Castle / Ruins Sights in La Loire

The gardens of this family château are the real highlight of a trip here. In season, look out for the amazing collection of pumpkins in the Kitchen Garden. Visit its "Italian garden" and "Monsignor aviary". Look at the majestic trees and beds of boxwood topiary. Finally explore the listed Chapelle des trois Marie with its 15th century sculptures. You can even stay in this lovely château.

Dating back to the 14th century, this Renaissance château was home to many royal mistresses. Nowadays it is visited more for its beautiful grounds which include a vegetable garden with a massive 650 varieties of tomato, the contemporary and colourful Dalhia garden and a medicinal garden. It is possible to stay in the château and take cookery classes there.

Built on the river Cher, the Château de Chenonceau is the epitome of beauty. Château des Dames, as it is recorded in the French history books, owes a large part of its charm to women.

Château de Chaumont dominates the Loire Valley skyline and is an illustration of both the defensive architecture of its period and the beautiful Renaissance style. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the château, which belonged to Queen Catherine de Medicis and later Diane de Poitiers, knew an intense period of intellectual activity. The Le Ray de Chaumont family welcomed, one after the other, the sculptor Nini, the American Benjamin Franklin and writer Germaine de Staël. The wider Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire reached its peak at the end of the 19th century thanks to Prince and Princess de Broglie. The royal couple designed magnificent modern stables, with the help of Maison Hermès, and entrusted Henri Duchêne, the landscape architect, with the creation of a landscaped park. The château is a UNESCO world heritage site.

It was Jacques Ier d'Etampes who demanded the construction of this Renaissance château in 1520, a masterpiece whose highlight is the beautiful entrance pavilion. Majestic and imposing, it has a finely decorated symbolic tower, carefully worked battlements and pilasters adorned with the three classical orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. The château dungeon is surrounded on each side by the main buildings which include a sumptuous Italian arcaded gallery, corner towers and domed roofs. These all make Valençay, in the tradition of Chambord, a benchmark of Renaissance architecture.

With its majestic keep and protective drawbridge, the Château du Rivau seems to come straight out of a fairytale. Its square layout is that of a 13th century fortified château. The square shaped keep was the heart of the château's fortification. Yet the Rivau was one of the first ornamental châteaux to be built: its cheminées, wide windows and frescos endow it with a harmonious style. In the dining hall, a biblical episode of the Feast of Belshazzar is depicted over the mantelpiece by a Flemish master of the 16th century. The château's gardens were directly inspired by medieval tales and folklore. The château also has a permanent art exhibition in its gardens.

Villandry was completed toward 1536 and was the last of the large châteaux built in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. It was built by Jean le Breton, one of François I's finance ministers, whose coat of arms can be seen on the gable of the left-hand dormer window. Villandry stayed in the le Breton family until 1754 and then became the property of the Marquis de Castellane, the King's Ambassador, who came from an illustrious noble family from Provence. He built the Classical style outbuildings that you can see on either side of the front courtyard. He also redesigned the interior of the château to meet the standards of comfort of the 18th century. Its redesigned grounds include an impressive vegetable garden constructed in the early 20th century. A cook's delight, these vegetables are now available to buy in season.

The Château Meung is one of the largest and most ancient châteaux in the Loire Valley. Until the Revolution, it was the prestigious residence of the bishops of Orléans and welcomed some great names in French history. Everything began with the 1st château which served as the framework for the treaty of 861 between Robert le Fort (the Strong) and King Charles le Chauve (the Bald). Significantly, this treaty marked the start of the ascent of the Capetian dynasty. The château was also a strategic location during the Hundred Years' War; Joan of Arc released it after her victory in Orléans. The château also has its dark side; it served as a prison. Its most famous prisoner was the poet François Villon. Bought by one of the founders of the Banque de France, the Château Meung is a private residence open for tours.

