How to get to the Loire Valley
Travelling to the Loire is easy!
Travelling to the Loire Valley is straightforward. Here we help you with information on travelling to the Loire from Paris, local flights into Loire Valley airports, driving to the Loire by car and getting to the Loire Valley by train.
Taking Paris as your starting point, the Loire Valley starts around 130kms south-west of Paris and heads due west for a further 400kms all the way to the Atlantic coast. Our Loire Cycle Tours are based at the midway point, near the beautiful town of Saumur and in the heart of Chateaux and wine country.
How to fly to Loire Valley
Flying to the Loire from overseas
- Arrive into Paris Charles de Gaulle airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle airport should be your arrival point in France. - Find the high speed train station in Terminal 2
Head to the “Train de Grande Vitesse” (TGV) train station in Terminal 2 of the airport. Trains will speed you to the Loire Valley in 1.5 hours. - Take a high speed train
Take a TGV to either Angers St Laud or Tours Saint Pierres-des-Corps. There are direct trains to both destinations from Terminal 2. You do not need to travel into Paris first. - Make a train connection for Saumur
Whether you arrive into Angers or Tours, you need to change to a local train to Saumur – a 30 minutes ride. - Enjoy our pickup service
If you are joining us on our Loire Valley Discovery Cycle Tour or short cycling break we will collect you from Saumur station.
Flying to the Loire from Europe
There are three Loire Valley airports which have services to destinations in the rest of Europe.
Airports in the Loire Valley
Tours Loire Valley Airport
The closest airport to Loire Life Cycling. There are Ryanair services with London Stansted and Dublin airports.
Travel to Saumur can be completed by catching a taxi to Tours Centre train station and taking the train to Saumur.
Alternatively there are car hire desks and the airport is 1 hour from Loire Life Cycling.
Nantes Airport
The largest in the Loire Valley and has many services to the UK and continental Europe.
Travel to Saumur can be completed with a taxi/airport bus to Nantes station and taking the train to Saumur.
Again there are car hire desks at the airport with a journey time of 2 hours by road to Loire Life Cycling.
Poitiers Airport
A small airport 1.5 hours south of Loire Life Cycling.
Poitiers Airport has Ryanair services to London and Dublin.
There is no easy train transfer to Loire Life Cycling so you would need to hire a car at the airport.
How to get to the Loire Valley by Rail
Trains de Grande Vitesse (TGV) trains are the quickest way of travelling within France and to neighbouring countries.
Travelling by train to the Loire Valley you should aim for the nearest TGV stations, Tours St Pierre des Corps (TGV) or Angers St Laud (TGV).
TOP TIP! There are two stations in the city of Tours. Tours St Pierre des Corps and Tours Centre.
From both of these stations you make a connection to a local train service to Saumur station, which takes 25 minutes. We provide a minibus pickup service from Saumur station to our location at Le Gué de Ray.
To the Loire from Paris by train
The high-speed trains to Angers St Laud and Tours Saint Pierre des Corps leave from Paris Montparnasse. (1 Hour)
You can also take slower and cheaper trains to Angers and Tours from Gare Austerlitz Paris.
There is also a direct train from Gare Austerlitz Paris to Saumur which takes 2.5 hours and is up to 80% cheaper than using the TGV.
To the Loire from London by train
From London take the Eurostar from London St Pancras to either Paris Gare du Nord or Lille International.
Arriving in Paris Gare du Nord you cross Paris to Paris Montparnasse station and catch a train to either Tours St Pierre des Corps or Angers St Laud – see above.
Arriving in Lille International you walk across to the domestic railway station and catch a train to Tours St Pierre des Corps.
Transfer to Loire Life Cycling Holidays from Saumur Station
For our Loire Discovery Cycling Holiday we provide a pickup from Saumur station at 4pm. At the end of your cycling holiday we drop off at Saumur station at 8am, enabling you to catch the first batch of morning train services from Saumur to Tours St. Pierre des Corps and Angers St Laud.
If our transfer service is not convenient for your travel arrangements, we can arrange a private taxi transfer.
Train tickets in France
The national train network in France is run by SNCF – “Société nationale des chemins de fer français“. You may be confused if you see the word OUIGO in relation to some train services – this is just a brand name – the train services are still run by SNCF.
Nowadays most tickets are bought online, either via the SNCF website sncf-connect.com or using the mobile phone app SNCF CONNECT. Most people use the e-tickets held on the mobile phone app, but you can still print out the tickets from the website or from confirmation emails you receive. The app and the website are available in English and are easy to use.
Travelling to the Loire Valley by road
Travelling to the Loire Valley by road is easy, but you do need to use the Autoroutes. You will pay a toll on the Autoroutes, but you would take all day trying to cover France on the old main roads!
Travelling to the Loire by road from Paris
By car, Loire Life Cycling is 3.5 hours from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and 3 hours from central Paris.
Travelling to the Loire by road from the UK and EIRE
All of the routes from the ports to Loire Life Cycling are on dual carriageway or Autoroute.
Eurotunnel
If you cross the channel via the tunnel we are 5 hours from the terminal
Car-Ferry
Crossing the channel or Irish sea by ferry we are:
- 2.5 hours from Caen (Brittany Ferries – Portsmouth)
- 3 hours from Le Havre (Brittany Ferries – Portsmouth)
- 4 hours from Cherbourg (Brittany Ferries – Portsmouth/Irish Ferries – Dublin)
- 4 hours Saint Malo (Brittany Ferries – Portsmouth)
- 4.5 hours from Roscoff (Brittany Ferries – Plymouth)
- 5.5 hours from Calais (P&O – Dover)
Travelling to the Loire – Advice and Assistance
We are not a Tour Operator so don’t provide packages that include travel tickets, but we are more than willing to provide advice on how to get to us at Loire Life Cycling Holidays in the most effective way.
