The stretch of the Loire between Sully and Chalonnes is a UNESCO cultural landscape, and it is the densest concentration of Renaissance architecture outside Italy: Chambord's 440 rooms and double-helix staircase, Chenonceau arched across the Cher, Villandry's geometric vegetable gardens, Amboise where Leonardo da Vinci is buried, Chaumont's garden festival. The valley is flat, which is why the Loire à Vélo — 900 km of signed, largely traffic-free cycle route — works so well. Beyond the river the region holds Chartres and Bourges cathedrals, Sancerre's hilltop vineyards, and the Sologne's lakes and forest.
- Château de Chambord
- Château de Chenonceau
- Villandry's Renaissance gardens
- Amboise, Clos Lucé and Leonardo's tomb
- Bourges Cathedral
- Sancerre and the upper Loire vineyards
- Best time to go
- April–June for the gardens and the son-et-lumière season; September–October for the vendanges and empty châteaux. July and August are busy at Chambord and Chenonceau — go at opening or late afternoon.
- Getting there
- TGV Paris–Tours 1h05; Paris–Blois 1h30 by regional train. Tours is the natural base and has the best rail links between châteaux; otherwise a car or the Loire à Vélo.
Headline places
What france.fr leads with in Centre-Val de Loire.
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Château de Chambord 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces and a double-helix staircase -
Château de Chenonceau Arched across the Cher on five spans — the Ladies' Château -
Château de Villandry Renaissance gardens laid out as geometry, including an edible one -
Château Royal d'Amboise A terrace over the Loire, and Leonardo da Vinci's grave in the chapel -
Château du Clos Lucé Leonardo's last house, with his machines built from the drawings -
Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire A river fortress that runs an international garden festival every summer -
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau Built on an island in the Indre, and reflected in it -
Château Royal de Blois Four centuries of architecture round one courtyard -
Forteresse Royale de Chinon Where Joan of Arc recognised the Dauphin in a crowded hall -
Château de Cheverny Still lived in by the same family — and the model for Hergé's Marlinspike -
Chartres Cathedral 176 windows of twelfth-century glass, and a labyrinth in the floor -
Bourges Cathedral No transept, five doorways, and an interior of extraordinary width -
Sancerre A hilltop above the upper Loire, and the sauvignon blanc benchmark
Tourism areas
The names people actually use for this part of France — some of them cross into the next region.
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
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Tours The Loire Valley's natural base — and the best rail links between châteaux -
Amboise A royal château above the river, and Leonardo da Vinci's grave -
Blois Four architectural centuries in one courtyard, twenty minutes from Chambord -
Orléans Joan of Arc's city, and the top of the UNESCO river stretch -
Chartres The best-preserved medieval stained glass in the world, in one building -
Bourges A cathedral of extraordinary width, and Jacques Cœur's merchant palace -
Chinon A Plantagenet fortress above red-wine vineyards
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
Centre-Val de Loire by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
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Culture & heritage 53 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the cathedrals that invented Gothic -
Food & wine Seventeen wine regions, 1,600 cheeses, and the gastronomic meal on the UNESCO list -
Cities Paris, and eleven more cities that would headline any other country -
Villages & countryside The 180-odd villages on the official 'most beautiful in France' list -
Cycling Over 25,000 km of signed cycle route, most of it flat and away from traffic -
Pilgrimage & spirituality Four Camino routes, Lourdes, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Romanesque abbeys -
Romance The Riviera corniche, a Loire château, a Provençal village, a Paris weekend
