Loire Valley Castles Trip with Chenonceau and Chambord from Paris

Castles Galore

The trip was great. The information preceding the tour regarding details was complete and timely. The tour guide was knowledgeable and engaging. The castles were each unique. It was a really good day!

Discovering a few of the Loire Valley chateaus

Our guide was so knowledgeable and informative, the Chateaus all had their own charm. The Loire Valley is a most picturesque area so the coach ride was a pleasure as well.

Wonderful tour with two issues

The night before the tour, I was reading all the negative reviews and started regretting that I booked this tour. However, the tour turned out to be great! There were two charming tour guides ladies that were leading the people who bought the "live guide" package in English and Spanish. They gave some basic info to everyone on the bus, but then they were giving more details to the paying customers on their devices. The rest of the people (audio guide and discovery) could not hear them. In the castles, they led their groups, and the rest of us were roaming the area independently. It was important to be punctual during this tour, but we felt like the free time that was given was enough to see everything and get some lunch in a very relaxed manner. Caution: DO NOT get the audio guide! because it's loaded on your phone, and apparently, it depends on the internet connection, and if the connection in the castle is off, your audio guide is not working. That's what happened to us. We couldn't use the audio guide while in the castles. But when we got back to the bus, it was working fine. So either get the live guide or just do the discovery option. It would be more educational with the live guide, of course, but it was fine to be on our own too. You can rent the audio guide devices in the castles, which I am sure work well. The really bad part of the tour FOR US was the "luxury bus". If you are a tall person, beware - your knees will not be happy. My husband is 6'3" and I am 5'9" - it was a torture for us to sit in those seats. So the tight bus seating and the useless audio guide app knocked off the fifth star. Otherwise, the tour was wonderful and totally worth it.

Wonderful trip on Loire Valley

We left from Paris at 07.00 with the bus. Franck and Severine are very nice are caring people, they told a story about each castle before we arrived and we had also the audio guide when we went inside. We visited 2 castles: Chambord the largest one, Chenonceau and Cheverny. Loire Valley with its castles looks like a fairytale and it was the best decision for a day trip. Thank you.

Great Tour!

Chambord castle tour was great, guide could speak 3 languages well and very knowledgeable bus was comfortable

Not good

The chateaux are gorgeous and the bus was comfortable. We really really wanted to enjoy this tour, but we were given zero information about any of the places we visited. The tour leader didn’t seem to know anything. We had paid for audio guides but they didn’t work. Victor explained that this could ONLY be because the new technology that they just installed last month is too new for our phones. The “new technology” was a standard QR code — adopted what, 12 years ago now? — and our phones are iPhone 13 pros, 3 years old and hardly ancient. He said that nobody uses iPhones any more. He kept repeating that we are lucky because scanning is so much better than what they had been using. When we asked how to get the cost of the guides refunded, he said it has nothing to do with him because he doesn’t work for the company, and discouraged us from calling customer service because “they won’t do anything.”

Merveilleux!

I chose to take a guided tour rather than just the audio guided tour. I am so glad I did! Our guide added so much insight into the people who built and lived or stayed at the chateaus, not just the history and architectural features. The memories will last a lifetime.

3 castles!

The cheateaus were each very unique. Chambord was huge with a beautiful staircase. Chenonceau over the water was exquisite. Cheverny was fun with all of the Easter decor.

Fine Introduction to Loire Valley Chateaux

The trip was well organized. Chambord is most impressive for its planning, Chenonceau most beautiful and delightful, and Cheverny notable mainly for its dogs. Lots of views of Loire river and its valley, other items of interest along the route, other small chateaux along the route, and generally a beautiful drive. Points of interest were noted on bus intercom by our guide for the day. Suggestions for Paris City Vision: 1) please setup the App audiotour so the content can be downloaded ahead of time. I was constantly having trouble playing audioguide due to poor or zero cell network connection, and not all the places have a wifi available. Not sure why it is setup this way to require a network connection in order to play. 2) please open the toilet on the bus. Your excuse of "we closed it for covid" is very outdated. It is really needed on a long tour like this. The failure to reopen the toilet this long after covid is just dumb. 3) please notify ahead of time if the bus will (or will not) have power outlets for recharging devices. Now that audiotour is by App on your own iphone, it means you are going to run out of battery on a long trip like this. Our bus for Loire had no outlets. It would be nice to know that in advance. 4) please give a more accurate end/return time for planning purposes. I found that the stated return time was overstated by around an hour each time. So if their materials said 9:30pm return, we got back at about 8:30pm. This had happened on multiple PCV tours. So if you are planning dinner, you may have it way too late because you paid too careful attention the stated return time. As the time is stated now, it is basically the worst case scenario with terrible traffic, which doesn't happen very often.

