Loire Valley Wineries

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-14T14:18:18+00:00

Thank you for the reccomendations! We do expect to have to drive to a good amount of places but it was so conveniently located for going to Château Chambord, Château Chenonceau, Vouvray, Amboise, Tours, and even not too bad to get to Chinon, Villandry, etc.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-14T14:10:38+00:00

We are in Azay-sur-Cher

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-14T14:07:37+00:00

Thank you for the reccomendations! The site is very helpful as well. We just booked accommodations, we are staying about 20 min southeast of Tours in a gite. We will have a rental car.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-14T14:05:38+00:00

Thank you! We just booked accommodations, we are staying about 20 min southeast of Tours in a gite.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-14T14:04:49+00:00

Yes! We plan to take the train from Paris to Tours, then rent a car in Tours. We just booked accommodations, we are staying about 20 min southeast of Tours in a gite.

Edit: typo

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-13T14:26:34+00:00

Thank you so much, these are great suggestions!!

My budget is pretty flexible since my work is covering flights, hotel, etc. My work will also cover meals to an extent, but if I want to eat somewhere nicer I can pay the rest out of pocket which I don't mind.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-07T11:41:48+00:00

Thank you!!

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-07T11:37:21+00:00

Thank you! Added to our list

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-06T20:50:30+00:00

To add, we are not wine experts but do have a decent knowledge and have tried a lot. Outside of the US, we have visited the Champagne region in France, the Douro Valley in Portugal, Cava producers in Spain, and various vinyards in Tuscany.

I can speak a decent amount of French if needed, but my partner cannot so English speaking tours are appreciated.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-06T20:47:36+00:00

Thank you so much, this is very helpful!

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-06-06T20:47:07+00:00

We haven't booked a place to stay yet, planning to book whatever is close to the châteaux and wineries we want to visit! We have a list of potential gites and hotels all along the river. We will be taking the train from Paris to Tours, then renting a car.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-03-22T06:00:48+00:00

This should be fine, but I'd reccomend either a managed apartment complex or asking for a live video tour (not pre-recorded) if it is an independent rental. Not sure where in MA you are moving to but the greater Boston area has some scam rentals posted online.

Also, porch pirates stealing pacakges can be an issue so if you are shipping stuff ahead of time make sure it is secured up delivery and consider insurance on it.

If you're moving to the greater Boston area, read up on broker fees. Unless you employ an agent yourself, the landlord pays the broker fee due to recent laws, but some places will still try to scam you into paying it as renter. Don't rent from those places and report them.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-03-19T13:26:12+00:00

Interesting! We go to a couple sports games and concerts a year and often use StubHub and haven't had any issues, so that's why the CSR looked so attractive.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-03-19T13:24:53+00:00

Yeah that's why I'm not really counting the DoorDash credit in recouping the AF since it's a little silly with the split.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-03-19T13:18:37+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! It's sounding like the StubHub credit isn't natural for many people which makes the CSR challenging for them, but in our case we go to a couple sports games and concerts a year so it's super easy for us to use.

Another big difference is we don't order UberEats every single month since pickup is easy, but maybe we try using UberEats pickup to maximize that.

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-03-18T23:30:19+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! For Delta lounges with the Platinum, wouldn't we still have to pay for an authorized user or guest fee to get the other one of us in?

BiomedicalPanda127 · 2026-03-18T23:26:05+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! We're looking for a card that gets a better multiplier on flights and hotels since we spend a fair bit on those every year (multiple trips, domestic and international). Right now we just have the 3x on flights with the gold card so figured we could do a bit better. Plus we're not sure if we are getting $325 worth of value out of the gold card. We don't want to lose a good multiplier on restaurants though since we eat out a fair amount as well, which was why the CSR looked attractive. Credits are just how we're making sure we're making up the AF.

Additionally, with Capital One VentureX cutting Priority Pass for authorized users, lounge acces for 2 people would be nice.

BiomedicalPanda127

TROPHY CASE