This royal château offers a true panoramic survey of art and history of the châteaux of the Loire Valley. The residence of seven Kings and 10 Queens of France, the château is reminiscent of the power and daily life at court in the Renaissance. It has impressive royal apartments which are furnished and embellished with magnificent polychromatic decors. In 1845 it was the first historical residence to be restored and acted as a model for the restoration of many other châteaux. The Château Royal de Blois is classified as a Museum of France and is filled with more than 35,000 works of art. It presents its collections in the Royal apartments of the François I wing, in the Fine Arts Museum set in the Louis XII wing and in many temporary exhibitions.

This war fortress was built in the late 11th century and became one of the most impressive residential châteaux in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. Dismantled during the French Revolution, the château turned into a village district and, in the 1950s, the gallery became a museum to the history of Grand-Pressigny. The museum charts history from the 6th to the 21st century, noting key archaeological features including the use of the regional flint stone.

Originally built in the 10th century, this pretty château with its blue slate roofs overlooks the enchanting town of Saumur. The existing building dates back to the 12th century when it was rebuilt by Henry II, King of England. Having been an army barracks at one time and a prison at another, today the château is also a museum of horses, given the importance of the equestrian school to the town.

Inhabited without interruption since the late 15th century, the Château de Beauregard is hidden behind the foliage of the forest of Russy. In the early 16th century, it was a small house which formed part of the royal domain of Louis XII and was used by François I as a hunting lodge. Jean du Thier, who worked on the château in the 16th century, is the real designer of much of the château you see today. Beauregard is now owned by the family of Cheyron du Pavilion. It is open to the public, though the family still reside there. The major attraction here is its wonderful gardens, which were declared a historic monument in 1992. A beautifully landscaped park with space dedicated to perennials and shrubs. It also has one of the largest rose gardens in the Loire Valley. Look for remnants of the old chapel amongst the trees and greenery.

Built in the purest Louis XIII classical style and distinguished by an extraordinarily symmetrical architecture, Château de Cheverny dates back to the first part of the 17th century. It is the masterpiece of architect, mason and sculptor, Jaques Bougier and represents the desire for this royal château to be of extreme high quality and design. Inside, it is as you would expect, ornately adorned and beautifully finished. It houses the finest artwork collection of any château in the Loire. The grounds are immaculate with magnificent flowerbeds, ancient Cedar trees and Pines. You can hop on a boat tour along the château's canal. Interestingly, it inspired Tintin author, Hergé, who designed Captain Haddock's Marlinspike Hall based on the château's central structure but with the outer wings removed. The château houses a permanent exhibition on Tintin and his friends.

The lovely Château du Moulin was built in the late 15th century for Phillipe du Moulin, a friend of Charles VIII. It is an architectural gem in a mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles and is surrounded by a classical moat. This romantic dark stone château, hidden in the forest, is still inhabited.

The Château de Chamerolles has undergone extensive renovation in its 16th century style. However the real reason to visit is to see its six beautiful gardens dedicated to colours and aromas. Both French native plants and exotic species have been grown, as well as vegetable gardens, honeysuckle and more. Inside the château, rooms are dedicated to the development of scents and perfumes over the centuries.

Château de Valmer, with its striking park and gardens, nestles on the edge of a hillside overlooking the Brenne Valley, a tributary of the Loire river. 

This sleeping beauty château, overlooking the Indre river, is thought to have inspired the children's book written by Charles Perrault in the 17th century. Parts of the existing château date back to the 15th century - unfortunately all aspects from earlier dates have been destroyed. However, this picture-book Gothic château with some Italianate features is in immaculate condition. Its interior has been maintained in authentic style and it has a sumptuous king's chamber decorated in gold leaf, just in case a king happened to be passing and drop in!

This palace was built for Jacques Cœur, the Finance Minister to the King, in the 15th century. This impressive Gothic building in the centre of Bourges took less than 10 years to build. Declared a historical monument in the late 19th century, its façades and interior have been restored. Home to the courts for a century, the building was returned to the state in the 1920s.