35 Best things to see & do in Loire Valley

La Loire a Velo is a waymarked cycle route that meanders for 900km along the River Loire – France’s longest river – with a prime central section amid the famous chateaux of the Loire Valley.

Much of the route is on car-free ‘green ways’, other sections are on quiet low-traffic roads. Supported by a network of cycle-friendly hotels and facilities, it’s a rewarding, family-friendly way to discover the Loire, drawing three-quarters of a million cyclists a year.

The best – and most popular – stretch is the central, 300km-long UNESCO-listed Val de Loire section, from Beaugency to Nantes. If you have only a few days, concentrate on the 50km-long Val de Loire section between St-Dye-sur-Loire near Chambord and Amboise.

Loire’s strikingly beautiful chateaux are a rich architectural legacy, left by the French royalty and bourgeoisie in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Some were built originally as feudal strongholds, but most as lavish summer residences set amid beautiful game-filled forests, close to the centre of power in Paris.

Many were ransacked or destroyed during the French Revolution, and some are still private homes, but many others are open to the public as hotels and museums.

Chenonceau is widely known as the ‘ladies’ chateau’, owing to the succession of extraordinary women integral to its history.

Built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, it was given by Henri II to his mistress, the legendary beauty Diane de Poitiers, before his widow Catherine de Médicis grabbed it back after his death.

It was then inherited by Louise de Lorraine, wife of Henry III, the third son of Catherine of Medicis. After Henry III’s assassination, a traumatised Louise de Lorraine turned to prayer, becoming known as ‘the white lady of Chenonceau’. Last, but not least, it was saved during the French Revolution by then-owner Madame Dupin, who managed to reason with the mob.

The Loire’s most visited chateau can feel overrun, yet remains magical for the sheer ingenuity of its spanning the River Cher, for its fine late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, and for outstanding collections of furniture and art.

The largest chateau in the Loire, and the most excessive of all King François I’s architectural ventures, this 16th-century Renaissance colossus contains an astonishing 440 rooms, 84 staircases, more than 800 sculpted columns and a forest of fantastical chimneys.

Its centrepiece is the spectacular double helix staircase, designed, it is thought, by Leonardo da Vinci, but it also houses an outstanding collection of 4,500 items of furniture, tapestries, antiques and objets d’art.

Maine-et-Loire, usually referred to as Anjou, is often dubbed the ‘Garden of France’ – with a temperate climate and fertile soils. It’s France’s leading producer of everything from apples and hydrangeas to bedding plants and bulbs. Orchards, fields of vegetables and vineyards carpet the rolling countryside.

It also has a long tradition of fabulous decorative gardens, ranging from the classic gardens of historic chateaux and manor houses, laid out in ornate geometrical patterns, to rare plant collections, rose gardens, Oriental gardens, and even Europe’s first plant theme park.

Poised imposingly above the Loire River, Amboise today may be only a fraction of its original size, but it still gives the feel of a royal residence.

First constructed under the reign of Charles VIII in the late 15th century, it became a favoured place of residence for French kings and queens from then on until the 19th century. The website lists the long list of illustrious guests and their biographies that stayed here.

Today you can wander from vaulted medieval guardrooms with suits of armour to tapestry-hung halls, to the red silks and mahogany of Restoration monarch Louis-Philippe. Interactive multi-media exhibits and audio guides in English on iPads bring the castle’s history to life. The occasional balcony or roofs offer panoramic views across the region fit for a king.

The Loire Valley is a remarkable and vast wine region, including several wine regions situated along the Loire River.

It encompasses a mind-boggling 63 appellations (47 in the core Tours, Saumur, Anjou area) and more than 7,000 wine growers, producing all types of wine from sweet white Coteaux de Layon, dry white Savennières and sparkling Vouvray, to hearty red Borgueil, Saumur and Chinon. Loire wines tend to exhibit a characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavours.

Vineyards dominate the landscape, troglodyte wine cellars are dug into the soft tufa rock, and there are signposted routes and welcome signs to help you, making this a fascinating – and easy – wine region to explore.

This postcard-perfect, medieval town clustering along the Loire River is a historic and aesthetic gem, and worth a special visit.

Once you’ve wandered through character-filled streets, lined almost exclusively with buildings constructed in the Loire’s iconic Tuffeau stone, wine-tasting cellars await in and around the town.

Saumur is one of the region’s largest wine areas, with multiple wineries offering visits and tastings, several located in troglodyte cellars and tunnels.

You could also stop by the Chateau de Saumur, mounted majestically above the town. It’s just as impressive inside, home to fine medieval architecture and a decorative arts museum.

