Loire Valley Castles Small Group Day Trip from Paris by Minivan

Paris, France

The day dedicated to "Renaissance" starts with a visit of the Clos Lucé. Leonardo da Vinci gave life to this manor house. You will see all his inventions. At the end of the morning , you leave for Chenonceau where lunch (included) is served in the castle's Orangerie (summer) or in the village (winter).

At the beginning of the afternoon, there is a visit to the Chenonceau Castle, called the "Chateau aux Dames" built on the Cher. Finally, you will visit the impressive Chambord Castle before returning to Paris.

USD $266.85

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Jill	April 2012
I highly recommend this personalized tour. Which included a lovely lunch. Enough time was given to enjoy each location and our guide was friendly and knowledgeable. A wonderful tour!!

Review by: Brian M	April 2012
Not a guided tour and 1 hour at each castle was not enough, if you got the electronic guide there was not sufficient time to listen to all the information.

Review by: Charles C	February 2012
We were disappointed that the guide was predominantly a driver. He provided some history during our transport to the Chateaus but merely gave us our entry tickets and left us at the entrance. I had been sick from food poisoning and when we asked for our lunch selection I indicated that I only wanted tea and nothing to eat as I wasn't feeling well. After not having to be fed, I was then charged for my tea. The other members of our group had coffee after lunch as did the driver. They were charged for the coffee and the driver stuck the group for his coffee as well. Sites were very interesting but very cold in the winter weather.

Review by: Kat A	January 2012
Driver/guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable. My one regret was that we were not given enough time at each castle, but with the drive time from Paris it probably would need to be a two day trip to be able to stay longer.

Review by: Anne M	November 2011
Our guide Selina was excellent with lots of information and history. The tour was just the right length - not too much squeezed in to the day but still a full day.

Review by: Norma W	November 2011
Wonderfull to visit where DaVinci lived and worked. To see his drawings made into working models was sensational. The next castle at Ceananceau (') was very nice as was the lunch in the Orangerie Restaurant. Chambord was big and a bit boring although interesting from the exterior.

Review by: Francis C	October 2011
The driver ( Juan) was great and was very courteous and helpful. He gave us some of the history of the region, politics and the castles, etc. (very interesting) while we were in transit to the Loire Valley. Lunch was very good. The negatives were: (i) we expected, at the price charged ($270 a person), that the "small group guided tour" would have provided a guide to accompany us and narrate at the various venues rather then being dropped off at the venue and having to guide ourselves through the castles, etc. and (ii) the participants (6) spoke two different languages; English (4) and Portugese (2). We would have expected on a "small group guided tour" that the tour would have been conducted only in one language, rather than two and the resulting distraction of hearing the information repeated albeit in two different languages.

Review by: Wendy L	September 2011
The castles were lovely and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. The lunch was very nice as well. It would have been nice to have had a little more time at the castles and for the price, an audio guided tour included.

Review by: Naomi C	July 2011
Sights and scenery were amazing, guide was not! There were 4 english speaking person on the tour and 2 french Candian, the guide spoke french for 95% of the tour, I feel my money could have been better spent.

Review by: Norman M	July 2011
It was fantastic. These small group tours are the way to go if you want extra attention. Our guide Sophie was lovely and attentive. The lunch at the chateau was fabulous.

Review by: Anne D	July 2011
The best thing we did on our visit to Paris.Our tour guide, Catherine, was perfect.She was informative without lecturing and handled a potential disaster with calm and cheerfulness -a person from our group got lost and we didn't find her for almost an hour which put us behind but Catherine managed to still fir everything in.Every part of this tour was enjoyable-we travelled through the beautiful Loire Valley and with the highlight for me being the visit to Da Vinci's home with models of his inventions, closely followed by the top class lunch at an orangerie set in magnificent gardens.Just do it.

Review by: Sandy	May 2011
The Loire Valley Castle trip is fabulous, what an extremely beautiful region of France. 2 of the castles are amazing...the 3rd was not in same category as first two but was nice. I do recommend this day trip - also included is a wonderful lunch at one of the castle restaurants. Our driver was very nice, very friendly. Our only issue was we had signed up for an English speaking day trip and he wound up speaking French, Spanish and English during the tour which did take away from learning more about the region since he didn't have enough time. Otherwise, this is a day trip not to miss. Viator does an awesome job in arranging these trips. What a great company - we have been recommending Viator to all our friends traveling.

Review by: Amy L	May 2011
A very enjoyable day in the Loire Valley. It's an expensive tour, but also a very nice one. There were only 3 people on our tour which was brilliant.

