Castles & tourist sites

Price: €11.50 (public price: €12.50€) Owned by the Indre et Loire Departmental Council, the site comprises two castles: the keep built by the Count of Anjou, Foulques Nerra, and the royal dwelling with its Renaissance architecture. The latter saw Agnès Sorel, Joan of Arc and Anne of Brittany pass through. A pretty medieval garden is also located at the foot of the keep. Each year, a new exhibition is proposed in parallel with the augmented reality tours on the Histopad tablets.

Price: €18 (public price: €19) Its arches gracefully span the Cher. Cherished by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Médicis, Chenonceau remains the most visited château in France after Versailles. Wonderfully furnished (ah, its kitchens!), this 16th century château can be visited with an iPod. You'll fall under the spell of the gardens planted on either side of the keep... and the delightful village, whose name is spelt with an ‘x’!

Price: €6.50 (public price: €7.50) Housed in a castle, the Grand-Pressigny Prehistory Museum presents the evolution of Man and his way of life over 200,000 years. Life-size reproductions of emblematic animals and humans enhance the sense of immersion in prehistory. The museum's rich collections invite visitors to explore the social, technical and economic aspects of prehistory, with a particular focus on the phenomenon for which Touraine is best known archaeologically: the Grand-Pressigny flints.

Price: €6.50 (public price: €7.50) Nestling in the Indre valley, the Château de Saché was one of Honoré de Balzac's favourite places of inspiration, and today houses a museum dedicated to this great writer. The furnished rooms recreate the atmosphere of the 19th century, and the exhibition rooms display the collections, which include some 2,300 items: furniture, old editions, manuscripts (including three collections of corrected proofs of Le Lys dans la vallée), sculptures (including several original works by Auguste Rodin), paintings, prints, drawings and photographs.  The two-hectare park invites you to contemplate the surrounding countryside, from the village of Saché to the Indre valley.  Shows, readings, workshops and themed tours.