Loved it

I enjoyed the tour but the audio did not work well. The guide seemed nice and knowledgeable. Since it was an early start I wish we could have stopped for croissants or something.

Wonderful Castle Tour Experience

My family and I took this tour during the month of November and thoroughly enjoyed the castle tour. The pickup point was conveniently located at a hotel which allowed us to use the facilities prior to boarding as there is no bathroom on the tour bus. We did get a 20 minute break stop 1.5 hours after departure to use the facilities and buy food and drinks. Unfortunately, other tourists didn’t abide to the 20 minute time limitation and the tour guides were effective in communicating the importance of being on time. We had no further issues after that. Our tour bus driver was amazing in navigating through Paris rush hour traffic as well as navigating through some very narrow streets. The tour guides were also friendly and knowledgeable in the history of the castle as well as the surrounding areas. As expected, weather was cold and rained during our visit to Chateau Chenonceau. So, you will want to dress warm and bring an umbrella for unforeseen changes to the weather. I would also suggest you pack food and drink prior to departure so you don’t waste time trying to use the facilities and compete with others to purchase food and drink. The views of the countryside outside of Paris are so beautiful. It is an experience you will want to add to your list.

very dissapointed

very poor guide performance, no comments during bus trip, no explanation of the audio device, bus driver was OK

Loire valley and the majestic chateaus… breathtaking

Thé trip is a lengthy bus tour so you have to be prepared to be traveling for a good chunk of the day. The sites are well worth the travel and sun ply take your breath away!

Worst 13 hours in life with no air conditioning, hot air blowing on face ,40 degrees in bus

Absolutely worst day ever that we paid $500.00 plus $150.00 to get to pick up point. Bus no air conditioning for the 13 hours no air on bus ,felt sick with migraine by 12pm at 2nd castle , driver was constantly pushing on brakes,had to wait in heat of bus at 1pm as bus doors wouldn’t close to leave , told tour guide ,said bring it up with bus driver I did he said nothing. It says luxury coach ,messaged Viator at 2pm for full refund,sat in shade at 3rd castle didn’t even go in as felt so sick from no air conditioning,heat would of been around 38-40 degrees in bus ,tour guide couldn’t even buy us water in the middle of the day with putting up with such an unpleasant hot trip for $500.00 . I’ve spent $5,000 with Viator in total for tours on our Europe trip , have not yet received feed back from our terrible experience for 13 hours no air in bus only hot air blowing through vents un comfortable seats and advertised as a luxury coach experience.

Visit to the Loire Valley Castles

We had an extraordinary guide, Maria Amelia, who was extremely patient, agreeable and knowledgeable! The entire group that took us on our trip to visit the castles of the Loire Valley were terrific! I strongly recommend this visit! BRAVO! Best Margot Brand

Three completely different castles.

A most interesting full day tour. An excellent guide took us around three different types of French castles. The first was still a lived in private residence into which we felt we could move in to tomorrow quite happily and was our favourite. The second one had magnificent laid out gardens and was for a while in the hands of Catherine de Medici. The last one, in French State hands, was absolutely jaw dropping from the outside but disappointed on the inside - at its peak it covered the same amount of territory as Paris does today!!!!! The only downside was the time it took by coach to reach the three separate locations. It was quite tiring but our driver did a magnificent job of manoeuvring the coach through all the narrow country roads without incident.

The audio guide was the...

