Getting to the Loire Valley and Touraine
By Road
The Loire Valley region is situated in the area known as Centre. Tours is the capital and ten major roads meet there. The RN10 Paris-Bordeaux road runs in parallel with the A10 motorway.
In addition, the A85 motorway is currently under construction and due to open in 2007. This will join Tours with Romorantin and effectively knock 30 minutes of the current journey. This will open the area and make the drive time between the ferry ports and the area between the two rivers, the Cher and the Loire considerably shorter.
Further Information:
- http://www.mappy.com
- http://uk.multimap.com
- Tel. +33(0) 892 70 26 34
By Rail
The TGV runs to Tours from Paris and Bordeaux; in addition there are TGV services from Tours to Lyon and Nantes. Services are increasing and at the moment there are approximately 16 return TGV services to Paris Gare Montparnasse per day. The journey takes less than an hour.
For several years, the TGV railway network has given the area direct links to other towns in the Ile-de-France area including Marne-la-Vallée which is the stop for Disneyland Paris. In addition, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport service is within the TGV network as well as the southeast of France and the Mediterranean. Marseille is now 4:50 hours from Tours/St-Pierre-des-Corps, 2:50 from Lyon, 3:00 hours from northern cities such as Lille, 3:30 hours from Brussels and 4:00 from London.
As a supplement to the TGV the TER Centre trains cover the remainder of the region with most towns having their own station. All in all making rail travel within the area really simple.
For further information, booking and sales:
- SNCF - website: http://www.sncf.com
- Eurostar - website: http://www.eurostar.com
By Air
Tours Airport is open seven days a week with frequent services to and from London Stansted with Ryanair. The recently refurbished terminal is close to the centre of Tours and enjoys free short term parking, a bus services into the city centre (less than 10 minutes), taxis and car rental and is just five minutes from the A10 motorway with is the gateway to the north and Paris and south to Bordeaux and will link to the A85 mentioned above.
Regular flights to/from Tours Airport:
- London-Stansted: Airlink London-Stansted / Tours by RYANAIR (shuttle service to the centre of Tours)
- Figari (Corse): weekly (Saturday) flight from late April to late September.
- Lyon-Saint-Exupéry: Twice a day (Monday to Friday). Numerous connecting flights to French and European cities.
Although Tours Airport is by far the closest, Angers Airport is also within easy striking distance of this area and offer flights to/from alternative destinations (such as Manchester and Southampton). Both rail and road links are excellent between Angers and Tours - expect either journey to be about 2-3 hours.
For further information, booking and sales:
- Tours Airport
Official Website: http://www.tours.aeroport.fr
Official Tel : 00 33 (0)2 47 49 37 00
Cheap flights to Tours - http://www.flylc.com/to/en/ap-tuf.htm - Angers Airport
Unofficial (but highly informative) website: http://www.angers-airport.com
Cheap flights to Angers - http://www.flylc.com/to/en/ap-ane.htm - Ryanair
Website: http://www.ryanair.com
Call Centre U.K. Tel: 0871 246 0000
Booking France Tel. 0892 555 666 - Air France call centre:
Connections from Paris Charles de Gaulle by TGV train
Tel. 00 33 (0)2 47 66 17 00
0820 820820 (inside France)
