A walking holiday in the Loire past châteaux

We loved each and every day of our walking holiday. In retrospect, and especially given the unexpected heat wave, we might have customized our tour to allow for an extra night in Usse. We arrived too hot and tired from the walk from Azay-Le-Rideau to take in the beautiful chateau that afternoon, and needed to leave early the next morning to beat the heat. It’s probably our age, really — almost 70. I also picked up three ticks on the walks, two of which latched on and and got engorged, so it might be good to emphasize even a little more the need for frequent tick checks. Again, I think we would have been better at this if it hadn’t been so very hot. (No worries, though. In Maine, ticks are all over the place and it will be a simple matter to get preventative treatment on our return to the US.) The Fontevraud Abbey, the Azay chateau and the fortresses at Chinon were all just fascinating. Despite temps in the mid-nineties, we spent four lovely hours at the Abbey! The food at the Croix Blanche was superb! 

This was a delightful hike. We brought our extended family, ages 14  to 72 and we all enjoyed the walks, hotels and villages chosen. The Loire valley is in a beautiful part of France. This was our 4th hike with Inntravel and this trip was another wonderful experience. They are so thorough and made our hiking vacation a success for the whole family. This hike is doable, especially for beginning hikers. Thank you! 

Another wonderful trip! Straightforward walking through pleasant scenery, with excellent food and wine each day. Inntravel are friendly and efficient, and just make everything so easy! Looking forward to our next trip with you.

We loved our holiday experience. This was our first trip with Inntravel and it worked perfectly. Every train, taxi, luggage transfer worked without any hitches. We loved the walk. The map and directions were very helpful. We did use our phone on google maps every now and then to confirm our location. The hotels were all very nice and very helpful making dinner reservations for us. The lunches the hotels packed were great. 

We were so lucky to have perfect weather for this holiday. At one point in Candace-St Martin we overheard a Chinese tourist tell her host with great enthusiasm that there were no crowds.  When I mentioned that Nancy and I could be considered a crowd she carefully restated her original statement as, "No Clouds."  And she was right.  We had no clouds - what could have been more perfect. Also, it was a real highlight to make friends with other Inntravel customers, who were doing this walk one day behind us in the schedule. At each of the 2-night stops it was great fun to get together with them to boat ride on the Vienne, to look for restaurants in Chinon, or to sit in a cafe for a beer. We also very much enjoyed talking for 1/2 hour in the cool of the morning in Fontevraud with other Inntravellers, delaying the start of our walk on Day 6, but enriching our day immensely.

A great holiday. It was lovely to enjoy the walking without having to work out our own routes on unfamiliary terroritory and without having to carry all our luggage. The hotels were far better than we expected and always in the best location.

This was our first walking holiday with Inntravel, having heard about the company from a radio interview on a local South African station. We were impressed by the professional approach of Inntravel staff in UK and by the co ordination between Inntravel, hotels and taxis. The walks were varied and very interesting, combining trails along rivers, through forests and over undulating open countryside. The itinerary was well planned, with plenty of free time to explore charming towns and villages such as Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon and Fontevraud.

We had a fantastic walking tour with Inntravel on the Chateaux and Vineyard tour.  The hotels were all of a good standard for Europe and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful and even spoke English - very useful!  The hotels were all in superb locations, right in the middle of the villages with easy access to various restaurants.  The walks were interesting, along country lanes mostly with some lovely scenery and also through some forest areas.  There were some hills (not many) and they were easily negotiated.  The routes notes and maps were very good - just about challenging enough in some areas to make it interesting.  The staff at Inntravel themselves were knowledgeable and very helfpul and caring.  We had a great trip and I would definitely use Inntravel again if they had a walking tour in the area I required - well done Inntravel

A fascinating insight into the history and culture of the Loire Valley, with stays in charming villages and towns. Do take the time before you walk to read about the key events and personalities explored in the places you will visit. This wiIl enrich your experience.

