On Tuesday we had to go back up to Tours as our previous trip had been in vain due to the new opening hours of our 'Regime' offices being 9.00 am until 11.00am only. This meant that we could not use the great value (2.40 euro each way) bus trip from Le Grand Pressigny, as that doesn't arrive in the city until 11.50am! In order to make best use of our trip, I decided to treat Pauline to another outing, all in the name of research for my experienceloire.com website - a trip on the tram to the city's airport 'Tours Val de Loire'.
The purpose, other than treating Pauline, was to check how easy it was to do, as since October 2015, there is no shuttle bus service between the bus station and Tours Airport
You now need to take tram from the stop to the right of the railway station,'Gare de Tours' to 'Terminus Vaucanson', which runs on a regular basis,every 8 minutes.You should allow around 45mins for the trip.
You buy your single journey ticket (1.60 euro) from the ticket machine at the tram stop which takes credit cards or cash..There is an English language option available.
The journey time is 20 minutes (13 stops) to 'Vaucanson' which is the end of the line.
You then have a 10 minute walk from the terminus to the airport itself.
The 'park & ride' area at the terminus
Follow the sign 'Tours Val de Loire'
Which includes crossing a busy dual carriageway
After a short time on the road leading into the airport the footpath disappears and you have to continue on the road itself!
Not only did Pauline get a tram ride but also a nice lunch at the airport restaurant.
Noticed that in the airport there didn't seem to be any information on taking the tram into the city...maybe the demand isn't there.
If you do plan to do this you leave the airport and walk along the road until you come to the roundabout.
Go to the left of it and cross over the dual carriageway. Continue straight on until you catch sight of the 'LeRoy Merlin' store on your right - the terminus is set back on your left opposite it.
Excellent post by Jim - many thanks. I used Jim's route get from Tours airport to Tours railway station and then a week later used it again to travel from central Tours to the airport. As Jim states, there are no signs anywhere at the airport to indicate there is a facility to take the tram to and from the city! The single price has now increased since Jim's orginal post to 1.60 euro for a single journey. Geoff Sumner
ReplyDeleteThanks Geoff, glad it helped.
DeleteReally helpful thank you.
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ReplyDeleteThis was so helpful, thanks. There seems to be a pavement all the way to the airport now and a very small symbol on the pavement for people leaving the airport to indicate a tram.
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