Top Local Tips for Tours

Acco Dispo Chateaux Tours The Loire Valley has lots of beautiful chateaux that are delightful to visit. There are several tour companies that drive 8-passenger vans of people around to visit the chateaux in the area. We did a day-long tour with Acco Dispo, and were very pleased. It lasted from 9 AM to 6 PM. We visited 4 chateaux and drove by 3 or 4 others. The trip was 49 euros per person, not including entry into the chateaux. We are all students, so we only spent about 21 euros for entry into all 4. The driver was very friendly and knowledgable. For those who do not know much French, he is fluent in English. Before we arrived at each chateau or town, he would provide us with a bit of information about it. It was a really fun day. You can book a full day tour, or just a morning or afternoon tour online at the website: http://www.accodispo-tours.com

Make sure you visit Place Plumereau Not to be missed in Tours: Place Plumereau and its cafes. Pick up a guide and map at the Office du Tourisme not far from the train station and read the historic on Place Plumereau. Walk the small streets around the Place for more restaurants. On Place Plumereau, make sure you enter the archway on the north side of the Place to find a beautiful hidden corner of the downtown, one with a few Roman ruins, surrounded by beautiful historic buildings. Don't forget your camera!

Loire Valley Excursion On arrival at Tours station, we found an SNCF-associated tour operator that booked us onto a full-day chateaux excursion of the Loire Valley for the following day (www.tourevasion.com). This mini-van excursion brought us to the lovely chateaux in Loire region, including Chenonceau, Amboise, Chambord and Cheverny. Chateaux entrance fee is NOT included, but we've got group discount, which turned out to save us some 10 euro each.