Tours is the place to go if you want to see French Chateaux (castles and grand mansions). We did 1.5 days worth of guided tours which depart from the Tours tourism office. The tour company was ‘Alienor’ and David was our excellent guide. I really enjoyed these tours as they were in a small mini-bus (8 seater) so we were never in a very large group – at most there were four other people on the tour with us. One of the tours also finished up at a cave (wine cellar) where we got to taste wine from the Vouvray region.
Tours, the city, is itself also a lovely place to visit. The old town is amazing – buildings date back to about the 15th century. There are plenty of interesting tourist sites. I highly recommend the Musee du Compagnonnage (showcases the amazing work of master craftsmen) and the Musee du Gemmail (a museum of art work created with glass – a little like stained glass windows, but made with layer upon layer of glass. It has to been seen to be understood – it is not possible to photograph these artworks as the three-dimensionality is what makes them so wonderful).
We spent four days in Tours and could have happily stayed for a few more.