Centre-Val de Loire

Centre-Loire Valley, officially Centre-Val de Loire, is the land of the Loire châteaux: Chambord, Chenonceau, and Amboise lie only a few miles from one another here. A vacation in Centre-Loire Valley combines Renaissance palaces, cathedrals like those in Chartres and Bourges, vineyards, and the bike trail along France's longest river.

Landscape Along the Loire

Here the Loire flows broad and unhurried through a valley that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes. Its tributaries, the Cher, Indre, and Vienne, also shape landscapes dotted with châteaux. To the north lie the Beauce, the breadbasket of France, with endless fields around Chartres; the forests and lakes of the Sologne, a former royal hunting ground; and the hills of the Perche. In the south, the region extends into the Berry with Bourges and Châteauroux, where George Sand wrote her novels.

Cities

Tours is the largest city, with half-timbered houses on Place Plumereau and a cathedral built across several eras; as a university town, Tours is said to be the place where the "purest French" is spoken. Orléans, the capital, is the city of Joan of Arc, who ended the English siege in 1429; every May the city celebrates her with the Fêtes johanniques. Blois has a royal château with a famous spiral staircase, and its wings let you read four centuries of architecture. Bourges has one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in France and the Palais Jacques-Cœur. Chartres is famous for its cathedral with vivid blue stained-glass windows, and Amboise for its royal château and the Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years. Dreux in the north has a royal burial chapel.

Other Centre-Loire Valley destinations include Loches with its royal city and keep, Chinon with its fortress, where Joan of Arc met the future King Charles VII, and Vendôme with its abbey and canals. Sancerre sits on a hill above vineyards, and Gien has a faience manufactory. In the Sologne, forests and ponds invite you to go hiking, and the Perche is home to manor houses and horse studs.

Sights in Centre-Loire Valley

Among the most famous sights in Centre-Loire Valley is Chambord, with its double-helix staircase, which may go back to Leonardo, and its more than 400 rooms in the middle of a walled park. Chenonceau spans the Cher with a gallery and was shaped by women such as Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de' Medici. Villandry is known for its Renaissance gardens with ornamental vegetable beds, Azay-le-Rideau is reflected in the Indre, and Cheverny served Hergé as the model for Moulinsart Castle. The ZooParc de Beauval near Saint-Aignan is one of the largest zoos in Europe.

Culture and History

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the French kings resided on the Loire before settling in Paris and Versailles. They brought Italian artists with them, who introduced the Renaissance to France. Writers such as Rabelais, Balzac, and Ronsard come from the region. The Festival of Gardens in Chaumont-sur-Loire showcases new garden art every year.

Each spring and summer, costume festivals, jousting tournaments, and light shows turn the châteaux into stages, and in Bourges the Printemps de Bourges festival draws music fans.

Food and Drink

The region's wines range from the Sauvignon Blanc of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé to the Chenin Blanc of Vouvray and the reds of Chinon and Bourgueil. Goat cheeses such as Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, Crottin de Chavignol, Valençay, and Selles-sur-Cher are typical products, as are Rillettes de Tours, game from the Sologne, and the tarte Tatin, said to have been invented at the Tatin sisters' hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron.

In fall, it's game season in the Sologne, and in the wine cellars of Vouvray, dug deep into the tuffeau stone, the new wine is tasted.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

From Paris, you can reach Tours by TGV in about an hour and Orléans by regional train in one hour. The La Loire à Vélo bike trail links the châteaux, and many of them can also be reached by bus or shuttle. The best time to visit is from April to October, when the gardens are in bloom and sound-and-light shows take place; at Christmas, some châteaux are festively decorated.