Tours has a good public transport network. There are bus services during the week and at weekends too, and some lines run in the evening.
The nearby towns (Amboise, Chinon, Blois, Poitiers etc) can be reached by coach or train.
The urban district has recently introduced a particularly affordable bicycle hire service.
The Fil Bleu buses serve Tours and its suburbs.
Tickets can be bought singly or bus passes are available.
If you use the bus on a regular basis, the best solution is a monthly bus pass.
With an Institut de Touraine student card, you are entitled to the FIL FAC pass, which costs €26.50 a month + €2 for the first card.
With this card you can use the bus as much as you like throughout the month with no time or distance conditions.
If you don't have a bus pass, single tickets cost €1.20
Internet link : www.filbleu.fr
Getting a bus pass
Fill in a form available from:
Espace Fil Bleu (sales office)
9 rue Michelet Tours
Open Monday to Friday, 7.30am - 7pm
Saturdays: 8.30am - 1.30pm
and attach your Institut de Touraine student card and a passport photo.
The card can be renewed every month at the sales office.
Taking the bus
Maps and timetables are available from the sales office and downloadable from www.filbleu.fr
The following information is posted at bus stops: line numbers and destinations, times of passage at the bus stop for each line, fares and a network map at the main stops.
You get on the bus at the front. Don't forget to show your pass to the driver when you get on.
Bicycle hire is an original and inexpensive way of getting around Tours.
Velociti is a long-term bicycle hire service. When you have hired a bicycle, it is yours and you can take it anywhere you want.
Internet link : www.velociti.fr
Hiring a bicycle
You need to go to the Fil Bleu sales office (agence commerciale), 9 rue Michelet in Tours to complete a hire form. You can choose your hire period (3 months or more).
The sales office will give you a stock issue form that you then take to one of the two approved depots, which will issue you a bicycle.
Fil Bleu sales office (Agence commerciale)
9 rue Michelet Tours
Open Monday to Friday, 7.30am - 7pm
Saturdays: 8.30am - 1.30pm
Bicycle depots:
- STORE TREK - 31 boulevard Heurteloup.
Open Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 12.30pm and 2.00pm to 6.00pm - CYCLES DANGUILLAUME 41 rue des Martyrs Joué les Tours
Open Tuesday at Saturday, 8.30am to 12.00pm and 2.00pm to 7.00pm
Prices:
- €9 fro three months
- €3 for each additional month
- €30 for 12 months
Taxis are handy when you are carrying a lot, for instance when going to the station, or in the evening after the buses have stopped running.
Taxi fares vary according to distance and time of day. French taxis are equipped with meters.
Finding a taxi
- At the station.
- Avenue de Grammont, between rue de Bordeaux and rue Charles Gilles.
- Rond-point Saint-Paul (in front of the church).
- Boulevard Tonnelé in front of Bretonneau hospital.
Booking a taxi
Call the taxi company on 02 47 20 30 40
Languages spoken : English and Spanish
Tip:
When taking a taxi, make a note of the driver's number indicated in the taxi. You will need it to make a complaint.
