Hi:
I%26#39;m planning to visit the Loire at the end of November 2008. I will arrive from Paris to Tours via train and stay for 3 or 4 days. I%26#39;m not going to be driving or taking a byke. I would like to get some advice on what chateaux can I do by either walking or taking public transportation such as buses or local trains from Tours. I also, would like to get some recommendations on decent and inexpensive places to stay. Thanks a lot for the feedback on this.
Jhon,
New York
|||
As far as chateaux to visit by public transport from Tours, the easiest by far is Chenonceaux. You can catch a train to the front gate.
Blois is about 30 minutes by train from Tours, and you then have a 10 minute (or so walk) to the chateau.
Most of the other chateaux are doable by bus, except Villandry and Azay le Ferron, which can%26#39;t be done by public transport at all - the bus only runs June to October (strange, but there you go!)
The tourist office in Tours is opposite the main station and always has English speakers on the desk.
www.tourainefilvert.com/horaires/index.asp… for the bus timetables, and http://bahn.hafas.de/bin//query.exe/en for trains
Simon
http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/
|||
Simon:
Thanks for the tips.
Jhon
|||
When you get to Tours Station, I suggest you stop off in the enquiries or ticket office and pick up a selection of local timetable leaflets. It can be useful to have a prnted timetable to check intermediate stops - in addition to the point-to-point information you get on line.
|||
Hey, RailTraveller:
Thanks for the feedback, I will check it out. I decided to rent a car and drive around instead since it seems that will give a more freedom. I welcome any tips/pointers on driving around the Loire though.
Thanks again,
Jhon
|||
Jhon
Main tip is that every drive will take longer than you allow for. My average speed around the area hovers on 60kmh - thats about 35 mph. This is beacuse the villages and towns all run in to each other, the roads are usually narrower than you would like, and there is always something to look at (or a tractor/gypsy caravan/noddycar to drive behind)
For instance, from my place to Tours is 75 km (about 43 miles) and it takes me 70 minutes at best - and I know the road well.
Simon
http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/
|||
We rented our Avis car at the St Pierre des Corps stop, rather than the main station in Tours. The station is small, easy to move through, and the Avis office is right there. No city driving hassles wending ones way through Tours traffic. Piece of cake. Driving in this area was fun and easy. We stayed at the Auberge de Launay across the river from Amboise and it was great: nice room, friendly people, and excellent breakfast and dinner plan. And very convenient to the area sights as it is about hafway between Blois and Tours. You can check out this hotel on Tripadvisor.
|||
Hi Jhon,
Across the road from the train station in Tours is the bus station with a booking office. Buses can be got from there to Chenonceaux as well as other smaller chateaux.
Chenonceaux is quite a dead village in winter and it is worth taking supplies with you (there was only a coffee machine when we visited). Unless you want to look around the woods I%26#39;d only give 1/2 a day for visit.
The chateaux at Blois was really nice.
Hope you have fun.
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 5:24 pm, October 09, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment