2-day Private Top 6 Loire Castles Live Guided tour from Paris

ALERT! Very expensive.

My friend and I booked this trip for August 29, 2023 and paid in full ($2,574.30) February 2023. We expected a private luxurious minivan with expert tour guide to visit 6 castles with wine tasting. The driver picked us up August 29 2023 in a small Mercedes sedan with no adjustable seats, limited leg room for a 2.5 hour drive to the Loire Valley. He did not introduce himself or ask our names and was frequently texting while driving. I was surprised to learn that HE was also the guide for the 1st day, CYRUS and owner of Clewel travel agency with offices in Paris and Riga Latvia. En route he gave us a (middle school level) lesson on how to order in a French restaurant, and quizzed us on the number of champagnes available in the world (haha Americans always say 2) and proceeded on a long soliloquy on how French wines are labeled. He dropped us at the gate of Chambord and we used a self guided IPad for the castle tour. At the 2nd stop Amboise, we paid for our lunch at a restaurant. He then said the wine tasting would occur the 2nd day at 1 winery with 7 glasses of tasting wine servings. We shared our confusion with Cyrus thinking this was a wine and castle tour. He then arranged 2 visits to local wineries along with the lovely Chateau Chenonceau. Cyrus gave an expert tour which poses the question why he was so dismissive initially. The Chateau Belmont was the not quite luxurious but still nice hotel (190 euro/ room with breakfast). The second day we were picked up by a driver and very young, not so experienced tour guide IIya. He was nice, so/so English and fell asleep on the way back to Paris. We visited 2 lovely wineries and Chaumont. If you take this trip check the details. While Cyrus rearranged the itinerary which we appreciated it was very expensive for the service provided. Would not recommend.

Response from the operator: ALERT! Two ladies 70+ y.o. Smiling faces, thankful, appreciating all the updates and afterwards putting twice bad reviews just to damage this nice trip and our business. In fact we had to remake on the road our 6 Castles tour to 3 Castles + 4 Wine tastings tour. We managed to organise very nice visits just to please the customers. The costs are quite high because they were only two, by 4 people the price is about half of the rate for 2 people. When we have big families with 5 or 6 people it is quite cheap. After this trip the customers tried to get money back for this trip and were refused. So they wrote two ! 2 stars rating (bad).

via Tripadvisor

CAUTION high cost low yield!

Booked this 6 castle with wine tasting experience thinking there was a wine tasting with each castle. The two castles visited the first day were lovely. The wine tasting portion of the trip was actually 1 vineyard on day 2. We shared our confusion with driver Cyrus and he quickly booked two wine tastings venues the first day. The hotel was comfortable but not luxurious. The second day of the trip two additional wine tasting and one castle were visited. The driver and guide on day 2 were friendly but not an experienced tour guide as described. We expected a roomy van with adjustable seats not a small Mercedes sedan with no adjustable seats and limited leg room. Be careful when booking, this is a high cost trip. Recommend checking the details first. Clewel is the travel agency with offices in Paris and Riga Latvia that fulfilled this booking via Viatar booking from TripAdvisor site. READ recent reviews. Wish we had.

Response from the operator: Two ladies 70+ y.o., wine lovers, instead of booking one of Wine or Champagne tours have booked in fact this cultural Castles sightseeings trip obviously without reading our step by step itinerary by Viator. These two ladies were served by our comfortable Mercedes Benz E-Class car (Business class). As the ladies realised that it was a Castles visiting tour they were disappointed. They asked me in the late afternoon to remake the itinerary if possible. It was quite difficult but we managed it. The first day we visited 2 castles + made 3 wine tastings at 3 different places: by the local wine producer Pere August 7 wines, by Chenonceau Castle 3 wines and the longest and best wine tasting which lasted 1 hour 15 minutes was made by Chateau de Montdomaine. The owner showed them around making all the explanations with 5 wine tastings. Both ladies were exited about this visit. This day lasted for me 2 hours longer as per our description. Both ladies repeated several times during the trip that they appreciated our flexibility changing the program according to their wishes. Afterwards they were brought by me to the 4 Stars Chateau Bellmontre with rating close to 10. For the second day we made a special itinerary with 2 winery visits and one castle visit. The updated program was designed upon the customers wish in the evening of the first day. The first stop in the morning was by a small family winery surrounded by the vineyards. The second winery was Clos de la Richadiere. It was a high quality winery visit with wine tastings and snacks. So many snacks that they skept the Lunch afterwards. This visit lasted by this Wine House 1 hour 40 minutes. They bought many things there showing that they liked it. Afterwards they were brought by Mercedes E class (Business class) car to Chaumont castle. Afterwards they were brought to Paris and dropped off at their hotel. We did all the services. We changed the itinerary according their wish. The costs are quite high because they were only two, by 4 people the price is about half of the rate for 2 people. When we have big families with 5 or 6 people it is quite cheap. After this trip the customers tried to get money back for this trip and were refused. So they wrote two ! 2 stars rating (bad).

via Viator

Avoid

Horrible experience! The tour guide who accompanied us in the van was inexpeirenced, read from an iphone and was just beginning. The owner who met us at each site was extremely knowledgable &informative but only spent 30 - 45 minutes with us at each venue...he didn't accompany us in the van during 2 days travelling . VIATOR was unresponsive to our inquires prior to the trip. They requested we speak to the sub-contractor for all inquiries.

Response from the operator: Terrible people. Terrible review. I don't know why terrible people right terrible reviews starting with the word Horrible. But Horrible was to put the note Terrible after you 4 people were served by our Mercedes minivan within two days visiting all sights. You have got all the informations about the castles, we provided you a 4 star Château-hotel instead if 3 stars hotel, reserved for you dinners and lunches and updated the program on the second day due to your wishes. Terrible is the note you gave yourself :) Horrible.

via Viator

Great 2 day trip with Chateau, Wine and learning

Fabulous trip! My sister and I wanted to see Loire Valley and Castles but neither of us wanted to drive. What we got was better than we imagined. Valerie was one of the best tour guides I've ever had. She employed a perfect mix of history, art and architecture without overwhelming or boring us. We really liked that she was great about starting us off at each chateau but then we could take our own time to explore and meet back up. Bonus was that she is also a great photographer and got a few videos and photos of my sister and I that were really special. We went to Chenanceau, Aboise, Clos De Luc, Chambord, Blois and Chaumont sur Loire. We also did the option to stay in a Chateau which was completely worth it, we just wish we could have stayed longer. The winery they took us to was beyond perfect with having been in the family for 23 Generations!! Our driver Roman was great and always greeted us with a smile. So yes I highly recommend booking this trip with Valerie and Roman, they made a 2 day trip not only enjoyable but memorable. Thank you!!

via Tripadvisor

Wonderful personal guided tour of the valley

Overall a wonderful and personal experience. They picked us up at our hotel and drove us to 3 different locations each day, including wine tasting on the first day. The host was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot during our trip. Everything was set up for us and he has a great relationship with the winery for the tasting and tour. It can be a little rushed at times, but they will work with you on what you want to spend more time on than others, the only restraint being the closing times of the castles. Thank you very much!

via Viator