Car hire at Tours Airport - Exploring the Loire Valley

Tours is the perfect base from which to visit the lovely Loire Valley, a region famous for its magnificent scenery and romantic Renaissance châteaux. This part of France is perfect for road trips, especially for visitors picking up their car hire at Tours Airport. Discover the freedom of the open road and enjoy a leisurely drive through one of Europe’s most scenic river valleys.

A place of history, culture and grandeur, the city of Tours has a beautiful old quarter with cobbled streets and exquisite half-timbered houses. A major highlight is Place Plumereau, a popular pedestrianized area with lots of cafés, bars and restaurants. Located on the banks of the River Loire, this former Gallic-Roman settlement is today a top tourist town surrounded by a variety of landscapes in a region that has been enchanting travellers for centuries.

There’s much to see in Tours, such as the city’s magnificent cathedral which dominates the skyline for many miles around. Built between 1170 and 1547, its architectural styles range from Romanesque and Gothic to early Renaissance. A main feature are the white marble tombs of Anne de Bretagne and King Charles VIII’s two young princes, whose death in their infancy marked the end of France’s royal Valois dynasty.

Other star sights in Tours include the impressive basilica which houses the remains of Martin of Tours who founded the nearby Abbey of Marmoutier in the 4th century. Don't miss, also, the Museum of Fine Arts located in a former palace and the Jardin Botanique de Tours, a splendid botanic garden opened in 1841 and home to many interesting features, most notably a striking 150-year-old gingko tree.

Tours Airport is very well placed for exploring the Loire Valley, which stretches all the way from central France to the Atlantic Ocean. One of France’s most popular touring regions, it is blessed with an abundance of vineyards, tourist attractions and holy places, as well as some well-preserved UNESCO World Heritage sites. Besides its world-famous châteaux, of which Chenonceau and Chambord are considered to be the most impressive, the region has many places worth visiting once you have picked up your car. Check out the Rochemenier Caves about an hour’s drive west of Tours and Blois, a charming town and preferred residence of the French royal family for many centuries.

Auto Europe has been a leading car hire broker for almost 70 years, offering an efficient, high-quality service at over 28,000 locations in more than 190 countries around the world. With just a few clicks on our booking engine we guarantee the best deals in the market with all the top car hire suppliers, including Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Sixt, National, Budget and Alamo etc, to always provide travellers with the right car at the right price in the right location.

A car rental at Tours Airport provides convenient access to many other interesting places in this part of France, including Orléans (where Joan of Arc famously saved the city from an English siege in 1429) and Poitiers, a city famous for its 4th-century church, one of the oldest in Europe. For more information about driving around the Loire Valley and other parts of the country, please consult our guide to driving in France for tips on paying tolls, finding petrol stations, age restrictions and driving distances, etc.

Airport Information

The history of Tours Airport dates back to World War I when it was used as a French Air Force training centre. Following World War II, it fell into the hands of NATO and the US Air Force before becoming a flying school in the 1950s. Tours Airport opened to the public in the early 1960s and in the late 1970s its commercial business started to increase due to increased activities of the local airline Touraine Air Transport (TAT). Despite still being relatively small, Tours Airport (more commonly known as Tours Val de Loire Airport) is a thriving international airport handling an increasing number of regular year-round flights from a growing number of cities, including London (Stansted), Porto and Marrakesh, all routes operated by Ryanair. Tours Val de Loire also receives a large volume of seasonal flights from a diversity of European airports like Marseille, Dublin (both Ryanair) and Corsica (Figari, operated by Corsicatours), with many more to be added in the future once the French Air Force has vacated the airport, as is planned.

Tours Airport (TUF)
Address: 40 Rue de l'Aéroport, 37100 Tours, France
Telephone: +33 2 47 49 37 00
Airlines operating at Tours Airport: Tours Val de Loire airport handles flights to and from London, Porto and Marrakesh all the year round, plus Marseille, Dublin, Ajaccio and Figari in summer.

