no alt text

Best experiences:

‘La Loire a Velo’ cycle route

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Three cyclists, cycling down a road in Loire Valley towards Chateau Chambord

An 900km waymarked cycle route through the Loire’s beautiful countryside, stopping off at fantastical chateaux, vineyards, and picturesque villages.

Best for ages 4+

Duration: 1 day-2 weeks

10 Must-see Chateaux of the Loire Valley

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
View of one side of the beautiful turreted chateau

The Loire’s extraordinary chateaux are a vision of architectural splendour and stunning gardens, and offer an insight into the lavish lifestyles of France’s 16th- and 17th-century royalty and bourgeoisie.

Adult price: £11

Best for ages 18+

Chateau Chenonceau

Chenonceaux, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
View of the Chenonceau Chateau arches from the river

The Loire’s most visited chateau remains magical for its fine late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, its outstanding collections of furniture and art, and its colourful history at the hands of extraordinary women.

Adult price: £10

Best for ages 18+

Chateau Chambord

Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
External view of the chateau rear from the river

The Loire’s grandest chateau, an astonishing 440-room, 16th-century Renaissance colossus filled with a vast collection of furniture, tapestries, antiques, objets d’arts, and a double helix staircase thought to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

Adult price: £10

Best for ages 18+

Gardens of the Loire Valley

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Overhead view of shaped hedged flowerbeds encapsulating flowers

Dubbed the ‘Garden of France’, the Loire Valley boasts a world-class array of fascinating and unusual decorative gardens.

Best for ages 13+

Chateau Royal Amboise

Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Side view of the chateau from the river

Imposing vaulted, history-rich chateau built in the 15th century that became the favoured residence of French kings and queens. The tiny vaulted Gothic chapel contains the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci.

Adult price: £12

Best for ages 18+

Loire Valley Wine Region

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
A vineyard in foreground, a picturesque small chateau in background

A vast, yet easily explored wine region with 7,000+ winegrowers producing all types of wine, and curious troglodyte wine cellars.

Min age 18

Best for ages 18+

A day in Saumur

Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Saumur castle and Saint Peter's church being reflected on the Loire river during a blue summer's day

A postcard-perfect, medieval town famed for its troglodyte wine cellars (filled with excellent wines) and majestic hilltop chateau.

Best for ages 18+

Troglodyte Loire

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
No Image Available for this listing

Thousands of kilometres of tunnels – originally dug out of the soft, underlying, tufa strata as part of Middle Age stone quarries – are now chapels, houses, farms and hotels.

Best for ages 10+

Gardens of Chateau Villandry

Villandry, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Red flowers and green shrubs in square hedged patterns in front of chateau

One of the world’s most beautiful gardens, including a truly remarkable vegetable garden, in the grounds of a UNESCO-listed chateau.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 18+

Leonardo da Vinci Park

Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
A side view of château du clos lucé on a summer's day

Leonardo da Vinci’s final residence reveals fascinating insights into the enigmatic painter, engineer and inventor.

Adult price: £3

Best for ages 13+

Kayaking on the Loire River

Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
A view of Chateau Chenoncea from the river where a girl is kayaking

A serene, dreamy way to appreciate Loire’s stunning countryside and some beautiful waterfront chateaux. Trips range from several hours to multi-day.

Adult price: £14

Min age 6

Best for ages 10+

Duration: 1 hour - 8 days

Boat tours of the Loire Valley

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Rear side of Chambord Chateau with a small boat passing on the river in front of it

Boat tours on the Loire River are a serene way to appreciate the Loire’s unique and idyllic countryside landscapes, peppered with fairytale chateaux.

Adult price: £9

Duration: 1.5-3 hours fixed

Loire Valley’s best food & drink

Loire Valley, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Loire Valley’s best food & drink

Our summary of the typical foods, ingredients and flavours, cooking styles, dining scene and best foodie experiences in the Loire Valley.

Best for ages 13+

Duration: -

Hot-air balloon flights over the Loire Valley

Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Three hot air balloons flying over Loire castle on a blue summer's day, reflecting on the river

Float gently above the Loire Valley, a captivating vista of verdant vineyards and charming villages, peppered with fairy-tale, turreted chateaux. The meandering Loire River, glitters in the early light, weaving a silver thread through the tableau.

