What to expect
Between the 13th and the 16th Centuries, French royalty built an amazing collection of beautiful renaissance chateaux.
On the Loire Valley cycling tour we visit Chateau Chambord, the largest of the Loire chateaux, built by Francois I as a hunting lodge and containing a spectacular staircase by Leonardo Da Vinci. We visit Chenonceau, once the home of Henry II's mistress, Diane of Poitiers, evicted by his widow, Catherine de Medici, who then went on to build the iconic ballroom across the River Cher.
The Chateaux are stunning, and we’ve put together a great itinerary of visits. But of course we’ve got great food, interesting wines, and the path less trodden.
FROM
- Single Room Supplement: +£380
- Join in London +£425
- Join in Paris +£170
- Transfer from Train Station: +£75
- Airport Transfer: +£200
- Self-Drive +£90
- Available Dates 2024:
June 15-22, July 13-20, August 10-17
ITINERARY
Day 1 The Garden of France and The Valley of Kings
We arrive at our hotel in Chinon in the afternoon. We stay at the Hotel de France in the heart of this beautiful medieval city, overlooking the beautiful Place du Général de Gaulle where you can relax in any of the many pavement bars and cafes.
In the 12th Century Chinon was effectively the English capital as successive Kings made their home in the château. It is much older than most Loire château, and its military purpose is obvious from its commanding position along the ridge that overlooks the medieval town of Chinon.
Day 2 The Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, and beautiful vineyards.
We leave Chinon along the banks of the River Vienne, and make our way to the Royal Abbey at Fontevraud. This huge Abbey was traditionally the home of many French Queens, but is most famous as the resting place of Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son Richard the Lionheart. King John I’s wife, Isabelle of Angouleme, also lies with them, but she's a bit less famous, poor love.
From Fontevraud it's downhill to Montsoreau where the Vienne enters the River Loire. We’ll cross the Vienne, and cycle along the opposite bank back into Chinon.
Day 3 Sleeping Beauty Woz 'Ere
We start today with a tour of the castle of Chinon. As well as home to English Kings, the castle contains the tower where Joan of Arc ‘heard the voices’ telling her she would be granted an army to relieve the siege of Orléans.
We leave the Vienne and continue our cycling tour back towards the Indre and the Loire.
Overlooking the Indre is the first of the big-league château, Château Ussé, the inspiration for Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty.
Next on our hit-list is Villandry, an unexceptional château, but with gardens that Michelin rate as a 3*** attraction - 'worth a journey in their own right'. There are three gardens - a vegetable garden, a flower garden and a water garden.
Each year the gardening team choose a theme and tell a story in flowers. Villandry is really something, and not to be missed.
Finally today we cycle the 11 km or so to Azay-le-Rideau, another member of the Premier League of Loire Châteaux. Azay-le-Rideau is surrounded on three sides by the River Indre, which has been carefully landscaped to provide a beautiful reflective setting for this ornate château.
There was no military purpose to Azay-le-Rideau, it was just designed to be beautiful, and it is.
Tonight we stay at the Hotel des Chateaux, on the outskirts of Azay-le-Rideau a short stroll from the town.
Day 4 A Tale of two Châteaux
We start the day with a visit to the purely decorative château of Azay-le-Rideau on the river Indre, and boy is it decorative, and finish in the medieval Cité Royale of Loches, on the Indre, where sits the Donjon of Loches. A donjon is a fortress and this place is very obviously built for function rather than form.
In between we cycle over the beautiful rolling farmland of the river Indre, acclaimed as the most beautiful landscape of all the rivers of the Loire Valley.
Depending on timing and inclination, we may be able to visit the Donjon in Loches on our arrival in town, or, if you prefer, a stroll around the royal residence, home of many French Kings, not to mention their wives and mistresses. There will also be more opportunity for these visits tomorrow morning as both are just a stroll (okay, a steep stroll) away from tonight’s hotel, the George Sands.