The audio guide was the original by the company, so it’s not enough someone who want to know deeply. But for me, it’s the best guide because we could choose my preference language, the routes and information were the best for the tour time each castle. So I enjoyed everything!!

Fun and informative

We didn’t pan anything. This was last minute. I had my reservations about a large tour group, but all and all we loved it! It was an amazing experience. Will definitely recommend for friends or anyone wanting to get outside the city and see some amazing architecture and history!

Good enough tour

The audio guides did not work properly. Also, the people guiding the group were not very nice, they were annoyed when we asked a couple of simple questions. But overall the tour got the job done.

Good intro to chateaux

This tour was a great way to condense three chateau visits into one day. If you are pressed for time, it would be really difficult to see all three on your own in the same time frame. That said, the amount of time spent at each one is necessarily limited by the fact that you are hitting all three in one day. The audio equipment that came with the tour didn't work, but our guide didn't really need it. She was wonderful and spoke English and Spanish fluently. She was very enthusiastic about the history of the places - I assume she is probably a history teacher.

The. Castles and the...

The. Castles and the villages were very good. However, the tour guide was below average saying a lot of inaccurate things especially in regards of the Greek and Roman antiquities and history! A lot of misinformation on these subjects was passed along with very little regard of the truth!

Too much in too little time

We booked in a National holiday, so going into it we knew there was a possibility of delays... However, at every stop we were given a departure time and at every stop we were waiting 15+ minutes for late people. That's nearly an hour of our trip waiting on a bus for unreliable people. Now, I understand this is not entirely the tour's fault. That lies with the other travellers who can't manage their time. However, a choice was made to wait for them. This meant that by the time we got to our last Chateau (which was the whole reason I booked this tour) we were given only 60mins to view the massive Chateau. That was just enough time to walk from parking to the Chateau, take a few pictures inside and out then run back to the bus. Didn't learn a thing about the place. To rub salt into the wound, after racing back to the bus after that final Chateau, we ended up waiting another 20mins after our scheduled departure time for late people.... I think perhaps a statement at the beginning of the trip stating that because we have a tight schedule, we will not be waiting for people, and only giving a 5 minute buffer. We're all adults, we can all tell the time. And we can all find our way back to Paris if we miss the bus. At the end of the day, it's our fault that were late and missed the bus.

Choose audio guide version over in person guide....

Guide was more concerned with who could and couldn't hear the tour than with giving out info (pamphlets at locations contained more info)

The Royal Experience

The visit of the 3 castles was very good, my favorite castles were # 2 and 3, but you could add a tour of the Tin Tin exhibition at Cheverny, there was not enough time to visit the Castle and the exhibition. One negative thing is that the guide had to say everything in English and Spanish which took a lot of the time of the visit, and which is inefficient in my opinion, it would be better to have one guide for the English group and one guide for the Spanish group.

Enjoyable day

Our guide Fabio was fantastic in explaining every castle we went to. He managed the pace of the 3 castle visits perfectly. Highly recommend this tour.

Great tour, totally recommend

Amazing guide who knew a lot about the chateaux and the area. Only suggestion I have is that I wish we had a little bit more time at the last chateau.

Trip

Pleasurable. Would have liked a little more time. Chateaus were all different which made it more interesting. I liked that there were 3 Chateaus instead of 2.

Beautiful Castles

Very amusing and knowledgeable guide! Lots of walking and stairs We could hear everything perfectly with the headphones. Downside: castles get very crowded in the afternoons. If you wanted to eat lunch you had to cut your tour short as the tourist restaurants are crowded and slow. We felt the bus should have stopped at a highway sandwich stop for a quicker lunch. Also, I'm sure I signed up for a wine tasting which never materialized!! We ended up just buying some untested wine.

