Bucketlist Travels logo

Bucket list trip:

Loire Valley 5-day Itinerary

  • France

Last updated: 19 July, 2024

Where to go and what to see in the Loire Valley to get the most from your trip – a 5-day itinerary from destination expert and travel writer Anna Brooke.

Editor note – Anna has not included specific recommendations of where to stay each day unless it’s necessary. Instead, see the ‘Where to stay’ section in our Loire Valley destination guide.

Day 1

2

Begin at Chateau Chambord, the grande dame of all Loire castles with over 400 rooms. Pack a picnic or grab lunch in its cafe, then spend the afternoon meandering its sprawling grounds.

Later, go on a sunset boat cruise along the Loire, from the nearby village of Saint-Dye-sur-Loire.

Then head to Blois for a romantic Michelin-starred meal at Fleur de Loire (reserve ahead), where you could also spend the night.

  • 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+

Boat tours from St-Dye-sur-Loire

  • Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

landscape of small buildings in Saumur alongside the river bank

Experience

Take the lovely wooden sailing boat La Saponiere from St-Dye-sur-Loire (near Chambord, April to October). Options include an evening tour to discover the sounds of the Loire, and bring-your-own picnic trips.

Adult price: £9

Good for age: 18+

Duration: 1-3 hours

Day 2

3

First thing, it’s off to explore the gorgeous waterfront market at Amboise, before visiting the hilltop Chateau Royal Amboise, where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried.

A gourmet lunch awaits at Le Lion d’Or, below the castle, then visit Da Vinci’s former home, Clos Luce, just a few minutes’ walk away at the Leonardo Da Vinci Park.

Early evening, cross Marechal Leclerc bridge to Le Shaker for al fresco cocktails and cheese platters with sweeping views of the castle.

Amboise Food Market

  • Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

View down a street with market stalls in Amboise

Experience

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.

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+

  • Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

A side view of château du clos lucé on a summer's day

Bucket List Experience

Leonardo da Vinci Park

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.

Adult price: £3

Good for age: 13+

Day 3

3

Rise early for a hot-air balloon flight over Chateau Chenonceau or on a self-guided bike ride along the signposted ‘Loire à Velo’ cycle route. Outfitters Chenonceaux Bike Rental can deliver hire bikes to your accommodation.

In the afternoon, visit the fairytale Chateau Azay-le-Rideau, then stay in town for dinner at acclaimed Auberge Pom Poire, surrounded by orchards.

  • Amboise, Centre-Val de Loire, France

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.

Adult price: £180

Min age 6

Good for age: 10+

Duration: 3 hours

  • Loire Valley, France

Three cyclists, cycling down a road in Loire Valley towards Chateau Chambord

Bucket List Experience

‘La Loire a Velo’ cycle route

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.

Good for age: 13+

Duration: 1 day-2 weeks

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+

Day 4

4

Start your wine-themed day in Saumur, exploring the town, its castle and troglodyte wine cellars, including Bouvet Ladubay, whose vast vault can be visited by bike.

For lunch, try the coq (chicken) cooked in Saumur Champigny wine at Auberge Reine de Sicile, then in the afternoon head to Chateau Breze, with its vines and medieval underground fortress.

After sampling the wine, head to medieval Fontevraud Abbey, the resting place of Richard the Lionheart and the setting for award-winning cuisine at Fontevraud Le Restaurant.

  • Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

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

Bucket List Experience

A day in Saumur

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.

Good for age: 18+

Bouvet-Ladubay cellars

  • Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

Close up of a rack of wine bottles in a cellar

Experience

These sculpted troglodyte caves offer an interesting blend of wine tasting, culture and history. The cellars here, open daily for tastings, are part of a historic 5-mile-long complex of underground galleries, which include an unusual ‘underground cathedral’.

Adult price: £5

Min age 18

Good for age: 18+

Duration: 2 hours

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+

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

Experience

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.

Good for age: 18+

Day 5

2

Dedicate today to the Loire’s stunning landscaped gardens, starting at the Gardens of Chateau Villandry, where dainty flower-filled parterres give way to ornamental veggie patches.

For lunch, try L’Etape Gourmande in Villandry, known for its locavore menus.

Then in the afternoon, drive to the Garden of Chateau Bourdaisiere, famed for its ‘conservatoire’ of tomatoes.

Any of the bars in medieval Place Plumereau in central Tours are good for an aperitif.

  • 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+

  • Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France

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.

Adult price: £6

Good for age: 18+