The mysterious but fascinating troglodyte world of the Loire is the fascinating underside of all those lovely white stone chateaux.

Thousands of kilometres of tunnels – originally dug out of the soft, underlying, tufa strata as part of Middle Age stone quarries – became chapels, houses and farms to create the largest troglodyte region in Europe. Some are still lived in, while others have been converted into hotels and restaurants, dramatic wine cellars (providing ideal conditions for storing wine), mushroom farms and even a zoo.

Considered by some to be the world’s most beautiful garden, the grounds of this UNESCO-listed chateau are a must-see.

Created and owned by the Carvallo family, the terraced Renaissance gardens include an ornamental garden, with sculptured hedges, a medicinal herb garden, and a tranquil water garden.

The undisputed star of the show, however, is the stupendous kitchen garden, transformed into a geometrical feast of cabbages and pumpkins, zigzags of leeks, patches of peppers and other colourful vegetables.

A short walk from the Amboise’s atmospheric chateau is the atmospheric red brick manor house where Leonardo da Vinci stayed for the last three years of his life, as a guest of the king.

Today the beautifully restored house is dedicated to Leonardo’s talents – not as painter, but as an engineer and inventor of,among other things, the helicopter, armoured tank and swing bridge. It’s an engaging insight into this enigmatic and remarkably talented man.

As kayaking for sightseeing goes – as opposed to sport – it really doesn’t come much better than this.

Many of the Loire’s most beautiful chateaux line the banks of the Loire River as it gently meanders through this idyllic, rolling French countryside, including includes the jaw-dropping Chateau Chambord.

The serene river passes through the medieval town of Sancerre, famous for its vineyards, the picturesque towns of Blois and Amboise with their royal castles, and the enchanting, vibrant city of Tours, known for its historic architecture. All potential stopping-off points.

It’s a tranquil way to enjoy Loire’s postcard-perfect scenery, in a region rich in flora and fauna.

Many restaurants in the ‘garden of France’ make the most of the exceptional fresh local produce, including asparagus, strawberries, pears, apples and mushrooms cultivated in tufa caves.

You’ll also discover popular local dishes with freshwater fish, seasonal wild game, Geline hen and excellent Maine-Anjou beef – both rare breeds that have been recently revived.

The world-class Loire Valley Wine Region produces all types of wine, from sweet white Coteaux de Layon, dry white Savennieres and sparkling Vouvray, to hearty red Borgueil, Saumur and Chinon. Loire wines tend to exhibit a characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavours.

France’s longest river, the Loire, stretches for 1,012km, meandering right through the UNESCO-listed heart of the Loire Valley. Several companies run cruises, both on the Loire and its tributaries the Cher and Vienne, often in reconstructions of the strange wooden sailing vessels that used to ply the river carrying goods.

Couples seeking romance can sign up to a private sunset cruise on the Amarante, followed by a night sleeping alone on board, anchored on the water or at a sandy beach. The crew will come and serve you breakfast in the morning.

Boat tours are a convenient and serene way to take in the Loire’s best scenery – idyllic countryside and peppered with fairytale chateaux.

From the air, the Loire Valley is a picture-postcard tapestry of waterways, vineyards, farms and forest, interspersed with those majestic chateaux.

Hot-air balloons, that drift silently above the treetops and turrets, offer a civilised, serene way to soak up the sublime landscapes and appreciate the size and scale of the chateaux – away from the crowds below.

A perfect fairy-tale castle, built in 1527, with historic portraits, tapestries and carved four-posters that beautifully capture the Renaissance lifestyle. One of the Loire’s most beautiful and romantic chateaux.

Travel back to the Middle Ages in this vast monastic complex and splendid Romanesque church. It’s home to the sculpted tombs of Henry II of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart.

Built in 1624-30, this chateau is still lived in by descendants of the original owners and builders, the Hurault family. Unlike the Renaissance style of many Loire chateaux, here you are firmly in the comforts of Louis XIII classicism, amid lavish panelling and fine tapestries.

The chateau is regarded as being one of the most richly decorated and furnished; the interiors have remained largely untouched, with an impressive assortment of furniture, tapestries, weapons and other artefacts that reveal six centuries of family history.

The chateau still maintains a kennel of more than 100 hounds, in keeping with a strong hunting tradition. You can visit them all day, but the main spectacle is feeding time at 5pm, or 3pm in winter months.

Pair a visit here with some excellent wine tasting at the Maison des Vins near the entrance. Visit in spring to see a rainbow of over 250,000 tulips. Seven gardeners work all year round on this natural display.