Nightmarish experience

We've arrived at the meeting point 30 minutes early. Our tour pickup was at 7:00 am. Past 7 no one was showing up. I called the local tour operator multiple times. No one was answering. We've waited until 7:30 am. Finally a french lady approached us and said the tour left without us. She was unapologetic and arguing with us trying to blame us for their mistake. She even said she approached us to ask if we were part of the tour which was a big lie. There were 9 adults in our group and no one was approached or was asked if they were part of the tour. No phone calls, no emails no text from them. Paris City Vision was the local tour operator. They were horribly unresponsive, terrible customer service one that will give you nightmares. Very rude and unprofessional when speaking to paying customers. Unhelpful and will try to get away from their mistakes by initiating arguments. I will never ever book a tour with this company. I am now trying to recover from the horrible nightmarish experience we've had with them by asking for a refund for the tour they did not bring us to and now they have the guts to refuse it. What a real nightmare.

Sample of Loire Vally Castles

Three very different and interesting castles with view of even more - great way to get a taste of the Loire Valley!

So much fun and interesting trip

Entire tour was so much fun, Just one note-: Asian tour guide should have been at the bus station to meet with the group at 6:30 am, thought we were lost, we thought we were in the wrong place, Tour guide, was very knowledgeable experience, and pleasant to work with

Good Tour Option

The tour was phenomenal but a lot was packed into this tour leaving us little or no time at all for the wine tasting that we were looking forward to. However, Laila our tour guide was phenomenal and was very knowledgeable of all the chateau's history visited for the day.

A long day, but a great...

A long day, but a great trip. Consider a bit more time at one of the chateaus to have time to visit the village shops or have a glass of local wine.

Good tour, nice sites and friendly guides

Great tour and we really enjoyed the trip. Guides were very good and easy to understand. Lunch at the second chateux was a good choice as there is a variety to choose from and the food was a bit expensive but tasty. The only downsides were that the meeting site is easy to find but not easy to tell if you are in the right place as there are no identifying signs until the leader arrives. Also, anyone taking this trip should be prepared for a long day. The bus was very comfortable but it was 12+ hour day so we were very tired from the early start and getting back at 8 p.m.

Very rushed

Pros: if you are tired of the urban feel of Paris it is a beautiful trip in the Loire Valley. Besides the chateaux that you stop and visit, you also see some on the drive. The Chenonceau Chateau is magical- very serene. Cons: you drive a lot and you don’t stay very long at each place. You are under immense time pressure to squeeze it all in. Just be aware that it is not a relaxing tour and you get about an hour in each place. We were about to have a quick stop on the way from Paris to the first Chateau for restrooms and food but they did not stop on the way back (going back took longer). Our guide was very knowledgeable of the history but after a while it was too much information. I would recommend taking a train from Paris to Chenonceaux and taking your time.

Good Tour Option

This was a great way to see three of the châteaux in the Loire Valley. We had an excellent guide and while time was tight, it was adequate to see all three. The disappointment was not in the tour itself, but in the fact that Chambord, the most physically stunning of the three, was covered in scaffolding. This really detracted from the views.

A Nightmare

Terrible customer service. I’ve been trying to get a refund since January 2020. I’ll get messages about how my refund is processing, to months & months of dead silence, to generic automatic responses and now they’re asking for my bank information, routing number, etc for a wire transfer? Where did my credit card information go? I never thought I’d have to beg for a refund, but dang, this is ridiculous. No one answers the phone either. JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK! Don’t use this company, stay away. This has been going on for so long, that the tab for selecting “when did you go” doesn’t even include January 2020.

Tour guide Addi made the tour amazing!

Fun to leave Paris & see the Loire valley & Castles. Addi was the best tour guide- she was witty, knowledgeable, and had a great sense of humor! The bus ride was rather long so it really helped to have an amazing guide!

Castles were Amazing.

This was one of our favorite trips. We had a French guide, and she was exceptional. She knew so much about the history and castles, we enjoyed each of the castles. It is some walking and stairs, but some of the persons in our group that struggled were able to sit and enjoy the gardens. This was a wonderful trip, it is expensive, but the price includes entrance fees and a tour guide inside the castle.

Worst experience ever

The tour was horrible, im a 24 old girl alone and i got lost in the castle for 15 minutes and the guide tour left me!!!! i had to go back to paris alone. I would never ever recommend your tour. Pathetic!

