Loire Valley

Pros: great wines, fascinating tours and beautiful chateaus
Cons: you eventually have to go back to work!

Growing up in Northern California, I have kind of taken the wine tour thing for granted. What a different experience the Loire Valley wine tour is!

One of the first things that struck me as odd was that if one wants to taste a particular...

Pros: Location, charm
Cons: none

Amboise is a great little town just outside of Tours in the Loire Valley (about a two and a half to three hour drive southwest of Paris). It has its own chateau in the city center and on certain nights of the week during the summer they put on a grand...

Pros: a truly novel experience
Cons: a little quite. no tv or phones

One of the "not to be missed" aspects of a visit to the Loire Valley is Chateau Living. Sure there are plenty of inexpensive hotels in the towns throughout the Loire but there are countless Chateaus that are privately owned and taking in...

Pros: welcoming, rural atmosphere
Cons: $$$

If you are going to be spending some time in France, do not miss the Loire Valley. It is short train ride from Paris and offers gorgeous scenery, good wine and wonderful cuisine. The history is rich and colorful and the people are very welcoming and...

Pros: Uniquely French area, good wine, cool castles
Cons: Castles hard to get to without a car

The Loire Valley offers dozens of castles that each has its own unique history and architectural style. Having spent a year abroad in school at Angers in the Loire Valley, I had the chance to see most of this area. I highly recommend it for students who...

Pros: It's romantic and delightful, an ideal location for a weekend, vacation or honeymoon.
Cons: none

"Le Manoir Les Minimes" is a quiet and pleasant hotel. Located on the Loire River, close to the Chateau d'Amboise, this beautiful residence was built in the 1700s and was entirely restored. The interior decor is elegant and refined with wonderful objects...

Pros: Beautiful, friendly, excellent service, amazing sight-seeing, wine!!
Cons: Not Many

We planned a two-night stay in the Loire Valley on a trip through France in May 2002. Amboise seemed a good choice - the town was not too big but still had a lot to offer including a well known Chateau.

As soon as we arrived at the Manoir Les...

Pros: Flat and ideal for bicycling, magnificent chateaux & countryside
Cons: Food wasn't as exciting as other areas of France

In our 50's and going on our first cycling trip, we opted for the 4 night Loire experience, mostly because it's flat (there was only one hill) and the weather might be better than the northern sections of France, which can be wetter. The trip featured...

Pros: A simply soul stirring place of beauty and culture.
Cons: Bus tours are not for those who don't want to meet people from other places.

Review Topic:  Overview

My trip to the Loire Valley took place in late June and early July. It was truly a magical trip. My itinerary was set, for the most part, by the tour company I joined. The itinerary was what made me...

Pros: Beautiful Scenery
Cons: Curvy roads

If you are visiting the Loire Valley in France and are not interested in or have already seen all of the castles you can handle, I recommend taking a drive through the Parc du Pilat. This is a wonderfully scenic route through rolling hillsides and small...

Pros: beautiful castles, friendly people, great food and wine
Cons: the only one I can think of if that English speakers can be tough to find at times!

I am currently a French teacher from Pennsylvania. While in college -- in 1992 -- I lived in Amboise, France, in the heart of the Loire Valley. I lived in Amboise from January through late March of that year. I need to stress to you how wonderful...

Pros: Beautiful architecture, good food
Cons: Strenuous, especially with "Adams" attachment pulling my son.

In June, I went on a 7 day bike trip with my young son. We visited a number of chateaus, and slept in several of the petit chateaus. The trip was sponsored by "discoverfrance.com". While I enjoyed the food, and the evercise tremendously, I...

Pros: An incredibly beautiful region in France
Cons: Difficult to navigate without a car

We just returned from a week's vacation in France. I'd like to share some of the highlights of our trip, as we gathered much information from this board. My review will be more factual and less imbued with the history of the sites we saw. We flew in to...

Pros: Very relaxing, fun to drive around, good dining.
Cons: Quiet on Monday evenings, not super interesting if you like some action.

The Loire is a fun getaway that's not too far from Paris. We stayed in Amboise, a very cute town with a castle in it. The hotel we stayed in, Le Choiseul, was billed as "the top place to stay in Amboise." We were disappointed quite frankly. While it...

Pros: Beautiful scenery, historic towns, and famous Chateaus owned by French Royalty are plentiful.
Cons: Visitors to Angers need to be on guard against pickpockets and drug related crime.

The visitor to this part of France has one problem - which historical Chateaus to visit! It would take weeks to visit each and every one. Many of the old preserved towns are charming and often boast a visit or two by Joan Of Arc. The scenery is equally lovely. For much of the drive the road seems to travel along side a meandering river. Fields of grapes are a common sight.