The Loire Valley
Days 1-7Days 1-7Château de ChambordFrancis I's dream in stone holds 426 rooms beneath a forest of turrets, around a double-helix staircase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.€16Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7Château de ChenonceauThe château spans the Cher on a 60-metre gallery, shaped by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de' Medici, its rooms filled with fresh flowers.€17Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7Royal Château of AmboiseA royal residence high above the Loire with one of the valley's widest views; its Gothic Chapel of Saint-Hubert holds Leonardo da Vinci's tomb.15,€50Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7Gardens of VillandryRenaissance ornamental kitchen gardens replanted twice a year, with box-hedge patterns, a water garden and a maze laid out below the belvedere.13,€50Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7Château d'Azay-le-RideauAn early Renaissance château on an island in the Indre, reflected in its water; Balzac called it a faceted diamond.12,€50Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7The Loire by bikeSome 900 km of signed routes past châteaux and vineyards; the flat Blois to Chambord and Amboise to Chenonceau stretches suit a day out.€20Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7Château du Clos LucéThe pink-brick manor where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years, with his rooms, his workshops and models of his inventions.€19Book on GetYourGuide →
Days 1-7Royal Château of BloisFour centuries of architecture around one courtyard, with Francis I's open spiral staircase and the rooms where the Duke of Guise was murdered in 1588.€14Book on GetYourGuide →