How to Get to the Loire Valley: Train, Car or Tour

The valley starts about an hour from Paris by high-speed train. Reaching the station is easy; the hard part is getting between châteaux once you arrive. Comparing loire valley tours from paris? Pick your way in first, then your base.

Paris to the Loire: train, car or tour

Château de Chenonceau's own site puts it at 214 km from Paris: two hours by motorway or one hour by TGV to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, then a local connection. That hour is the reason most visitors stay in Tours or Amboise rather than driving back and forth from Paris.

TGV to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, then into Tours

High-speed trains from Paris Montparnasse, and some from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, stop at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, on the edge of Tours. The journey takes about an hour. A short local connection takes you on to Tours station in the centre, and regional lines follow the Loire and the Cher.

Check times and fares on SNCF Connect. Villandry's own site describes the same route from Montparnasse and adds a 20-minute taxi from the station to the château.

Regional trains to Amboise and Chenonceaux

Two châteaux sit a short walk from a station. Amboise station has direct trains from Tours, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Orléans and Paris Austerlitz, and the château is a 10-minute walk. Chenonceaux station is 400 m from Chenonceau's ticket office.

Chambord and Chaumont-sur-Loire by train and bus

Château de Chambord takes one step more. Take the train to Blois-Chambord, about 80 minutes from Paris, then the Rémi line 2 shuttle bus for €3.30 a single journey, paid to the driver. Chaumont-sur-Loire's nearest station is Onzain, about 2 km from the estate and 1 hour 40 minutes from Paris Austerlitz. The Rémi Découverte pass covers regional trains and buses for up to five people: €45 for two days or €60 for three.

Driving: road times the châteaux publish

A car lets you link châteaux the railway does not. These are the road times each estate prints on its own site:

• Paris to Chenonceau or Chambord: about 2 hours on the A10.
• Paris to Saumur: about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• Blois to Chambord: 25 minutes.
• Tours to Saumur: 40 minutes; Angers to Saumur: 20 minutes.
• Tours station to Villandry: 20 minutes by taxi.

Chambord charges €8 a day to park, and Villandry's parking is free. If you plan to taste wine, leave the driving to a tour or a driver.

The tour meeting points: Tours, Amboise and Avenue de Wagram

Every tour card names its meeting point. The five below cover almost every château day and most wine days.

1. Tours tourist office, 78-82 rue Bernard Palissy. Most shared château and wine days meet here at 9:00. Tours station is in the same part of town.
2. Amboise tourist office, Quai du Général de Gaulle. Château days that start in Tours collect here at 9:30.
3. La Flamme café, 6 Avenue de Wagram, Paris. The small-group days from Paris meet here; arrive 15 minutes early.
4. Your Paris hotel. Several days from Paris, and the private tours, pick you up at the door.
5. Vendôme-Villiers TGV station. The two-day trip by train starts here, and the round-trip ticket from Paris is in the fare.

Getting to a winery or balloon field without a car

Some days start where no train goes. The Vouvray cellar walk at Chançay, the picnic estate near Chinon and the e-bike ride from the lock house at Thésée all expect you to drive or take a taxi. The balloon flights meet on the edge of Amboise and at Saint-Georges-sur-Cher, early in the morning or in the evening.

If you have no car, choose a wine day that meets at the Tours tourist office, or a private day with pickup from your hotel. Every meeting point is on the Loire Valley map.

Chartres on the road from Paris

Chartres is not in the Loire Valley. It sits south-west of Paris, on the way, and its cathedral is a stop some travellers add to a drive south. A private guided visit meets inside the cathedral, at the gift-shop entrance. Plan it as its own morning or as a break on the drive, not as part of a château day.

Getting-there questions