excellent company for tour of the Loire chateaux

We recently returned from our trip to Europe. Since this was our 4th trip to Paris, we decided to take a day trip to see the chateaux of the Loire valley. We booked with a company called Acco-Dispo. We took the 7:50 a.m. train from Montparnasse station to Tours. We met our guide (Pascal) at the tourist office, just across the street from the train station. There were actually two vans with some type of radio system. Passengers were arranged by language. In our van, initially, everyone spoke English. So, Pascal spoke in English to give information to everyone in our car. This was also broadcast to the other van. There were some Japanese guests in the other van. So, after Pascal%26#39;s presentation, the other van would play a recording in Japanese to the people in that van so that they could get the information. Later in the day, we picked up some people who only spoke French. So Pascal gave the presentation in English, then in French in our van.

I had researched different tour companies and felt that this one got us to the greatest number of chateaux that we wanted to see. Pascal would collect cash from each of the passengers. He would then go up, get the admission tickets at a discounted rate. He would then wait for us to meet up with him after our self guided tour. Then, on to the next chateau. During the day, he continually give us information about the chateaux, their histories and the history about the surrounding area.

We had a lunch break in Amboise. There was a wonderful place to eat lunch called the Chocolate Tea room. We were told that the locals say that it is the best restaurant in town. It was one of the best meals that we ate in France.

After lunch, we continued to Chambord and Cheverny chateaux. We then drove past some more Chateaux on our way back to Tours. We arrived a little before 6 rather than at 6:30 as stated on the website. We could have caught an earlier train back to Paris, but we were unable to change our ticket. We caught the train back to Paris at 8:02 p.m, arriving back around 9:15 p.m.

The cost for the day was 50 euros apiece (10 euro tip.) I booked this through their website. We also had to pay for our admissions into the chateaux and a 1 euro fee for the highway. It was well worth the money. I would highly recommend this company.

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Sounds interesting could you advise the total cost per person including entrance fees. Thankyou.

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I can%26#39;t remember the exact charges. Some were around 13 euros, while others were less. We visited 4 chateaux. I know that we took 100 euros apiece to cover the entrance charges as well as the 50 euro tour charge. That more than covered the day%26#39;s expenses. Hope this helps.

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I understand that everyone is different, but I have toured the Loire Valley on several occasions and I have never used a tour company.

Maybe I%26#39;m missing something, but the best experiences I have had is finding the secluded places near the chateau to have a picnic, or finding that hidden winery where after talking with the proprietor for half an hour, he decides to have a drink of his own private stash with you. To me, one of the beauties of France is making these kinds of discoveries on your own.

Again, there is something to be said for traveling with a tour group and there is nothing wrong with that. However, my best experiences have come without being on a schedule in a van.

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Thanks for that info QueenMimi.

Pixfield I am sure we would all like to experience the Chateau your way,but many of us have so little time and of course without a car etc. a tour is the only option.

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Just curious about the train from Paris. Were you on a TVG? Did you arrive in the center of Tours or at the Gare st Pierre des Corps? Finally, do you remember how much you paid for your train ticket? I%26#39;m traveling to Tours from Paris with three friends and have just realized we may be arriving too late in the morning to connect with the TVG at CDG, which has been our original plan. We arrive on Sunday and can%26#39;t pick up our car until Monday morning so I plan to check out the website and tour company you used. If we arrive in Tours by noon, we may have time to see some chateaux that afternoon. Thanks for your informative message.