Let's Visit the Castles/Loire Valley in Paris

Loire Valley South of Paris:

This week, I will try to give you information about a fairy-tale region. The “Valley of the Castles”, also known as the “Valley of the Loire”, which you can reach by a 2-hour drive south of the city of Paris, is a really different place that puts people in the comics environment we read as a child. Only if you spare at least 4-5 days for this region, you will be able to visit these places and leave with other enjoyable activities and good memories. If you include the city of Paris, a 10-day trip would be absolutely perfect. Since renting a car will be the most advantageous choice for such a trip, making a reservation in advance for such a trip, especially in the spring months, will reduce the costs considerably.

Transportation Timing and Considerations:

Airline companies that regularly operate scheduled flights to Paris from our country use Charles-De-Gaulle and Orly airports. Both airports draw attention with their wide and efficient service to passengers. Since we are not a member of the European Union in the large and large airport, passport procedures can take a long time from time to time. On top of that, although they speak English, the processes in question may take longer due to the fact that the officers persistently speak French and repeat their questions in this way. There is no problem with your visa at the time of entry to the country, and if you have full reservations for your departure/arrival tickets and accommodation, this period will be considerably shorter. If you consider the approximately 3-hour flight and the 1-2 hour period, if you want to go outside and start exploring as soon as possible, it will be appropriate for you to choose the first planes of the day, both financially and in terms of effective time use.

Because the city of Paris is a city that attracts a lot of tourists in Europe, it has a considerable amount of traffic as well as being extremely crowded. For this reason, it is extremely important that you plan your visit here in detail in advance and evaluate the places you will stay in this context separately. In this article, since I will only take you to the Valley of the Castles, I will try to convey the Paris tour that I have planned in two parts.

There are all kinds of transportation possibilities for the area where you will stay at the exit of the terminal. If you follow the signs that direct you to the rental car area, you can be in your car, which you made a reservation in advance, within 30 minutes of the terminal exit. Again, thanks to offline navigation applications that you can download to your phone beforehand; You can easily visit both the Valley of the Castles and the city of Paris, both by car and on foot, without any problems.

For this reason, we arrived in Paris on the first flight in the morning, set off with our rental car, and reached our hotel at the beginning of the Castles Valley at approximately 13:30. After the procedures, we immediately started to go out and explore and enjoy. Since this region covers a very large area, it requires planned activities within the framework of everyone's own pleasure areas. Because the castles in question are extremely numerous, large and small. It takes a long time to visit all of them one by one. When you add the tasting places of the famous French wines that I think should be visited while you are here, and the rituals here, proper planning is very important.

Accommodation Options:

When approaching the Loire region from Paris, you can stay in a 2-person bed and breakfast concept in many 3-4 star hotels for a fee of approximately 40 euros. If you want to stay in the castles and hotels in the region, you have to take into account much higher fees and car parking fees of 20-30 euros. Preferring breakfast options is recommended as a suitable option for you to start the trip directly. Otherwise, you will have to look for an additional breakfast place in the morning and spend time. During our visit here, we tried to use it more effectively in terms of time by staying in the hotels located in the direction of the arrival from Paris for the first 2 days and staying in the hotels at the exit of the region for the next 2 days. In this way, we took advantage of the opportunity to visit and see many, if not all, chateaus, and to visit and experience almost all wine tasting cellars, taste them at very affordable prices and buy the French wines we like.

Hundreds of Castles Together:

I can only share the images of the castles in the region with you on a limited basis. If you can go there, I can only give you an idea because you have the opportunity to see hundreds of them. As I mentioned at the beginning of my article, it is a fairy-tale land and people can pass out here. When you add the breadth and variety of eating and drinking opportunities to this, you can predict the result.

A very pleasant car journey awaits you, especially after you leave Paris on your trip in the spring. You will reach the land of fairy tales by looking at the beauties where you can feel the awakening of nature after winter. If you plan the castles you will visit depending on your duration for your trip (you can see them on the internet), you can use your time effectively with minimum time loss. You must allocate at least 3 hours for each castle. You will agree with me when you see that some of them are extremely large and sometimes it takes 10-15 minutes to walk from the car park to the castle. When you add to this, the examination of the valuable works exhibited in some of the castles, you will see that sometimes these times are not enough.

Food & Drink and Wine Making/Tasting Places:

Wine tasting places are waiting for you in the form of caves / cellars, in an extremely authentic style. It is served with 4-5 Euros per person, accompanied by 4-5 types of wine and cheese/crackers. Wine glasses are changed for each variety and filled almost to the brim in quantity. Wine prices also vary between 5-10 euros. Of course, although there are brands and varieties for which a much higher price is charged, wines for which a very high price is demanded in our country can be procured between 5-10 Euros from the mentioned production and tasting venues.

In this region, where there are many restaurants and cafes, average coffee prices are around 2 Euros. Average meal portion fees in restaurants are around 10-12 Euros, including seafood. When you come here, especially beef and red meat products are highly recommended. I remind you that you will eat similar dishes at least 2-3 times in the center of Paris. The only problem is if you have a very cooked eating habit like me, meat is usually served medium cooked, no matter how much you warn it. I wish you a pleasant trip, saying that God will not give you greater grief.