Chateaux & Gardens

Duration: 5 days - Price: €205 Ideal for a day-long loop starting from one of the four ‘stopover towns’: Tours, Amboise, Blois and Orléans. On the itinerary: castles, gardens, open-air cafés, vineyards, listed villages and much more! With over 60 offers included, the Loire à Vélo Pass lets you discover the treasures along the route between Tours and Orléans at your own pace and with ease.  Plan your itinerary and make the most of the offers and numerous benefits of this 5-day Pass! > Find all the Pass offers, practical information and suggested itineraries here. This Pass includes offers from the following partners:  Bicycle hire + helmet: Roue Lib, Détours de Loire. Lunches and snacks: Chez Monsieur Henri, Cordier, La Doulce Terrasse, La Fourchette Paysanne, La Guinguette de la Corne des Pâtures, La Guinguette de Tours-sur-Loire, La Maison Rabelais, La Petite Embarque, Le Checkmate, Maison Bigot, Sushi Shop. Places to visit: Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, Château de Beaugency, Château de Chenonceau, Château de Meung-sur-Loire, Tours Castle, Villandry Castle, Amboise Royal Castle, Cloître de la Psalette, CCC OD, Chaumont-sur-Loire Estate, Clos Lucé Castle, Chambord National Estate, Savonnières Petrifying Caves, Hôtel Cabu - Museum of History and Archaeology, Hôtel Goüin, House of Joan of Arc, Balzac Museum, Orléans Museum of Fine Arts, Tours Museum of Fine Arts, Compagnonnage Museum, Tours Natural History Museum, Orléans Museum of Biodiversity and the Environment, Parc Floral de la Source, Saint-Cosme Priory, guided tour of Orléans, guided tour of Tours. Tastings: Vouvray Wine Producers’ Cellar, Les Fromages de Camille, Maison Lacheteau, Martin Pouret Vinegar Works. Leisure: Boat trip in Orléans, Tours Miniature Railway, Orléans Miniature Railway.

Price: €8 (public price: €9) The Fortress of Montbazon, the stronghold of the terrible Count of Anjou, Foulques III Nerra, dominates the Indre valley and the town of Montbazon from the top of its rocky spur. It is one of our oldest military constructions. Home to the oldest keep in France still standing, its history stretches from the end of the 10th century to the 15th. As well as a particularly immersive guided tour, you can discover the trades of the Middle Ages through skits and demonstrations: war machines in action, weapons master, stone cutter, potter, herbalist, calligrapher...  Children can try their hand at a host of medieval games, and leave with their knight of the fortress diploma! The fortress tavern serves fouées, salads, planks and other delicacies.

Price: €14.50 (public price: €15.50) A private chateau still inhabited by the same family, it is open to the public every day of the year. Cheverny is considered to be the most magnificently furnished château in the Loire Valley. Tapestries from the Gobelins, Flanders, Louis XIV and Louis XV chests of drawers, Louis XV Regulator, the King's room... and a thousand other wonders will enchant you. The castle of Cheverny was used as a model by Hergé to draw the castle of Moulinsart. The permanent exhibition "The Secrets of Moulinsart" allows visitors to relive the events that took place in this mythical place.

Price: €14.50 (public price: €16.00) The favourite residence of the Kings of France during the Renaissance, the Royal Château of Blois is a true architectural and historical synthesis of the Châteaux of the Loire. Its four wings, each in a different style, and its monumental staircase around the same courtyard, offer an astonishing panorama of French architecture from the Middle Ages to the Classical period. In the royal flats, the magnificent restored polychrome decorations, furniture and paintings evoke the daily life of the Court and power during the Renaissance. The private chambers of François I and the royal chambers of Catherine de Medici and Henri III, where the Duke of Guise was murdered in 1588, are steeped in the major events of French history.