable starting there each day and heading out to see the sights. But as the other post stated, the time from Tours to CDG may make it difficult to get to CDG in the AM. I suggest staying the night before closer to CDG the night before - less stress that way. The Loire area is great for kids too. Have fun!




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This summer we are heading to France for our third trip and ending in the Loire. We are staying near Blois (Vouray last time) to see Blois, chambord and cheverny. We will head to Paris late in the afternoon of the second to last day and stay at the Sheraton right in Terminal 2. If we leave the loire when the chateau close, we should be at the hotel by 7 or 8. The only difference is that we fly out at 11 am




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As mentioned, you should pick which castles you want to visit %26amp; base from the nearst convenient spot. Tours works for some , Blois (%26amp; even Amboise) works for others. We chose to visit Chateau%26#39;s Chambord , Chaumont , Chenonceaux and Amboise , so we stayed in Amboise. Blois also works for these castle locations %26amp; has its own medieval chateau. Tours is further away from Paris than Blois , if this makes a difference.




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You don%26#39;t mention how long you have to spend in the area. I think Chennonceau is probably a must. The town of Loches is often neglected but is a beautiful fortified town, castle, and church complex which is great to explore. The gardens of Villandry are beautiful but you may need local advice on what they would be like in April as the gardens are the main thing. We saw pretty Azay le Rideau last time and it is rather lovely, surrounded by moat and pool.



nickbooth.id.au/Images/…Azay.jpg and the nearby abbey complex of Fontevraud ia also worth a visit.





We stayed at a lovely B%26amp;B in Chinon which had two bedrooms and a terrace and was quite near the centre of town so good for supplies and also for wandering to the square for a meal. Madame was delightful. Of course Chinon has its own castle looming above the town. It is a bit further on than Tours or Blois.



holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/chinon/33036




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You have a choice between staying in a big town or the countryside. If by chateaux you mean Chenonceaux, Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau etc that means Tours or a small village within 30km (20miles)





Maybe your best resource for the latter is Logis de France http://tinyurl.com/hotels-indre-et-loire which are small, good value hotels, family run, usually in smaller towns and villages.





You don%26#39;t say when your flight departs, but you should leave about 4 hours to drive to CDG (I have never done the trip in less than 3 hours, even at midnight). This would seem to dictate a hotel on the east of Tours unless your kids are REALLY good at stupid o%26#39;clock. Needless to say, the closer you are to the Autoroute, the easier and faster your trip will be - average speed on countryside roads is about 30mph.





I would avoid Amboise as somewhere to stay, it has caught the catering for tourists bug and is now overcrowded, where the villages around are a lot more quiet and %26quot;typical%26quot;.





Simon



http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/




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Thank you for all of this good information.





We were planning to be in the Loire for 4 night but



I now think we may need to head back closer to Paris late Saturday to catch a noon flight out of CDG.




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