Loire in Order: Chateaux Visitors Unit

Road Trip Part 2: Châteaux Country (Blois, Blois, Blois)

After bidding adieu to Normandy and Brittany, we headed south for some castle sightseeing (quickly becoming our primary activity in Europe). We made Blois our homebase for 3 days, but started checking out chateaux out before we even checked in.

For anyone planning a chateaux visit, for each castle we visited we've listed prices and our "value" rating on a four turret scale! What fun! For quite a few, we only saw the outside, either because of time constraints, their opening hours or their pricing, with some costing more than the Louvre. 

Amboise: On our way into Blois, we saw our first chateau, infamous for hanging hundreds of Huguenot rebels from its exterior arches. It looked imposing from across the river, and that was as close as we got, opting for wine tasting in Vouvray instead. 

Chaumont: We didn't realize this chateau was closed by the time we arrived, so we drove up the hill through the city looking for the way in. Instead, David just ended up having a hilltop bathroom break.



Chambord (9.50€; ♜♜♜♜):
This was our first true stop and our favorite chateau. Even though it was never completed, it's the largest chateau in Europe and it is huge : It has 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces, and 426 rooms. But, when none of the fireplaces are going, it's freezing in January with very few visitors. The castle was originally designed as a hunting lodge in the 1500s and sits in the center of a wooded park. We passed boar crossing signs on drive in, but unfortunately didn't see any animals - except for salamanders adoring the castle. The ferocious symbol of King Francois I.


The castle is made of soft limestone, which made carving very easy. So our visit soon turned into a hunt for the oldest graffiti. It was really fun to see how nice even the aristocratic rebels' and hoodlums' handwriting was back in the 1600 and 1700s. We found one from the 1500s that was sadly followed by one from 2020, which kind of killed our buzz.
The other highlight of the tour was a double helix staircase (designed by Leonardo da Vinci) with two separate staircases spiraling around each other but never meeting. Oh, imagine the delightful photos we took of each other from across the staircase! The stairs led up to a very elaborate rooftop, which has so many towers and chimneys that people compare it to the skyline of a town. People used to watch hunts from the roof,  because the hunters forced animals out of the forest to the front of the castle to be killed. 

Cheverny (8.70€; ♜♜♜♖)
This was the only castle we saw where the owners still live (and still owned by the same family!), which meant you could only tour the first two floors and that you saw some awkward current family photos. Although many castles were damaged during the French revolution, the owners were well liked and the castle was not affected.

The architecture and decor, both from the early 1600s, are well preserved and amazing to check out. Our favorite part was 6,000 years older, though: prehistoric antlers, hung at the actual height of the animal (see below, and pretend that's Robin).

Speaking of animals, the most unique aspect of the visit is checking out the hunting dogs, since Cheverny is still a hunting chateau. The dogs are half English foxhound and half French Poitou, and - let's face it - a little scary and aggressively howly. You can watch the feeding (of raw meat) if you get there in time. First we were disappointed we missed it, but after watching and hearing them during what should have been a food coma, we were glad we didn't see the real action.

Of course, the highlight of the visit is imagining you're in a Tintin comic, since this is the inspiration for the Chateau de Moulinsart in the books. Poetically, our only surviving photo from our chateaux hopping is us tintining at the castle (see above). If you want to shell out a bit extra (we didn't) you can see a Tintin exhibit next door, but it's mostly just wooden cutouts of the characters. 

Chenonceau (11€; ♜♜♜♜ without ticket) We were really excited about seeing this chateau after reading about it, but were planning on just looking from the outside since we only had a half hour and didn't want to pay the high admission price for such a short visit. We were disappointed to find out that they charge admission before you can even get within sight of the castle, so we drove away upset. But then we had the bright idea of trying to get a glimpse from another angle (way to go, atlas!) and got the shot to the left. Ok, not that shot because we have no photos anymore, but a shot from that angle.

Best Tip: If you don't need to see the interior of the castle, cross the first bridge east of the castle entrance and make a hairpin right onto a dirt road. Park your car at the trail head and walk along the river for about 10 minutes until you see the castle. In our opinion, the view from the South side of the river seemed even better than the postcard shots we'd seen from the other side. Oh, and did we mention it was free? We like that. 

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau: 
This early Renaissance chateau is built on an island in a river. We arrived just after closing time for this one, too. But, after our good luck with Chenonceau we walked around the lake to sneak a look across a bridge at the back of the castle. The view wasn't like this photo at all — more of a glimpse of a turret through thick trees. But, in our memories it looked just like this!

Blois: Despite Blois being our "home" for a handful of days, we didn't end up with enough time to see more than a drive-by of this castle right in the center of the city. The spiral staircase in this photo is the most famous part of the castle, and our least memorable — for obvious reasons.

Saumur (♜♜♖♖):  After our stint in Blois, we spent the night in Saumur before heading down south. And wouldn't you guess, there was another chateau there! This one was much older than the period we'd been seeing (built in the 10th-12th centuries). We had a great time hiking up through the city to reach it. Since it was a less popular chateau, it was closed for the low season, but the grounds and views across the river were beautiful.

Driving South, our atlas was a blessing and a curse, because it actually had a chateau symbol pointing out every one — large or small, famous or not — that we were driving near. The result was a number of small detours to see castles that weren't originally on our list:

Montbrun ("♜♜♜♜" - Brad Pitt): One of our favorite memories from this trip and one of our saddest photo/video losses. We rounded a corner and came face to face with a gorgeous small castle on a frozen lake. David tried skipping stones on it, and when the stones hit the ice they made sounds that can only be described as cartoon laser effects. It was insane. Trust us. We also got to pick up huge pieces of frozen lake. And, we just discovered another reason this place is awesome: Brangelina. The castle is still for sale if anyone is interested!

Ussé (♜♜♖♖): This is the chateau that inspired Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty (not to be confused with the castle that inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland). We arrived after closing again but snuck some peeks from over the wall. 

Chinon (♜♖♖♖):  We didn't really give the place a chance.  We saw it after dark on another whim of a detour.  Since it's a medieval fortress rather than a renaissance castle, we decided we'd Chinon 'nough and moved on.  If you're looking for fortresses, Carcasonne is unbeatable (but we're saving it for another post...stay tuned!)

Best Tips: Use AirBNB for this region. Hotels tend to be more expensive in the area because it's so touristy, and you have the option to eat in with most AirBNBs. Which comes in handy especially if you're touring in the off season, when many restaurants are closed.