Loire Valley Castles VIP Private Tour: Chambord, Chenonceaux, Amboise
Description
Take away the hassle out of planning your day trip to the Loire Valley, the birthplace of French Renaissance with more 120 châteaux (estates), on this private luxury tour with roundtrip transportation from Paris. Highlights include visits to Leonardo da Vinci's home and tomb, outstanding Gothic architecture, and plenty of time to enjoy three of the Loire Valley's most impressive and famous châteaux.
Tour Options
Itinerary
After departing Paris in the morning, enjoy a spacious, luxury ride to the first stop of the day, Chateau Royal d'Amboise. The royal château is famous for being the last resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. French royalty resided at Amboise from the 15th to the 19th century, and with its spectacular view over the Loire River, Saint Hubert Chapel, and Gothic architectural details, you can easily imagine knights galloping off into the distance as you breathe in fresh air from impressive vantage points.
Near Amboise, there will be a quick stop for pictures at Clos Lucé, which used to be the official residence of Leonardo da Vinci, between 1516 and 1519.
Next is a real jewel of a château, and the most famous of the Loire region: Chenonceau with its magnificent gardens. Chenonceau is a unique castle, situated above the Cher river, that is also known as “Chateau des dames.” It’s a beautiful mixture between Gothic and Renaissance styles with ornateness that one might only imagine seeing in fairy tale books. Next to Versailles, this is the most visited castle in France. Walks of the grounds reveal a dizzying labyrinth, and a tour of the interior with your private expert guide might take you to the chapel, Francoise I's drawing room, and the gallery over the bridge
In the afternoon, you will finally discover Chambord, a grandiose château. Set on 13,000 acres of parkland, this former royal residence represents the pinnacle of France’s 16th-century architectural revolution, and the double helix spiral staircase at the heart of the château, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, is simply mind-blowing.
Spend the day visiting some of France’s most spectacular castles, and the birthplace of the French Renaissance, on this luxury tour of Loire Valley from Paris tour.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We pick-up from all hotels and residences in Paris
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(38)
Loire valley is a beautiful area with awesome castles, quaint villages and beautiful countryside and forests. Fabric was awesome providing us with historical details and context. He even gave us a mini-trip around Paris for free.
At first, he was not very personable, even hurting my feelings for asking a question. He did begin to be a little nicer at the end of the day. Very knowledgeable, as he continued to tell us in history.
This was a very enjoyable experience. The three châteaux were interesting and beautiful. Our guide Claudio took great care of us. A perfect day!
Wonderful itinerary and overall great experience. Our driver was so nice, the vehicle was roomy, the destinations were amazing, and the knowledge our guide had was the perfect amount of info for the duration we had at each castle. Not too much or too in depth, but plenty of facts and things to point out. I highly recommend this tour if you want to experience the Loire Valley in a day without a tour bus and 50 other people. This was perfect.
Our guide was also our driver so he was with us the entire day. We really enjoyed this tour as it capped off a great week of exploring Paris and surrounding areas.
Exceptional day with nicely paid visits to the three chateaux. Good driver, and nicely paced flexible itinerary. Guide was knowledgeable and kept the whole day interesting while allowing us some time to sleep in the car as well! Highly recommended.
We booked 4 different private tours in France. This was one of the best tours. Our guide, Julian, spoke the best English, and did not have a heavy accent at all. The other tours we took were good, but I struggled a bit to understand the guides with their heavy accents. He was very informative on everything in the tour - and even while driving he would show us different things. On the way home, he even went out of his way to drive us to the front of Cheverny, where I told him I heard they still have hunting dogs. The chateaus were all beautiful and the stories about them all were very interesting. It is a long drive from Paris, and the tour was 12 hours total, which I thought was going to be exhausting. But, to my surprise, the time went by quickly and wasn't as exhausting as other shorter tours I took (maybe because 5 of those hours were sitting in the van getting to and from). I would highly recommend Julian as the tour guide and this tour from Parismatic tours
Quite a large castle, including a castle garden, jousting tournaments, etc., golf carts can be hired to get around the large grounds, very large free parking lot, you can also ride bikes through the park. Plenty of restaurants and shops available
Excellent tour experience visiting the Loire Valley Castles on the VIP Private Tour. Ricardo did a fantastic job!!! He gave us personalized attention and was super flexible. Visiting these three castles on the Loire Valley Castles VIP Private Tour is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in the history, culture, and beauty of the region made perfect by our excellent tour guide.
Great day. On time pickup, easy drive. We preferred the relaxed pace, not in a big hurry. Guide was excellent. We wanted high level info, read details online as we toured the castles. My husband and I wander separately, so it's a challenge for a guide to try to keep us together. Best to give us an overview, tell us when we need to be back at the car and let us go. Our guide was astute enough to recognize that and the camaraderie we established was great. Da Vinci home, Clos Luce, is interesting to get reacquainted with the genius of Da Vinci. That said, it's reproduction so anyone expecting it to actually be Da Vinci's home should understand that it's a reproduction of his home.
