Trains from Tours to Chenonceau, and betwen Tours and Paris?

I am planning to travel to Tours in afternoon of the 16th August and do a Tourevasion tour (#7) to the Loire Châteaus on the 17th. I plan to visit Château de Chenonceau on the 18 Aug before returning to Paris later that day.

I want to book the TGV ticket early now. I heard the earlier you book the cheaper! Plus I am concerned train tickets would be hard to come by. Here are my questions....

Should I bother booking the train between Tours and Chenonceaux?

Since I want to book the train returning to Paris from Tours in the afternoon. How much time should I allow myself for Chenonceau?

Thanks again for everyone%26#39;s advice in advance.

|||

There%26#39;s no point booking the train from Tours to Chenonceaux - just buy your ticket on the day at the station. Make sure you get on (for instance) the 10.08 direct service - otherwise it could be a 3.00hr trip via Montrichard rather than a 30 minute direct trip.

reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin//query.exe/en for timetable

As for how long you spend at Chenonceaux, it depends what sort of person you are areally - on the bog standard tour you get probably 45 minutes to an hour there. Some people can spend all day and leave wanting more. Me? About 60 - 90 minutes is about right

Simon

http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/

|||

No less than 2 hours for Chenanceau, if you%26#39;re going to walk the grounds a bit. It was our first chateau and we really enjoyed exploring it and spent about 3 hours.

|||

It probably is so much a question of how long you need at Chenonceau as when you need to get to the station to get back. There is a train at 13.23 getting to Tours at 13.55 (and a few minutes earlier at St Pierre des Corps where the TGVs stop). The next train is not until 16.21.

|||

I thought the trains would have been much more frequent. :(

The 13.23 is really a bit early. I don%26#39;t think there is enough time to walk the grounds a bit. And the 16.21 train means too much time.

Are there alternative transports in between those times?

Is there anything interesting at Chenonceaux?

Many thanks as always.

(I really don%26#39;t know how people planned their holidays before TA existed!)

|||

No buses between those times either. tourainefilvert.com/ftp/…LIGNE_C22.pdf

I took my parents in law to Chenonceaux and they were done in just over an hour. You will be too, especially if you have spent all the previous day looking at chateaux.

It%26#39;s interesting, but what they have done there is recreate bedrooms from across the 16th and 17th century - one in each room - so that where you would expect a dining room, day room or library, for instance, there is yet another bedroom.

|||

From the sound of it - catching the 13-ish train giving 2+ hour seems more than enough. I would be happy to stay longer if there is something interesting to see in Chenonceaux.

5 hours seems too much would you say?

|||

Hi everyone,

I have a questions about train connection.

If I catch the 16:21 train from Chenonceaux to Tours, I arrive at Tours at 16:49. There is a train from Tours back to Paris at 17:23. That leave me with just over 0.5 hour to go back to my hotel (Grand Hotel Tours) just across the road from the TGV station to gather my luggages for the train to Paris.

Since I have no experience with trains in France. Does anyone think that connection is too tight? Are trains in France on time? I am a bit worried that the Chenonceaux train would be late and causes us to miss the train back to Paris.

In Australia, some trains are not that reliable....

|||

My experience of trains in that area is that they are reasonably reliable (on time or not more than a few minutes late). However this is gong back a couple of years and locals may offer more up to date reassurance or otherwise. By the way do you mean Tours TGV Station, I thought that hotel was just beside the station in the centre of Tours.

|||

OMG! I am worried.

What is the difference between the

%26quot;Tours TGV Station%26quot;

and

%26quot;the station in the centre of Tours%26quot;

Did I book the wrong thing???

!?!?

|||

What you say the hotel is in the centre of tours you mean this right?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d%26amp;source=s_d%26amp;saddr=47.390239,0.692266%26amp;daddr=47.389563,+0.693703%26amp;hl=en%26amp;geocode=%26amp;mra=ls%26amp;sll=47.389873,0.692718%26amp;sspn=0.005215,0.009645%26amp;ie=UTF8%26amp;ll=47.39004,0.693061%26amp;spn=0.005215,0.009645%26amp;z=17

And by Tours TGV station you mean Saint Pierre des Corps?