LOIRE VALLEY SUMMER TOUR

« Click here to return to Tours page

7-day tour of the beautiful Loire Valley with accommodation throughout in a sumptuous 4 star Chateau Hotel.We start with an overnight ferry crossing to St. Malo and travel down to the Loire Valley via Vitre a charming medieval town and the Le Mans motor museum which is next to the Le Mans 24 hours race circuit.We then continue south to the Loire valley where our hotel for the next 6 nights, a stunning four star chateau hotel, formerly the home of Prince Talleyrand, is based, less than a mile from the river Loire itself.Over the next 6 days we visit impressive chateaux,fascinating museums,beautiful gardens, atmospheric wine caves and other places of interest driving on scenic backroads in this beautiful region.Our return afternoon ferry is via Caen to Portsmouth.

TO SEE PHOTOS TAKEN ON OUR 2009 LOIRE VALLEY TOUR SEE OUR "PHOTO GALLERY" VIA THE BUTTON/LINK ON THE MENU BAR ABOVE

Itinerary

Saturday, August 14th overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St. Malo, leaves Portsmouth at 8.30pm

Day 1 - Sunday August 15th,(approx 220 miles)

Arrive in St Malo at 8.30am on overnight ferry from Portsmouth. Our route takes the pretty coastal road around Pointe du Grouin to Port Mer an idyllic, secluded bay just north of Cancale where we enjoy breakfast, ( see photos immediately below).

 

 

 

 

Our scenic route continues eastwards along the bay of Mont St Michel to Pontorson where we turn south and head down to Vitre a charming medieval town and our lunch stop.In the afternoon we head east to Le Mans for coffee and a visit to the famous Auto Museum next to the main entrance of the Le Mans 24 hours circuit.We then leave Le Mans and head south on scenic backroads and a great driving road to our sumptuous 4* chateau hotel, Chateau de Rochecotte ( click on words for link to their website), in St. Patrice in the Loire valley which will be our base for the next six nights, ( see photos middle and right below).

Day 2 - Monday, (approx 60 miles)

Our tour of the Loire valley commences with a drive west along the banks of the Loire which we then cross over onto a charming minor road to one of France's prettiest villages, Candes St Martin( see photo below left).Here we walk along its narrow streets to visit the wonderful 13th century church and then we drive up to the amazing panoramic viewpoint on a hill overlooking the village and the confluence of the rivers Loire and Indre.We then leave Candes and head to Montreuil Bellay where, after lunch we also visit the amazing rennaisance chateau.After Montreuil we drive to nearby Breze where we stop to visit the fascinating troglodyte/cave chateau built underneath the conventional chateau with the deepest dry moat in Europe at 40 metres.Continuing on scenic backroads we drive back to the river Loire via the picturesque," fairy tale" Chateau of Usse,( see photos with red MGF and MGB on bridge below),overlooking water meadows and the river Indre. Its romantic white turrets, pointed towers and chimneys were the inspiration for Charles Perrault's story the Sleeping Beauty. We then continue along the banks of the Indre on a wonderful winding quiet river road to Langeais where we cross the Loire,( see Langeais bridge above left) and drive 5 miles back to our hotel Chateau de Rochecotte in St.Patrice, ( see photos above right and middle).

Day 3 - Tuesday, (approx 60 miles)

In the morning we drive to nearby Bourgueil where there is a traditional country market.We then visit Saumur our lunch stop, see middle photo above, where we can enjoy a stroll around the medieval streets.After lunch we visit the wine caves of Bouvet Ladubay a sparkling wine producer followed by a visit to a fascinating "tank museum" housing the world's greatest collection of military tanks. After leaving Saumur we stop to visit Turquant, a Troglodyte village where we visit an unusual cave housing a museum "des pommes tapees" where "dried apple slices " are still made in the old fashioned way.We then continue to nearby Fontevraud,( see photo above right),where we can visit the largest and most remarkably intact medieval abbey in France Founded in the 12th century by a visionary itinerant preacher who established a community of Benedictine monks,nuns,nobles, lepers,repentant prostitutes and vagabonds the eclectic mix of residents must have worked, as under the rule of an abbess, female aristocrats came to live in Fontevraud to escape or to reject a life of materialism.Eleanour de Aquitaine,queen of Henry 11 of England, was one famous female who sought sanctuary here and her remains and those of her son, Richard the Lionheart, rest here, (see middle photo above).After this we return to our hotel in St. Patrice in time to relax by the pool

Day 4-Wenesday, (approx 120 miles)

 

Today we visit the world famous Chateau Chenonceau,approximately 50 miles to the east .Our route takes us via Azay le Rideau, ( see Chateau above left),along quiet country roads to Chenonceaux where we visit the amazing chateau which is constructed over the river,( see photo above right).After our visit we then drive a few miles north to Amboise where we visit the "royal" Chateau of Amboise and also the nearby Chateau du Clos Luce where Leonardo de Vinci spent the last three years of his life as the king of France's engineer and friend.The chateau houses a museum dedicated to the great man's life and you can also stroll around the peaceful gardens which contain examples of his work.We then cross over the river Loire to the north bank and stop off at the Chateau de Valmer to visit their beautiful gardens.We then drive back to our hotel along the north bank of the river Loire through Vouvray and Tours stopping off at Langeais for a coffee.

Chateau Usse,the inspiration for the "Sleeping beauty" and featured in the film,"Rich man poor man"	Rochecotte Hotel: click to visit their site

Day 5 - Thursday, (approx 80 miles)

We drive a few miles west to Allonnes where we visit Parc Maupassant a wonderful garden belonging to the private Chateau de la Thibaudiere.From here we cross thr river Loire to Chinon our lunch stop.After lunch we can stroll around the charming streets of this medieval town and visit a nearby "Chinon " wine cave.In the afternoon we, stop off to visit the beautiful gardens of the romantic Chateau Chatonniere, a private chateau nestling in a secretive valley, ( see photo below right).We then return to our hotel.

Day 6 - Friday, (approx 60 miles)

We drive to nearby Langeais our morning coffee stop then cross the river at Langeais and continue to the nearby Maurice Dufresne museum which has an amazing collection of mechanical exhibits including tractors, cars, tools, implements, guns and miscellaneous vehicles.We then head to Azay le Rideau where we visit the pretty chateau and enjoy a leisurely lunch in this charming town.After lunch we drive a few miles east on quiet roads to the Chateau of Villandry, the last great Rennaissance chateau built in the Loire Valley.Here we visit the world famous and magnificent gardens.Upon leaving Villandry we return to St.Patrice where at Chateau de Rochecotte we can relax by the swimming pool on the final day of our tour.

Day 7 - Saturday, (approx 200 miles)

We say 'au revoir' to the Loire Valley and head back to Caen for the afternoon ferry via scenic minor roads to La Chartre sur-le-Loir where we stop off at the Hotel de France the headquarters of the Aston Martin, Le Mans racing team in the 1950s and 60s. Over coffee you can browse through the nostalgic pictures of Le Mans legends that line the walls of this famous hotel. After coffee we head north to Alencon and on to Sees our lunch stop where we can visit the twin towered cathedral.. After lunch we continue north to Caen and the port of Ouistreham for our 4.30pm ferry to Portsmouth, (arrives Portsmouth 9.15 pm).

« Back to Tours page