Day 5 Chateau Chenonceau - Home of Louise The Inconsolable, Among Others
Before leaving Loches, we will attempt to fill any gaps left in your knowledge of its medieval royal buildings (possibly caused by indulging in an extra beer or two on the delightful terrace of the Georges Sands yesterday afternoon.) after which we will head back across country to the most visited of all Loire Châteaux, Chenonceau.
Built as a bridge over the Cher and surrounded by ornamental gardens and man-made moats, this château manages to live up to the usual French hyperbole of its website. It truly is unforgettable.
Most of the rooms are open, and this is a chance to see original floors, tapestries and furniture. In general French Châteaux don't have all the furnishings and interior detail that we often see in British castles. Chenonceau is a pleasant exception, and Louise of Lorraine's room, painted entirely in black with silver motifs of tears and crowns of thorns to mourn her dead husband, is especially memorable.
The ballroom, built by Catherine de Medici, spans the Cher in spectacular fashion, and although the Château had no military value it took on a gloomy historical role in the 20th century. First, it served as an army hospital in the First World War. Then, In the Second World War, the Cher was the boundary between Nazi-occupied France and Vichy France. Château Chenonceau was a border post, each end of the ballroom opening into a different country.
Leaving Chenonceau, we’ll cycle the 10 miles or so to the fabulous Royal Chateau of Amboise. Amboise is a lively, thriving little town with a pretty medieval centre – you may think we’ve earned a cold drink in the square below the imposing Chateau, before we make our way to the Hotel Vinci.
Day 6 Upstream to Blois
From Amboise we follow delightful backroads to the Chateau of Chaumont. This is the Chateau that King Henry II’s mistress, Diane of Poitiers, was given as a consolation prize in exchange for Chenonceau.
It’s quite a consolation prize! The grounds are beautiful, the trees as good as an arboretum. The Chateau is lovely, too, with a fabulous stable block, but these days Chaumont is best-known for its garden festival.
From Chaumont we’ll cross over to the North bank of the river Loire for the first time, and cycle a lovely, flat leisurely 15 miles or so into the centre of Blois.
This afternoon we’ll visit the Chateau of Blois, in the centre of town. This is one of the largest and most magnificent of all the Loire Chateau, with 100 bedrooms and over 500 rooms ( I think only Chambord is bigger).
The Chateau was built, and added to, over a period of 400 years by various Kings, Queens and heirs. But the additions and extra wings were done with money and taste – not desperate repairs by impoverished minor royals! A really memorable building.
Day 7 Chambord – The World’s Grandest Hunting Lodge.
We leave Blois following the River Loire upstream, on a combination of small roads and cycle paths. But before we do, Saturday is market day in Blois. It boasts a particularly thriving local cheese selection. We cross the Loire at Muides-sur-Loire, and cycle through forests full of deer and wild boar on our way to the grandest Loire chateaux of them all, Chambord.
Chambord was built as a hunting lodge by Francois 1, King of France. The chateau itself is beautiful, the largest of all the Loire Chateau, featuring 365 chimneys. As well as exploring the chateau, we can access the roof by the amazing double-helix staircase, once thought to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Two people can enter the staircase from opposite sides and descend to the ground floor without ever meeting.
Chambord sits within Europe’s longest wall, 34 Km long, enclosing the royal hunting grounds. Although we’ll see evidence of wild boar everywhere, they’re so shy that it’s actually difficult to see them. Dusk is the best option, and there are ‘hides’ dotted throughout the forest, but sadly we won’t be here at dusk!
We’ll leave Chambord, still cycling through hunting forest, as we make our way back along the River Cosson, and cross back into Blois and our hotel.
Day 8 All Over
We're about a 45 minute drive from the TGV station at St Pierre des Corps, and a gentle departure time of 10.30 am from Saint Pierre allows for a decent breakfast and gets us back into Paris for late morning.
JOINING DETAILS
Please take careful note of the train times. Our transfers are scheduled to meet these designated trains; if these train times are inconvenient, please contact us so that we can be sure of arranging appropriate transfers.
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