Loire Valley travel guide

Loire Valley Chateaux

Many of the castles here in the Loire Valley were originally medieval fortresses that got substantially rebuilt during the 15th-17th centuries to make them more comfortable for living in. This is why you will often see defensive structures that remain from these earlier buildings in the castles you visit, such as towers (now with windows added) and moats (now purely decorative).

Travelling from east to west through the region the most visited chateaux include:

South-west of Orléans: the Château de Blois, the Château de Chambord, and Château de Cheverny, with Château de Valençay a little to the south of this group

Blois, Chambord, Cheverny and Valencay castles

Between Blois and Tours: the Château de Chenonceau and Château d'Amboise, as well as the Chateau de Clos-Lucé and Domaine Royale de Château-Gaillard, also in Amboise

Chenonceau and Amboise (*3) castles

West of Tours: the Château de Villandry with its renowned gardens, the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, and Chateau du Lude a little to the north-west. Towards the western border of the Centre region are Château Chinon and Château du Rivau

Villandry, Azay le Rideau, Lude and Chinon castles

Maine-et-Loire: Three more well known Loire Valley chateaux are further west in the Maine-et-Loire department: the Chateau d'Angers, the Chateau de Brissac and the Chateau de Saumur.

Rivau, Angers, Brissac and Saumur castles

See also Loire Valley castles, and the travel guides for Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher where most of the famous Loire Valley castles are situated.

Cathedrals, abbeys and historic monuments

One of the most important religious monuments here is Chartres Cathedral, one of the finest gothic architecture buildings in France and situated at Chartres to the north-east of the Centre region in the Eure-et-Loir department.

Another unmissable religious monument is Bourges Cathedral, now a UNESCO world heritage site and in the Cher department to the south-east of the region in the town of Bourges.

Also recommended and in the Loiret department to the east of the region, the Abbey of St-Benoit-sur-Loire is one of the most impressive roman style abbeys in France. As an interesting contrast, the later gothic style of architecture can be seen at the imposing abbey at Vendome in Loir-et-Cher.

To the north-west of Bourges at Mehun-sur-Yevre you can see a 15th century castle that has fallen to ruin and the southern Cher has several other interesting castles at Culan, Meillant and Ainay-le-Vieil and an abbey at Noirlac to visit.

All across the Loire valley and Centre region you will come across 'less important' castles, churches and other historic monuments. Sometimes these are rather overlooked by visitors because they are not part of the established tourist routes, so we do suggest you ask about other local highlights in the nearest tourist office when you visit.

Rivers

Although visitors naturally associate this region with the scenery and activities based on and near the Loire river itself, there are several important tributaries of the Loire that also cross the region, passing quietly through the landscape of fields and woodlands, fruit orchards and vineyards.

These smaller rivers provide an interesting alternative view of the region and provide opportunities to discover the Centre region with less crowds. The most important of these tributaries are the Cher, Indre and Vienne rivers, and each has its own distinct charm, leisure opportunities and highlights.

Towns and villages

You will find that you discover some of the most interesting towns and villages in the region simply by visiting the castles, because many of the towns first developed around the local castle in medieval times - and are still there!

Among the larger towns that are interesting to visit in the Centre region are Tours, Orleans (capital of the region) and Blois. We also suggest you visit Beaugency, site of one of the famous battles of Joan of Arc, Loches and Valencay.

Whenever we explore a region of France we try to include visits to some of the most attractive villages in the region, and the Loire valley / Centre region has several that are classified among the 'most beautiful villages of France' to discover and explore.

These include Lavardin (near Blois), Candes-Saint-Martin (near Saumur); Apremont-sur-Allier (near Nevers); Montresor (near Loches); St-Benoit-du-Sault and Gargilesse-Dampierre (near Argenton-sur-Creuse); and Crissay-sur-Manse (near Tours).

Another is Yevre-le-Chatel which is slightly outside the most visited part of the Loire valley at 40 kilometres to the north-east of Orleans but recommended when you are passing.

Note that although villages classified among the 'most beautiful in France' are a good starting point for exploring, there are very often equally pretty villages that don't appear on the list, for example if they don't have the two 'historic monuments' necessary to qualify, so allow plenty of time to explore for yourself!