Loire Valley

The double-helix staircase and a roofline of chimneys. 9am-6pm from 28 March to 25 October and 9am-5pm in winter; closed 1 January and 25 December. Since January 2026 it is €21 for EEA residents and €31 for everyone else, plus €8 to park.

The gallery built straight out across the River Cher, open 9am-6pm. The kitchens beneath the bridge and the two rival gardens are the parts people forget to see.

Come for the gardens rather than the house: €14 for both, €8.50 for gardens only. The gardens open daily year-round except 25 December, while the château closes for part of the winter. Nine miles from Tours.

The Loire à Vélo is fully waymarked with EuroVelo 6 logos and 86 per cent of it runs on smooth surface. Blois to Amboise is a comfortable day.

The manor where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years, with working models of his machines in the grounds, a few minutes' walk from the Château d'Amboise.

Blois is about 80 minutes from Paris by train and works as a base for Chambord and Cheverny. Tours covers the western châteaux and the Vouvray vineyards.

The Rémi-41 line 2 coach runs from Blois station to Chambord for €3.30 single and €6.60 return. By car it is about 25 minutes.

900 signposted kilometres, of which 630 form the through route from Nevers to the Atlantic, all part of EuroVelo 6. The highest point is 185 metres, so it is genuinely flat.

May-June and September: the gardens are at their best and the cycle route is dry.

November-March is cheapest, with several châteaux on winter hours or closed outright.

July-August, when coach tours, son-et-lumière seasons and school holidays all land together.

Chambord at opening. The staircase and the roof terraces are worth being first through the door for.

Walk or cycle part of the walled estate around the château before driving on.

In Blois or a village on the river. Rillettes, goat's cheese and a bottle of Chinon is the local default.

Chenonceau, and specifically the kitchens under the bridge and the two gardens on either bank.

Back to Blois or Amboise for dinner. Several châteaux run son-et-lumière shows in the grounds in summer.

A royal château above the river, Leonardo's tomb in the Saint-Hubert chapel, and Clos Lucé a few streets away.

Tours has the half-timbered Place Plumereau and a serious food market, and the Vouvray chenin vineyards start just east of the city.