Our selection of guided tours

Duration : 1h30 - Price : 10€
Take a guided tour of the emblematic Vieux Tours district, which stretches around Place Plumereau, led by a tour guide.

Medieval timber-framed and stone houses stand side by side with exceptional town houses. These homes bear witness to the prosperity of this part of the town, which grew up around a huge collegiate church dedicated to Saint Martin. Once home to the body of the saint, it was the centre of one of the oldest pilgrimages in Christendom.
This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.

Duration :  1h30 - Price: from 10 € (under 18s free)
A guided tour of the landscape and monumental dimensions of Marmoutier Abbey and a discovery of the archaeological remains.

Surrounded by a cliff, in a meander of the Loire, the site of Marmoutier stands out for its tranquillity and picturesque character. It was on this site, occupied since ancient times, that Saint Martin founded a small hermitage in the 4th century, which rapidly developed into a prestigious abbey of considerable influence. Restored and maintained until the French Revolution, the abbey was partly demolished in the 19th century. Since 1981, the City of Tours has owned the hillside and adjoining land where most of the old buildings that have survived are located. Every summer, the site hosts a programmed archaeological dig, which you can discover on this tour.
This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.

Duration: 1h30 - Price: from €10
This guided tour puts the city's architecture into perspective in Balzac's work.
Born in Tours on 20 May 1799, Honoré de Balzac retained a lifelong affection for his native city. His precise descriptions gave rise to his reputation as a connoisseur of the monuments, streets and history of Tours. This guided tour is an opportunity to discover Tours through Balzac's eyes, to explore the emblematic places that still bear his imprint and the districts and streets that were the setting for some of his novels.

This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.

Duration: 2h - Price: from 12 €
Discover Tours in a whole new light with this night-time guided tour along the ‘Parcours Lumière’.

Take a new look at the city as night falls. The ‘Parcours Lumière’ highlights Tours by magnifying its monuments and natural spaces. The streets of Vieux-Tours, the timber-framed houses of Place Plumereau, the Basilique Saint-Martin, the Tour Charlemagne, the Grand Théâtre... the urban landscape reveals a different face as you take this tour. A not-to-be-missed opportunity to discover the city in a different way!

This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.

Duration: 1h00 - Price: from €9
 
With its monumental staircase and Italian-style auditorium, listed as a historic monument since 2024, the Grand Théâtre - Opéra de Tours, located in the city's historic quarter, was inspired by its famous Parisian counterpart.
Every year, it presents a season of opera, symphony and children's shows, as well as recitals and chamber music concerts. With its permanent choir, the Grand Théâtre has also been home to the Orchestre Symphonique Région Centre-Val de Loire/Tours since 2002.
 
This small-group guided tour explores the history and splendour of the venue, exploring the peristyle, the public foyer and the auditorium.

Duration : 1h30 - Price : 10 €
Under the guidance of an expert guide, the Tours Loire Valley Tourist Office and the city of Tours offer you an Art-Deco tour.

This general tour illustrates the variety of Touraine's Art Deco architectural production: individual homes, collective housing, shops, public buildings...

The Art Deco style developed in the first half of the 20th century. It reflects a trend towards simplified forms, with geometrically stylized decorations.  
Led by a tour guide, the Tours Tourist Office and the city of Tours invite you to take a tour of the city's Art Deco buildings.

This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.ette tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.

Duration: 1h30 - Price: from 10 €
The Tours Loire Valley Tourist Office and the city of Tours are offering a guided tour of ‘Ancient Tours’.
Tours was founded in the 1^st century as a Roman capital on the territory of the Turones. In the Middle Ages, the town developed in two directions: to the west, the Châteauneuf district, which grew out of the pilgrimage of Saint Martin, was under the authority of the bishop. A royal city at the end of the Middle Ages, Tours enjoyed tremendous prosperity. In the 18^th century, the city benefited from the policy of opening up the kingdom's cities with the creation of the new Spanish road. The arrival of the railway in the mid-19^th century and the annexation of the commune of Saint-Etienne confirmed the town's southward expansion. The second half of the 20^th century was marked by the reconstruction of the upper part of the Rue Nationale and major urban development projects.

Duration : 1h30 - Price : from 10 €
A guided tour that sheds light on the reconstruction plan for Tours led by architect Pierre Patout.
During the Second World War, the city of Tours suffered extensive destruction, prompting the preparation of a reconstruction plan in 1940 by Tours architect Camille Lefèvre. The resumption of fighting prevented this plan from being implemented, and it was modified by Jean Dorian in 1944 following further destruction. It was finally Pierre Patout, appointed chief architect for the reconstruction in 1946, who carried out the work on the Place Anatole-France, the upper part of the Rue Nationale and the surrounding area. The northern entrance to the city of Tours was redesigned in this way, reflecting the town planner's desire ‘to enter Tours like an open garden’.

This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.

Duration: 1h30 - Price: from €10
Discover Saint Gatien Cathedral, its district and its stained glass windows with a tour guide.
The Saint-Gatien district is one of the oldest and most characteristic in Tours. It was the seat of Caesarodunum in the 1^st century AD, and became a Roman capital before becoming a religious centre under the authority of the bishops and then the archbishops. This part of the city has preserved some ancient architectural features that reveal the urban development of Tours. This guided tour provides an opportunity to learn more about the history of the Cathedral and its stained glass windows, which were first restored by Lucien-Ernest Fournier's workshop in Tours before the Second World War and then twice in the 1990s and 2000s.

This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.