Tours - Transport

Transport

Today, with its extensive rail (including TGV) and autoroute links to the rest of the country, Tours is a jumping-off point for tourist visits to the Loire Valley and the royal chateaux.

Tours is on one of the main lines of the TGV. It is possible to travel to the west coast at Bordeaux in two and a half hours, to the Mediterranean coast via Avignon and from there to Spain and Barcelona, or to Lyon, Strasbourg and Lille. It takes less than one hour by train from Tours to Paris by TGV and one hour and a half to Charles de Gaulle airport. Tours has two main stations: the central station Gare de Tours, and Gare de Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, just outside the centre, the station used by trains that do not terminate in Tours.

Tours Loire Valley Airport connects the Loire Valley to London Stansted Airport, Marseille and Porto. Scheduled flights to Dublin and Manchester as well as charter flights to Ajaccio and Figari are also available during the summer.

Tours does not have a metro rail system; instead there is a bus service, the main central stop being Jean Jaures, which is next to the Hôtel de Ville, and rue Nationale, the high street of Tours. A tram network is under construction; completion is expected in September 2013, and 21 Citadis trams have been ordered from Alstom designed by RCP Design Global.