Great tour

Great tour by John today!! Definitely no coronavirus on this tour haha! Great tour/ wine/ and chateaus. John is very knowledgeable as well. Beautiful day outside of Paris.

Fabulous

So much fun! The tour guides were very friendly and keen to make sure we were all happy. The chateau’s were lovely. The owner of the chateau where we ate tried really hard to make us feel welcome and the food was all locally made. Love that kind of thing. Art, history, food and wine all in one experience!

Worth It Overall

I found this trip to be worth it overall to get a stress-free day out of Paris at some beautiful castles. Some downsides were the amount of time spent driving (although it was so early that I slept on the bus, and they do everything they can to stretch the day out), and that I was less impressed with Chambord then Chenonceau. Chambord was freezing cold (it was January, early in the morning, and the castle was not heated) and frankly less impressive than Chenonceau. I also did the audio guide instead of live guide to save money, and found Chambord confusing to navigate by myself. Lunch was good not great but I was grateful they easily accommodated a vegetarian meal request I made day of. The wine tasting was brief and there were not seats for everyone, but the wine was delicious. We tasted three wines and were also offered snacks. The drive also included some pretty views such as a few villages that we drove through.

Loire Valley Day Trip, Chambord and Chenonceau Castles

This was a very enjoyable trip. We saw there were trips which stopped at 3 chateaus but only stopping at two gave more time to view the chateaus. It was our belief that stopping at 3 would be too rushed. Our guide was excellent. We would highly recommend this not only to see the chateaus buy also to view the countryside. It is a drive but well worth it. The lunch was way beyond expectations. Really good food.

Guide was extremely boring

While the castles themselves were beautiful, and I'm glad I went - I would have much preferred to travel there myself and do a self guided tour. Here's why: 1. Our guide was really boring, and the information he gave was very surface level -- I think maybe he didn't have a strong enough grasp of the English language to really dive into detail about things. He also would just leave when he was done talking, and didn't allow us to ask any questions. Instead he immediately returned to the bus while we finished wandering around. 2. The wine tasting was really lack-luster. There weren't chairs for people to sit in. It was literally in a cold hallway with a table set up with glasses. They didn't even rinse your glasses out between different wines. It was very strange. The boar pate was good, though...but that was only a bonus. 3. There is hardly anything inside the castles. There are some paintings and furniture, but only in like 2 or 3 rooms - the rest is totally empty. You're really paying to see the outside and take some pictures, so that's another reason why i would have preferred to just drive myself. Would have been cheaper probably.

Enjoyable Tour

What a wonderful tour. We had comfortable transport during this excursion, Our tour guide, Florence, was very informative and helpful. Both chateaux are worth a visit and she provided some of the amazing history for each as well as the Loire region. . The wine tasting was held at Chambord and was fun. Lunch was at the restaurant St Hubert and was very good . Overall, it was a long day but such an interesting and fun trip.

Worth it if you don’t have the time to drive there yourself!

Loire Valley & the Château‘s are amazingly beautiful!! Because it’s so far from Paris (3 1/2 hour bus ride) the visits to the Château’s are very rushed. However if it’s your only opportunity to go out there I still recommend this tour. The buses are very comfortable.

Highly recommend

This was a really nice trip albeit long. Our guide was excellent. She did a great job of doing English and Spanish. It was a long trip back to Paris but totally worth it. Lunch was ok.

Nice tour but not worth the money

The castles are lovely and the drive around the area is too. However, for the price you paid for this tour, I wish they had something more to do or maybe more time? You are pretty much driving around for hours, get an hour at a castle and then that's it. The wine tasting is good but we felt on the rush side. Don't get me wrong, this is probably good for an older crowd but if you are more into the adventure and really get to see a place this tour is not for you. Our guide Martina was wonderful, she always has an answer to your question and she did a great job of explaining English and Spanish.

Worth the Bus Ride!

Our tour guide, Martina, was amazingly knowledgable! She gave excellent background information on the chateaux and their history. While we were hesitant about the length of the bus ride from Paris, the coach was very comfortable and the views were well worth it. The French countryside and medieval villages we passed through were gorgeous. Highly recommended!