Where to pick up my car hire at Tours Airport

The Aéroport Tours Val de Loire (as it is known locally) is small and relatively easy to navigate, which means that passengers choosing to rent a car at Tours Airport will only spend a few minutes finding the car hire desk once they have picked up their luggage. Currently, the choice of car hire suppliers is quite limited, but as the airport's future expansion takes shape, more rental companies will start to operate there and the choice will become greater. Please note that car hire opening hours currently coincide with the time of Ryanair's flight arrivals.

Car hire desks' operating hours

	Avis at Tours Airport 40 rue de l'aeroport Tours, France 37100 +33 247 492 149	Opening Hours: Mon-Sat (hours vary)
	Europcar at Tours Airport 40 rue de l'aeroport, Tours, France 37100 +33 247 858 586	Opening Hours: Mon-Sat (hours vary)
	Keddy at Tours Airport 40 rue de l'aeroport, Tours, France 37100 +33 247 858 586	Opening Hours: Mon-Sat (hours vary)

Terminals

Tours Airport is open seven days a week with frequent services from Ryanair. Despite being quite small by international standards, the airport terminal building is adequate and well maintained with the added benefits of free short-term parking and a growing number of car rental facilities on the premises. The check-in desks open 2 hours before the departure time of each flight and close 40 minutes before the flight departs. The airport apron has aircraft parking spaces available right next to the terminal building.

Airport Facilities

Light meals and refreshments are served at the airport snack-bar open 7 days a week, while a restaurant open Monday to Friday serves proper lunches. A bureau de change and ATM cash machines are also available and for newly-arrived passengers unable to connect to one of the local mobile roaming services, fixed telephones are located close to the WC area, where baby-changing facilities are also situated. A function room with seating for 20 people can be hired if needed, while a reservations service is available for passengers requiring hotels, taxis and limousine hire, along with a personalised meet and greet service.

How to get to and from Tours Airport

The driving distance between the airport and downtown is only 3 miles, which means that you can get in and out of town with your car hire at Tours Airport in just a few minutes outside the morning and evening rush-hours. Furthermore, the airport is located just 10 minutes from two of the region's motorways, the A10 (Paris-Bordeaux) and A28 (Le Mans). It takes about 20 minutes to reach Tours' city centre (and St Pierre des Corps railway station) and about an hour to get to Paris' Montparnasse station by TGV train. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) is another option for people looking to visit Tours. TGV trains run direct from CDG to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps from where you can pick up a shuttle train into downtown Tours, with the journey taking about two hours). If you're hiring a car from Paris CDG, the journey time via the A3 motorway, the Paris ring road (boulevard Périphérique), A6B and A10 is about three hours in good traffic. A combined tram and bus station called Vaucanson is located approximately 10 minutes by foot directly from Tour Airport's Arrivals Hall. Take tram A or bus route number 2 (in the direction of Chu Trousseau) to the Hôtel de Ville (city centre) and Gare de Tours (Tours railway station). For bus route number 2, the stop for Gare de Tours is called Gare Vinci. Taxis are also plentiful with the main rank just outside the Arrivals Hall.

Parking Tips

Tours Airport has a large car park with 400 spaces that's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and best of all, it is completely free of charge. Parking for disabled passengers is available and the minibus shuttle service between the car park and the terminal building is wheelchair accessible. Assistance can be sought, including help with boarding the aeroplane with or without a wheelchair. Disabled passengers are advised to arrive at least one hour before their time of departure. The city of Tours itself is compact enough for you not to need your car to get around town, although a car is extremely useful if you plan on exploring the towns, châteaux and beautiful countryside of the Loire Valley. Beware that although Tours is easily navigable by car, meaning that it's not often congested (except during the rush-hour), the many pedestrianised and limited-access streets in the city centre may mean your desired address isn't directly accessible, although there will always be on- or off-street parking spaces available nearby. There are numerous underground car parks in the city, such as those at Place du Général Leclerc (underneath the large square in front of the railway station), Place des Halles (underneath the Halles market hall, making it the ideal choice for people looking to visit the old town) and Place Anatole France (which provides easy access to the shops on Rue Nationale).

Useful links

Tours Airport