The Loire Valley — the 280km stretch of the Loire River between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes, declared a UNESCO World Cultural Landscape in 2000 — contains the greatest concentration of Renaissance châteaux in the world: over 300 castles, manor houses and fortified towns built by the kings of France, their nobles and their Italian artisans during the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Loire valley was the effective seat of French royal government and the most fashionable place in Europe. Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years (1516–1519) at Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, invited by Francis I; the architect of Chambord may have been da Vinci himself, or someone who had absorbed his ideas about spatial organisation and architectural harmony.
Château de Chambord — the largest château in the Loire Valley and one of the most recognisable examples of French Renaissance architecture in the world — is a building of extraordinary architectural ambition: 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, 84 staircases and the famous double-helix staircase (attributed to da Vinci, its two intertwining spirals allow people to ascend and descend without encountering each other) built for Francis I between 1519 and 1547. The roof terrace — a forest of chimneys, lanterns and towers — was designed as a theatre from which Francis could watch the hunt in the surrounding estate; it remains one of the finest rooftop views in France.
Château de Chenonceaux & Amboise
Château de Chenonceaux — spanning the Cher River on a bridge of five arches, its formal gardens running down to the water on both banks — is the most aesthetically perfect of the Loire châteaux and the most visited (800,000 visitors annually): an elongated building of extraordinary feminine elegance, associated with the women who owned it — Catherine de Medici, Diane de Poitiers, Louise de Lorraine — whose influence shaped the gardens, the interiors and the overall character of the property. The Gallery spanning the river was used as a hospital during World War One (the northern bank was German-occupied; the southern bank was free France — crossing the Cher in the gallery meant crossing the demarcation line). Château Royal d'Amboise — perched above the town of Amboise on a rocky spur above the Loire — has Leonardo da Vinci's tomb in the chapel of Saint-Hubert within its grounds; the king's apartments overlook the river from a balcony of Gothic grandeur.
Wine & the Loire Valley Experience
The Loire Valley is France's third-largest wine region (after Bordeaux and Burgundy) and produces the world's finest expressions of several grape varieties: Muscadet (white, from the Atlantic end of the valley), Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (world-class Sauvignon Blancs from the eastern end), Vouvray (Chenin Blanc, from still and dry to pétillant to the extraordinary sweet Vouvray Moelleux), Chinon and Bourgueil (Cabernet Franc reds of elegance), and the Loire Crémants (excellent sparkling wines at Champagne quality for half the price). The best way to experience Loire wine is by visiting the caves (wine cellars) cut into the tuffeau limestone cliffs along the river — Vouvray's caves along the D46 and Saumur's wine-cave network are both accessible independently.
Getting Around the Loire
Tours is the Loire Valley's main city and the best base — the TGV from Paris Montparnasse reaches Tours in 1 hour (approximately £25–40 each way), and the city has excellent hotels, restaurants and a compact old quarter. The châteaux are spread over 280km of the river — a car is the most practical means of exploration (the D952 and D751 follow the Loire on either bank through the main château zone). Cycling is the Loire's most romantic transport option: the Loire à Vélo cycling route follows the river through 800km of dedicated paths and quiet roads, passing most of the major châteaux. E-bike hire and multi-day cycling packages with luggage transfer are available from Tours and Amboise.
