Looking at the proximity of Villandry to the city of Tours I was wondering if the local experts would recommend this chateaux as one worth visiting.
It appears to have very nice gardens. On their website they suggest a shuttle bus to get there but give no further information as to points of departure of this shuttlebus. Does anyone know where you might get the bus from if you are based in Tours? Is there a village or town close to the chateaux?
www.chateauvillandry.com
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I%26#39;ll go to Villandry for the 1st time in July, so I can%26#39;t tell from personal experience, but some friens of mine told me the gardens are unforgetable, really worth a visit.
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The gardens at Villandry are certainly the highlight; the château itself is less interesting, but the whole estate is lovely.
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I actually thought that the Villandry chateaux was the nicest of the three that I visited. Beautiful gardens. We were able to get a bus from the main bus station at about 9 a.m. that returned at about 12.30 p.m. Wednesday and Saturdays only. The cost...only €3 return. We were the only people on the bus going to and coming back from the chateaux...it was like a private coach transfer. Bring a picnic.
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Box - which three chateaux did you visit?
We%26#39;re thinking of visiting Chambord and Chenonceau when we%26#39;re in the Loire next month...
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I visited Villandry for the first time in May. Mrs Wiz was more impressed than me - I kind of got the joke, but the garden is a bit of a one trick pony. Didn%26#39;t do the chateau itself, because really it%26#39;s the garden that Villandry is famous for.
Chenonceau is the must see, and I would add Montpoupon as second choice because its just so perfectly cliched.
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Chenonceau is a dream to get to if travelling from Tours. You can get a train direct from Tour trainstation. It stops in front of the chateaux. It cost €22.80 or thereabouts for two people return. The chateau is very nice but I was disappointed with the flower plantings in the gardens. Mostly pink, yes I know they were planted for two females, but I thought that the choice of flowers in the garden were very basic. I have more exitic flowers in my own garden and I am not a big time gardener. Bring a picnic as we did because the self service restaurant on the grounds had a long queue out the door.
We also got the train to Amboise. It is a very pretty village with some very nice restaurants offering various menu of the day for as little as €12. We had a nice 4 course lunch for €11.90 in one of the restaurants facing on to the side wall of the chateaux. Again the train journey was a similar price. Just a tip. Most of the chateaux were charging €9 entrance fee. You can purchase entrance tickets at the Tours Tourist office, opposite the train and bus station for a discount of about €1.50 per ticket.
If travelling to Tours avoid going there on Sunday. The town was dead with most of the restaurants closed and the bars lifeless.
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Thanks, we%26#39;re taking the car and will be there for only 5 nights, sadly.
We will be very close to Chambord so thats a must see. Will do one other, as the kids will suffer from Chateau fatigue... And we also want to do some wine purchasing.
Would it be worth our while, to stop off in Versailles on the way towards Calais, even just to see the gardens for a while? Its about a 5 hour journey, but Versailles appears to be about mid way.
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BOXtheFOX
I think you miss the point about the planting at Chenonceau
It isnt a place for displaying the latest trendy plants, it is a traditional garden, planted in the traditional way with the traditional plants. I dont know if anyone bother visiting a chateau where the garden was just the same as any other modern garden in any other city. The idea of these gardens isn%26#39;t the plants, it%26#39;s the overall effect of the planting scheme.
I personally find it a bit dull - but then I find most formal gardens a bit dull after the initial response of %26quot;that%26#39;s pretty sharp%26quot;
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BOXtheFox:
We visited Villandry while staying in Amboise. I agree with the other posters that the gardens are incredible and well worth the visit. Skip the chateau itself-quite uninspiring. The gardens are the draw here and are unlike any other chateau we visited. I highly recommend Chambord but you really need an audioguide and for some reason there were no English ones available when we arrived. We got lost using their sorry map guide. It is enormous and there are so many hallways, stairs, etc. It is a must see, too.
We also visited Chenenceau and took an early morning balloon ride another day that went over the chateau at dawn (breathtaking) and the surrounding farms and fields of sunflowers Since we were staying in Amboise we visited the chateau which was very nice and did not require more than 1 hour. It is right in the town and so there are many places to eat and walk around. Visit the home of Leonardo da Vinci who spent his last years in Amboise at the invitation of the king.
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I agree with the statement that the attraction of Villandry is the gardens, rather than the chateau.
After visiting the gardens at Villandry, it is only a short drive to the chateau of Ussée, also known as the Sleeping Beauty chateau. This is a far more interesting chqateau than Villandry
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