Affordable Tours presents travelers with a jam-packed nine-day tour of castles around Paris and in the Loire Valley. Many of the stops on this tour are already familiar. Versailles, just outside Paris, was the opulent home of King Louis XIV. This is the starting point for an exhaustive tour of castles. Also on this tour is the Chateau Fontainebleau, which was a hunting lodge for several kings. Chateau Chenonceau is another favorite, a castle that was tended by various women of the French court over a period of several hundred years. The Chateaux Cheverny, Chambord and De Blois are covered in a day of sightseeing, with Villandry and Tours the last stops before returning to Paris.
AffordableTours
11150 Cash Road
Stafford, TX 77477
281-269-2600
affordabletours.com
Austin Lehman Adventures hosts a biking adventure in the Loire Valley. The tour includes many well-known castles beginning with Versailles, the home of the Sun King, Louis XIV. The actual biking begins after transport to Blois, with a visit to the Chateau de Chambord. In Amboise, marvel at the turrets of Chateau du Chaumont. Chateau de Chenonceau is next, followed by the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau. The castle that was said to inspire "Sleeping Beauty," Chateau D'Usse, is next on the tour. Villandry and Tours are the final stops before bicyclers board their train back to Paris. This tour offers more than just visits to the castles. Along the bicycle route, the tour visits vineyards, small towns, forests and points of historical interest. Nights are spent in upscale hotels with gourmet meals and modern accommodations.
Austin Lehman Adventures
1935 Lampman Dr.
PO Box 81025
Billings, MT 59102
800-575-1540
austinlehman.com
One of the very best ways to visit castles in France is to spend the night in them. Many of France's castles have been renovated for guests. French Adventures offers an eight-day tour with accommodations each night in a different French chateau. After visiting the Chateaux Chambord, Chenonceau and Cheverny, guests are treated to a stay in the Chateau de la Bourdaisiere. This castle has beautiful flower gardens as well as hundreds of tomato varieties grown by the owners of the castle. Chateaux d'Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry are on the itinerary for tours, and then guests check in to their next castle hotel, Chateau des Reaux. Day four brings more sightseeing at Chateau Saumur. Chateau de Saint-Loup, the castle hotel for this night, offers luxury accommodations and tours of its orangery and gardens. Chateau d'Angers, the mighty medieval fortress, is visited the next day, and guests spend the night in Chateau de Brissac. The next day, guests take a tour of Mont St-Michel and then check into the Chateau de Bouceel. A complete tour of the Normandy beaches and cemetery brings guests to the next night's castle, the Chateau de Canisy. On the final day, guests return to Paris after a quick visit to Giverny and the home of Claude Monet. The tour ends with an overnight stay at a four-star Paris hotel.
French Adventures
Rue de Choisy
94400 Vitry-sur-Seine, France
+33-1-46-80-17-66
frenchadventures.com
