I am arriving in Paris on Mar 31(fri) 8am and want to go directly to Loire region and return to Paris Sunday midday or evening. I am thinking of taking TGV to Tours and not renting a car til the next day. Suggestions on where to stay(not pricey), car rental price(no i don%26#39;t trust what I see on websites), and if I should just drive back to Paris or take the TGV back. Where should I base myself given time contraints and where to stay, also great restaurants would be appreciated( I do mean exceptional)? Also, can I go to the necessary chateaux w/o a car, or is that just being stupid?
THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU help me narrow this down finally.
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Check with SNCF to see if you can go directly to Tours from CDG via TGV or if you should go into Paris and out of Montparnasse station...I%26#39;d train back via TGV..only an hour or so from Tours after using rental car to get to chateaux...getting to chateaux without car would necessitate busses, local trains, taxis, etc., and can be done for some of them but you might find a car convenient...good to know that Tours is a city and has traffic...you might want to stay outside the city in a b%26amp;b or gite...There are some good ones that escape me near Amboise which is closer to Paris..I can%26#39;t be much help with fancy restaurants but the food in general we found to be wonderful..I%26#39;m afraid I wasn%26#39;t much of a convert to rillettes but I definitely liked the region%26#39;s wine!...Enjoy...
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Hi,
%26lt;%26lt;also great restaurants would be appreciated( I do mean exceptional%26gt;%26gt;
It has to be the cuisine of Jean Bardet at the Chateaux Belmont, Tours. This truly is exceptional!
www.jeanbardet.com/gb/index.html
Best wishes
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Thx for the info so far. I didn%26#39;t mean to sound like a snob about the food, I just didn%26#39;t want to hear about every place in the region. Also, I am not talking about price or haute cuisin, as long as it is great. Thx again.
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Hi,
You have a couple of options.
Arriving at Tours via TGV you have several good hotels close to the station, and you will be able to take advantage of coach tours to the surrounding chateaux. You will also be able to visit %26quot;Le Vieux Tours%26quot;, old Tours which is very atmospheric, and has many good/great restaurants and cafes.
If renting a car, you could perhaps take a taxi to the commercial centre at Chambray les Tours and stay in one of the chain hotels, Formula 1, Mister Bed, etc, hire a car and then take a couple of circular day trips to the east ( Amboise, Chenonceaux ) and the west, (Chinon, Villandry, and Azay de Rideau -a great little town and chateaux), perhaps taking in the Chinon wine route.
We stay south of Tours at St Catherine de Fierbois each summer, and know the area quite well. If you take the latter option I would be happy to draw up a couple of circular drives for you.
In the meantime I have included some internet sites for you to browse, the last one being the Tours tourist web site.
http://www.chinon.com/wine/index.html
http://www.lvo.com/GB/INDEX.HTML
http://www.ligeris.com/index_us.html
Best wishes
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If you are arriving from the US at 8 a.m., you might be overly tired to drive several hours to Tours, particularly if you have not driven through Paris before. I should agree a train trip and a card rental the next day makes a great deal of sense (you will require a car and make sure your train ticket is issued all the way to Tours, the TGV stops at St. Pierre des Corps). The best two places to find rentals are:
www.europecar.com
www.avis.com
If you indeed do not trust what you see on websites, try calling but in the last 10 years or so, I have not found anything consistently cheaper than Europecar.
For many reasons (restaurants, shopping, museums, and hotels), I suggest staying in Tours, (you’ll have plenty to do there the afternoon/evening of your arrival). With limited time, (little more than a day) the main chateaux to visit are east/northeast. Chenonceau, Chambord, Blois, and Le Clos Lucé (Amboise) are the primary locations of historical and architectural significance.
For modest, comfortable accommodations, I recommend Hotel du Manoir (02 47 05 37 37). Upscale is Jean Bardet (02 47 41 41 11)
I probably shall not be sufficient help in choosing restaurants, more specific criteria are required to properly direct you. As a general rule however, many restaurants are found on rue Colbert (maybe try Petit Patrimoine or Cap Sud) or Place Plumereau (great nightlife and many restaurants). For fine dinning, try Charles Barrier (02 47 54 20 39).
For a great deal of information about the area, try the Tours tourist office:
http://www.ligeris.com/index_fr.html
The tourist office may be able to help you find bus excursions to the primary chateaux, precluding the need to rent a car.
Good Luck
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Hey all, thx for the info. Alright, sorry to be such a pain in the a$#@$ but here goes. I am wondering if I should base myself in Tours, Amboise or Blois now. Would like an easy/reasonably priced commute from CDG to hotelyes, the tgb and all trains are vastly overrated given that it is usually a pain to get to the station or from it). A nice, safe place, as I will not take kindly to any thieves or degenerates(tours post, theft articles, etc). Wondering if it is worth staying in an out of town chateau or just something in the town center. Also, why is care rental so much? Basically seems almost $200 for a garbage car for 2 days(europcar, avis). THX again, sorry for my rantings but usually I am a great planner but in this case i cannot make up my mind based on some type of consensus or what i feel is good for my own situation. If there is someone who is a conneisseur to tell me LOOK! DO THE FOLLOWING, DON%26quot;T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS,that would be great.
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Hi,
Tours Station is fine, not a haunt of delinquents, thieves and vagabonds!
From what you are asking and the apparant exorbitant cost of car hire use the Tours Tourist office web site,
http://www.ligeris.com/index_us.html
Let them book you a hotel, central Tours and take a couple of day tours by coach. You will see the main sites of interest, and not have the hastle of driving into and out of Tours. It is a big City!
Best wishes
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There are 2 stations in Tours. There%26#39;s nothing around the TGV station. The other station is right downtown. Frequent train/bus service between the 2, but you might not care anyway.
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Ok here goes...the facts from my point of view. We went to the Loire in Feb 2006. And I feel for you, I must have spent like 100 hours researching our trip. First of all don%26#39;t stress, we flew into CDG airport at 9am on a Thursday and couldn%26#39;t wait to get off that plane and get to our destination. We couldn%26#39;t get to the car rental counter quick enough! Anyway the reason the rates are so high is because of all the darn insurance you need. Your insurance at home does not cover you at all. It was great having your own car from the get go, it only took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Amboise just in time for lunch. The Chateau we stayed at was Chateau de Perreux and the owner was more than helpfull about restaurant recommendations, price and food quality. The best dinner we had was right at the Chateau, everything was fresh and organic. We left on Sunday morning early and in the 3 nights 2 1/2 days we spend at the Loire valley we were able to see 6 Chateaus and walk around two cities, Amboise and Blois. Parking at the Chateau was private so very safe and all of the Castles we went to had parking lots. We weren%26#39;t a bit tired after we landed in Paris and after lunch on the first day we saw the Chateau Amboise. You can sleep and rest when you get home, there is way too many things to see and do in France. The second night we ate at Restaurant l%26#39;Epicerie in Amboise, if you don%26#39;t like sweet sauces stay away from the duck, for 4 of us we spent 120 Euro, the veal was devine. Make sure you have a good map, traffic was light and since we were there in the low season, no lines or crowds. The roads that go along the Loire river are great. Getting to your destination is a little different in France you have to know what city or attraction your headed for, the signs are not labeled by a road # or North South etc. Driving was a blast and you%26#39;ll soon apprieciate the round abouts. Have fun we did.
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