Review by: David C	May 2011
This was a great day out and our guide Frederick was excellent. Being in a minivan was good and much more personal than a bus. The castles were all totally different and it was a well balanced trip. Really enjoyed the day.

Review by: John S	May 2011
Very enjoyable trip. Our guide, Anna, was amazing; great info about history and the region.

Review by: Ronald S	April 2011
If you want an introduction to two of the most famous castles of the Loire Valley (Chambord and Chenonceau), then this is the trip for you. The only part of the trip I found disappointing was Amboise. It's mostly a quick tour through Clos Luce (the residence where Leonardo spent the remaining years of his life). Otherwise, the tour guide (driver) was great. The scenery was beautiful; and, all in all, it was a nice day trip away from Paris.

Review by: Ieda Valquiria C	March 2011
Great experience. If you are visiting Paris you should spare at least one day to visit the Loire valley. The guide was very nice and had lots of good information about the castles and the history of France in general. I definitely recommend this tour.

Review by: Mary G	October 2010
I would recommend this small group day trip. Smaller groups make the experience more personal. Visiting Ambroise Castle sitting high above the city was a memorable and beautiful experience. Moving on to DeVinci's home for the last three years of his life and the grounds surrounding the home was very interesting as well. The Castle Chenonceau built over a river was a wonderful experience and the lunch at the Orangerie on the grounds of this castle was very good. Our group of eight sat together at lunch. By the end of our tour, we all felt like family. It was a great time had by all. I would absolutely recommend this tour. It was well worth the money. The history was great. Our guide was very informative.

Review by: Michael D	October 2010
This tour was a great and interesting way to see a different part of France other than Paris. All of the places that we were taken to were vary interesting and our guide Pablo was extremely informative and enthusiastic. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Paris who wants to see a different region of the country.

Review by: Elizabeth H	October 2010
Palaces were great, da Vinci's house was interesting. On-time hotel pick-up was fantastic, with small manageable group size. Transport clean and modern, well-informed guide who spoke excellent English. Would have liked to go into Chambord (even if just very briefly ,as it is apparently mostly vacant) rather than just look through the gates. Booking confirmations were fantastic to receive prior to departing home.

Review by: Janine D	October 2010
An exceptional day - lovely lunch included. You are left on your own to explore so if you prefer guided tours then this is not for you.

Review by: Richard T	September 2010
I thought that we would be touring Chambord according to the description but we only stopped far away for a photo. We could not even see the entire Chateau. However, we saw Leonardo DaVinci's residence. Lunch at the the Orangerie at Chenenceaux was wonderful. The day started off badly after the Chambord situtation and I thought we were going to get shortchanged. However at the end of the day my group decided that throwing in Leonardo' s residence actually was a good thing. Three castles in one day plus over six hours of driving is a lot.

Review by: Ronald G	September 2010
This is a not miss tour. Tour guide was exceptional.

Review by: Phyllis M, United States of America	July 2010
This is a definite must do on any trip to Paris. The castles are beautiful the teachings about Leonardo da Vinci and the Kings of France are so informative Anyone going to Paris should take this tour

Review by: Kenneth M	July 2010
Loire Valley is beautiful. I am glad I went. The bus was around forty five minutes late. It you had given me the correct pickup time I would have been able to have breakfast. Secondly, when a passenger becomes car sick the driver must slow down on the curves and move the passenger to the front seat. I requested driver to be more careful. It was miserable for my companion.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	June 2010
very good.

Review by: MLR D, Sri Lanka	May 2010
Although the tour says " castles and wines" there was no wine tour or tasting. Also it would have been better if our guide walked us through the sites rather than give us our tickets and brochures and allow us towalk through ourselves. Lunch at the Orangerie in Chenonceaux was excellent.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2009
I have taken many tours. This was one of the best. The bus was very comfortable, the driver excellent, and our guide was fabulous!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2009
They were rude, and the tours were boring.

Review by: Brittany D, United States of America	June 2009
We had a large group, 11 people, and Viator was very accommodating. Instead of sending a minivan to pick us up, a bus was sent so we could all travel together. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and extremely nice. I wish we had a little more time at some of the locations, but it was understandable since we had such a packed day. Lunch was great, the wine cave was interesting and of course all the chateaus were beautiful. Overall, this day trip was a success with our whole group.

Review by: Hanspeter M, Canada	September 2007
Excellent content and a very knowledgeable guide.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	April 2007
The tours of the castles were great. The tour guide/driver was very informative. The lunch provided at the castle was nice for the adults. If traveling with kids, I wish their were other options for the lunch. The only drawback was the wine tour, not too exciting and the wines were not good.