Expect the unexpected: Chaumont’s adventurous garden festival is a must whether you’re a plant lover or interested in horticultural design. Far from the conventional vision of sedate floral displays, here artists, designers and architects as well as landscape gardeners create gardens that range from the ingenious to the crazy.

Held in the grounds of a stunning chateau overlooking the Loire, there’s always plenty to inspire. Yearly themes have ranged from weeds and colour to eroticism.

This 29-hectare, Edo-inspired Japanese garden was first created in the early 1900s by the noted Parisian architect and fervent Orientalist Alexandre Marcel, and is an unlikely, but welcome surprise in the Loire Valley.

The largest Japanese garden in Europe, with over 300 species, it’s beautifully laid out with rolling lawns, a large lake, sculpted trees, picturesque red bridges, pagoda and shinto shrines, with numerous plants symbolising the different ages of man. There’s also a compelling permanent exhibition showcasing the ancient Japanese art of bonsai.

On Saturdays and some Wednesdays in summer, visitors, armed with Chinese lanterns, can participate in a captivating 1.5-hour guided night walk of the garden.

The park was originally created for the owner of the grandiose Château Colbert next door – now a hotel and a stylish spot for lunch or dinner.

This unique theme park – Europe’s first devoted exclusively to plant life – opened its doors in April 2010.

Its multiple attractions and presentations provide an already dazzling display of horticulture: 17 hectares, 275,000 tropical trees and plants from all continents – including 2,000 orchids and giant vegetables – nurtured by 20 full-time gardeners.

Radiating from a central piazza are four themed areas: the Desired (exotic, sought after plants), the Generous (plants that supply us with food, medicines, shelter and so on), the Mysterious (secrets of the plant world) and the Tamed (domestic plants).

There’s a balloon ride, a boat ride and a ride in a nutshell. The 4D film room explains all there is to know about the process of photosynthesis, following the exciting adventure of two drops of water.

The ideal mix of the entertaining and the educational for all ages – and even for those who usually avoid the garden.

Unprecedented, Jules Verne-inspired family attraction with monumental mechanical animals to ride, from elephants and sea snakes to giant spiders. 

Smack bang in the middle of Tours this wonderful covered market houses 38 stalls piled high with the best of the region’s produce. You can sign up for cooking demonstrations too and learn how to make the regional classics.

A fairytale castle of medieval architecture straight from a storybook, with 14 superb, sculpture-strewn gardens and its own wine.

Set along the edge of the Loire River, in the shadow of the Chateau d’Amboise, this famous outdoor Sunday food market hawks local goats cheese, meats, fish and wine, plus fresh fruit and vegetables from farms around the region.

A dramatically-sited fortress-chateau, with a fascinating royal history. Joan of Arc came in 1429 to persuade the Dauphine Charles to go to Reims to be crowned.

Beneath this attractive Renaissance and neo-Gothic chateau is a remarkable 9th-century fortress, a troglodyte labyrinth complete with drawbridge, stables, and guardrooms. The chateau is also known for excellent wines, which you can taste in Les Caves de la Comtesse de Colbert in the chateau grounds.

The 55-hectare grounds at this lovely 16th-century chateau contain a selection of horticultural delights. Cooks and gardeners will be fascinated by the kitchen garden, which includes 150 vegetables and a remarkable ‘conservatoire’ of almost 630 varieties of tomato collected by ‘gardener prince’, Prince Louis Albert de Broglie.

There’s also ‘Dahliacour’, a contemporary garden filled with a hundred varieties of dahlias, a medicinal plant garden, an orchard with 76 fruit trees, and collections of cedar, redwood, chestnut, and oak trees.

This annual wine fair in Tours, held at the start of June, celebrates local wines with wine workshops, music, fireworks and countless opportunities to taste and buy direct from producers.

Built in the 12th century, this stunning Gothic masterpiece is famed for its architecture, intricate stained glass windows, and the iconic labyrinth on the floor.

Seek out bargains at this riverside fleamarket held on the second Sunday of each month at Montsoreau. Old books, trinkets, lace, furniture and more.

Just south of Chinon, this small specialist manufacturer of goats’ cheese offers guided tours of their farm, explaining their traditional manufacturing process, followed by tastings paired with Chinon wine.

The troglodyte houses more than 70 species in enclosures dug out of the surrounding rock, creating dramatic enclosures. Open daily February-October.

This series of cool, dank caverns in Montsoreau is said to have once been inhabited by loups (wolves), then exploited as quarries, before being turned into a champignonnière (mushroom farm). Button, oyster and shitake mushrooms are cultivated here today.

A fabulous specialist chocolate manufacturer offering guided tours of its workshop and chocolate-making lessons, plus a bar entirely dedicated to chocolate drinks and cakes.