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10 Must-see Chateaux of the Loire Valley

  • Loire Valley, France

Last updated: 16 March, 2024

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.

Recommendations

11

Chateau Angers

  • Angers, Pays de la Loire, France

Side view of the fortress with giant round buttress towers

Bucket List Experience

A mighty medieval fortress with 17 stone towers, home to a collection of medieval tapestries including the vast, 103m-long Apocalypse Tapestry, woven for Duke Louis I of Anjou in 1375.

Adult price: £5

Good for age: 18+

Chateau Azay-le-Rideau

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

Aerial view from above showing the beautiful turreted chateau surrounded by lake and river

Bucket List Experience

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

Good for age: 18+

Chateau Beauregard

  • Cellettes, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Front facade of the chateau

Bucket List Experience

Intimate Renaissance chateau famed for its fine gardens and outstanding portrait gallery of 327 kings, emperors, sultans, generals and other celebrities, from the 14th to the 17th centuries.

Adult price: £11

Good for age: 18+

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

Experience

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

Good for age: 18+

  • Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire, France

External view of the chateau rear from the river

Bucket List Experience

Chateau Chambord

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.

Adult price: £10

Good for age: 18+

  • Chenonceaux, Centre-Val de Loire, France

View of the Chenonceau Chateau arches from the river

Bucket List Experience

Chateau Chenonceau

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.

Adult price: £10

Good for age: 18+

  • Cheverny, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Front of the chateau with a beautiful garden, pond and fountain in the foreground

Bucket List Experience

Chateau Cheverny

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.

Adult price: £12

Good for age: 18+

Chateau Oiron

  • Oiron, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Front facade of the imposing chateau, built in a 'U' shape

Bucket List Experience

Beautiful 16th-17th century chateau with Renaissance murals and packed with curiosities – a brilliant encounter between a beautiful old building and an adventurous collection of contemporary artworks.

Adult price: £6

Good for age: 18+

  • Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

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.

Adult price: £12

Good for age: 18+

  • Blois, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Around a grand courtyard famed for its Gothic staircase, four furnished wings reflect the 17 monarchs Kings and Queens who lived there. It’s a miniature history tour all packed into one, with architecture going from the Middle Ages to the 17th century.

Adult price: £11

Good for age: 18+

  • Villandry, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Red flowers and green shrubs in square hedged patterns in front of chateau

Bucket List Experience

Gardens of Chateau Villandry

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.

Adult price: £6

Good for age: 18+

Logistics

Price from: £11
Minimum age: 0
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

It’s easy to visit the chateaux independently. You’ll need a car (or bike) to get between most of them, although some of the greatest chateaux, including Blois, Amboise, Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon and Angers, can be reached by local train services. Booking is not required – you can just turn up.

When to do it

The bigger chateaux are open all year around, though smaller ones may close in winter (generally November to February). Opening times vary by chateaux and season.

Who to go with: organised tours

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Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

  • Tours

Jump into the heart of French history by visiting the 2 most prestigious châteaux of the Loire Valley. Feel the intimacy of a lesser known private family-owned château and enjoy a typical French lunch away from tourist groups. Let yourself be guided by your local expert and learn about the intimate little secrets of the French Kings who once lived in Château de Chambord and Château de Chenonceau. Enjoy off-the-crowd panoramic views, benefit from wealth of thrilling genuine details and funny anecdotes and make the most of this exciting day. 

Price €229

Min age 4

Rating 4.91 / 5 [303 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Tours

Enjoy a small group 9-hour tour in the Loire Valley. Your professional tour guide will show you the two most famous chateaux of the region, Chenonceau and Chambord, aboard a comfortable air-conditioned minivan. Then, taste great wines such as Vouvray at Caves Ambacia.

Price €229

Min age 0

Rating 4.57 / 5 [103 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Tours

Jump into the heart of French history by visiting the 2 most prestigious châteaux of the Loire Valley during the greet the warm ambiance of Christmas. Let yourself be guided by your local expert and learn about the intimate little secrets of the French Kings who once lived there. Enjoy off-the-crowd panoramic views and benefit from wealth of thrilling genuine details and funny anecdotes... an exciting day!

Price €179

Min age 4

Rating 4.87 / 5 [58 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Loire Valley

Take away the hassle out of planning your day trip to the Loire Valley, the birthplace of French Renaissance with more 120 châteaux (estates), on this private luxury tour with roundtrip transportation from Paris. Highlights include visits to Leonardo da Vinci's home and tomb, outstanding Gothic architecture, and plenty of time to enjoy three of the Loire Valley's most impressive and famous châteaux.

Price €750

Min age 0

Rating 4.81 / 5 [32 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Tours

During this morning, visit the unique and elegant gardens of Chateau de Villandry and the lovely Chateau of Azay-le-Rideau. Your passionate guide will stay with you all along the tour, sharing with you funny anecdotes and all his knowledge of the region. An unforgettable experience !

Price €109

Min age 4

Rating 4.74 / 5 [31 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo
Website >