Adult price: £180

Min age 6

Best for ages 6+

Duration: 3 hours

Chateau Azay-le-Rideau

Azay-le-Rideau, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Aerial view from above showing the beautiful turreted chateau surrounded by lake and river

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.

Adult price: £8

Best for ages 18+

Website >
More details >

Royal Abbey of Fontevraud

Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

Outside low angle view of the front building and entrance on a summer's blue day

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.

Best for ages 18+

Website >
More details >

Chateau Cheverny

Cheverny, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Front of the chateau with a beautiful garden, pond and fountain in the foreground

Richly decorated 17th-century chateau showcasing six centuries of family history, with good wine tasting and a kennel of 100 hounds.

Adult price: £12

Best for ages 18+

Chaumont International Garden Festival

Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

|
Bucket List Experience
Modern art garden with rust coloured sculptured trees

Weird and wonderful experimental garden festival where conceptual gardens touch urbanism and ecology.

Adult price: £15

Best for ages 13+

Duration: 5 months

When: mid-May - October

Frequency: annually

Maulevrier Oriental Park

Maulevrier, Pays de la Loire, France

Red bridge crossing pond in garden

This oriental treasure is the largest Japanese garden in Europe features rolling lawns, sculpted trees, shrines, and more than 300 species of plants.

Adult price: £5

Best for ages 18+

Terra Botanica

Angers, Pays de la Loire, France

Flowers and bushes shaped into a face at the entrance to the park

Europe’s first theme park devoted exclusively to plant life hosts 275,000 tropical trees and plants over 17 hectares, with plant-themed attractions and dazzling displays of horticulture.

Adult price: £17

Machines de l’Ile

Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France

A huge mechanical elephant with a wooden exterior at Machines de l’Île, with tourists walking inside the small balcony area

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

Adult price: £7

Best for ages 4+

Website >
More details >

Les Halles de Tour

Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Interior of a modern grocery store

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.

Best for ages 13+

Website >
More details >

Gardens of Chateau Rivau

Lemere, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Two giant wellington boots statues in the chateau gardens

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

Adult price: £10

Best for ages 18+

Website >
More details >

Amboise Food Market

Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

View down a street with market stalls in Amboise

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.

Best for ages 13+

Website >
More details >

Royal Fortress of Chinon

Chinon, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Landscape view of Chinon Fortress on a rocky spur during a summery blue day

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.

Adult price: £9

Min age -4

Best for ages 18+

Website >
More details >

Chateau du Breze

Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

Landscape view of Chateau de Breze on a blue summer's day with the vineyard at the front field of the chateau

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.

Adult price: £10

Best for ages 18+

Website >
More details >

Gardens of Chateau Bourdaisiere

Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Exterior fo the beautiful chateau

A 16th-century chateau with captivating gardens, which includes 150 vegetables and a remarkable ‘conservatoire’ of almost 630 varieties of tomato.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 13+

Vitiloire

Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Vitiloire

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.

Best for ages 18+

Duration: One weekend

When: Start of June

Frequency: annually

Website >
More details >

Chartres Cathedral

Chartres, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Inside view of the sculpted arches and glass windows from the early 13 century inside the cathedral

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.

Best for ages 18+

Website >
More details >

Montsoreau Flea Market

Montsoreau, Pays de la Loire, France

stall selling bric-a-brac at the weekend flea market in the city center.

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

Best for ages 13+

Website >
More details >

Le Vazerau

La Roche-Clermault, Centre de la Loire, France

Close up of a cheese collection, soft goat French cheese with mold crottin de Chavignol produced in Loire Valle

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.

Best for ages 13+

Website >
More details >

Bioparc Zoo

Doue-la-Fontaine, Pays de la Loire, France

Close up of some giraffe necks in the Bioparc Zoo

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

Adult price: £20

Best for ages 4+

Website >
More details >

Le Saut aux Loups mushroom farm

Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

External view of the troglodyte mushroom farm, built into a hillside

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.

Best for ages 13+

Website >
More details >

Max Vauche Chocolatier

Bracieux, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Close up of selection of luxury chocolates

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.

Best for ages 8+

Website >
More details >