Itinerary · Centre-Val de Loire
Loire Valley Castles for Families: 5 Days from Orléans to Azay-le-Rideau
A route designed for kids and parents alike: the royal Château of Blois and its mechanical dragons, the sheer scale of Chambord and Cheverny's hound pack, Leonardo da Vinci's machines in Amboise, and Villandry's gardens to finish — one stop a day.
5 days · 9 stops · Family
Other itineraries for Centre-Val de Loire:
Overview
Numbers follow the order of the route, day by day — the dashed line is indicative, not a precise driving route.
Day 1
Orléans, a gentle start
A relaxed first afternoon at the MOBE, among insects, taxidermied animals and a vertical greenhouse spread across five floors — enough to keep both kids and adults busy at an easy pace, before hitting the Loire Valley road the next day.
Day 2
Blois, the castle and its dragons
The royal Château of Blois, one of the largest single-site castles in the Loire Valley, where four centuries of architecture unfold around a single courtyard — then, right across the square, the mechanical dragons of the House of Magic, still a crowd-pleaser.
Royal castleCastle · Blois
Château de Blois
Blois Castle has housed the city's Fine Arts Museum in the Louis XII wing since 1869. The collections, formed through donations from individuals, artists, and…
Mechanical dragonsMuseum · Blois
Maison de la magie Robert-Houdin
The House of Magic Robert-Houdin is a museum located in Blois, in Loir-et-Cher, installed at 1, Place du château. It is dedicated to the history and practice…
Day 3
Chambord and Cheverny, the giant and the pack
The largest of the Loire châteaux, with 426 rooms and a double-helix staircase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci — then, twenty minutes down the road, Cheverny and its pack of over a hundred hounds, fed each day in front of visitors.
The double-helix staircaseCastle · Chambord
Château de Chambord
Le château de Chambord est une résidence royale de style Renaissance édifiée en Loir-et-Cher, en région Centre-Val de Loire. Monument inscrit au patrimoine…
Feeding the hound packCastle · Cheverny
Château de Cheverny
Le château de Cheverny est un château classique situé en Loir-et-Cher, dans le Val de Loire. Demeure habitée par la même famille depuis plus de six siècles, il…
Day 4
Amboise, the king and the inventor
The royal Château of Amboise overlooks the Loire from its rocky spur, with the Saint-Hubert chapel where Leonardo da Vinci is said to rest — a five-minute walk away, Clos Lucé, his final home, where his machines have been rebuilt at full scale across the grounds.
Leonardo da Vinci's tombCastle · Amboise
Château royal d'Amboise
Le château royal d'Amboise est un palais de la Renaissance situé au cœur de la ville d'Amboise, en Indre-et-Loire. Demeure de prestige des rois de France lors…
Leonardo's machinesCastle · Amboise
Château du Clos Lucé
Le château du Clos Lucé est une demeure de style Renaissance située à Amboise, en Indre-et-Loire. Il s'agit de la dernière résidence de Léonard de Vinci, qui y…
Day 5
Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry, water and gardens
The Château of Azay-le-Rideau seems to float on its mirror of water, set on an island in the Indre — a final stop at Villandry, where a hedge maze and checkerboard kitchen gardens make up one of the finest gardens in the Loire Valley.
The castle on the waterCastle · Azay-le-Rideau
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Le château d'Azay-le-Rideau est un édifice de style Renaissance situé en Indre-et-Loire, en région Centre-Val de Loire. Construit sous le patronage de François…
The maze and kitchen gardensCastle · Villandry
Château de Villandry
Le château de Villandry est une demeure Renaissance édifiée à partir de 1532 par Jean Breton, secrétaire des Finances de François Ier, qui transforma une…
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