The holiday was perfect. It was very good to slow down to 3 mph and what a treat to have everything organised for us so seamlessly. The Hotel de Biencourt was exceptional.

We will definitely book with you again.

Thank you

We had an excellent lunch at the creperie "La Dentelliere" in Montsoreau - it looks out onto the river and is open on Mondays (when several other restaurants were closed).

I thought the trip was very well organized, with interesting background information and excellent walking instructions. I had a wonderful experience. 

The travel arrangements worked perfectly! The amount of time allowed to get to the TGV from CDG was generous and appreciated. The taxis arrived right on time. The hotels were just fine, Azay being the standout (not the best-appointed rooms, but the best atmosphere and hosts). The dinners at the hotel in Fontevraud were superb, as were the outdoor patios for drinks.

Our walks were enough of a challenge for us and mostly beautiful terrain. 

Overall we had an excellent time. The walks weren't particular interesting especially the one from Azay to Rigny. Would suggest that another walk is devised for this part given that I would only rate the hotel at Rigny as average. 

The Chateau at Azay-le-Rideau is captivating especially since its recent external renovations. The hotel well-placed for enjoying this charming town. We enjoyed dinners at Cote Cour and at la Credence (a bit cheaper and perfectly acceptable).

Following recommendations we had dinner at At'Able in Chinon, this was excellent. We also went to La Maison Rouge in Rue Voltaire which was a bit cheaper but with an imaginative menu. The service was excellent in both restaurants.

The chateau at Chinon had a brilliant system of little guidebooks with electronic chip so that one could hear commentary in our own language as we toured the castle.

We enjoyed a boat trip on the river at Chinon - very uncommercialised, the trip in an open boat lasted about an hour. The skipper answered questions but did not have a non-stop patter!

The Hotel St Paul Rive Gauche gave the opportunity of a few very enjoyable hours in Paris. We managed to spend about two hours in the Louvre, and we enjoyed the stunning Art Nouveau decor of the restaurant Bouillon Racine.

Overall this was a superb holiday, we would not hesitate to go with Inntravel again.

We struck lucky this week at Azay Le Rideau, 2nd night there was a free music festival in the town. At Chinon there was a 2 day vintage car rally taking place. At Fontevraud we arrived as a 40km vintage bike rally was passing through with hundreds of riders from the villages.

This walking tour was a great balance between walking and having time to explore and sightsee in the towns and villages. We were continually amazed at how wonderful the accommodations and food were and the total reliability of the taxi service. We had no worries about the mechanics of the vacation so could relax and enjoy the pleasure of just walking. The difficulty grade was as advertised and we did walk in tennis shoes/trainers not boots. This is a fabulous walking company and tour so quit reading the reviews and contact the good and professional people in the office and sign up for your best walking vacation ever!

Our first experience with a planned hiking vacation was outstanding! Inntravel was easy to work with and very communicative during the entire planning process. The hikes they planned were relaxing and beautiful. The hiking notes they provide have a wealth of information both for the region and for the hike. It was always a pleasure to arrive at the hotels they had arranged after a long day's hike and meet the wonderful people there. We will most definitely take a trip with them again!

As first time hikers using the high resolution maps, it took us a day to understand the value of the hiking notes and the map when used together. As soon as that was clear everything fell into place for us.

We had a delightful vacation! The accomodations, transportation and logistical support helped us have a stress-free week in the beautiful Loire Valley!

We have done many other tours including prior self guided walking tours but none have been as well organized as Inntravel. The detailed walking guides were very well written to avoid any wrong turn. The overall pacing of the trip was stimulating and relaxing. We requested additional transfer from train to first and last hotels which went very well. 

We did our version of this holiday with me doing all of the walking and my wife taking the car from hotel to hotel. It worked very well. We thoroughly enjoyed the week which was a balanced mixture of discovery, relaxation, exercise and good food and drink.