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Loire Valley

Loire Valley
The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes is a cultural landscape symbolic of human interaction with the river Loire. It comprises historic towns and villages, great castles and cultivated lands, mainly tracing back to the Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment.

The designated area covers a 200km long, thin stretch of land along the river. It includes the towns of Blois, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur and Tours.

The site is an extension to the Castle of Chambord, which was already a separate WHS since 1981. This is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture.

Year Decision Comments
2000 Inscribed Reasons for inscription
1999DeferredDeferred due "to the disturbing presence of the nuclear power plant"; 12 out of 19 WHC members voted to inscribe the site, where a 2/3 majority (13) was necessary



Visit April 2012

I had been in doubt about doing a proper visit to the Loire Valley, or a quick one so I could take in another WHS (Bourges Cathedral) on the same day. Fortunately I choose quality over quantity, and made the trek from Paris all the way to Chambord, which takes up almost all day by public transport on a Sunday. There is exactly one train-train-bus combination, which got me at Chambord at 11.50 a.m. There are two buses back in the afternoon, plus trains once an hour.

Chambord was the original nominated site in 1981, and is the must visit castle in this area. My bus from Blois drove along the Loire for the first 10 minutes, the first and last look that I would get on that river. It is wide, and its banks are dotted with stately homes and churches. It reminded me of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, although there the river is less straight and its sides have more cliffs.

Arriving at Chambord, the castle almost looks small compared to the surrounding forest. The weather wasn’t that good, so I focused on getting inside the castle. There was quite a long and slow line, not very efficiently run by a site that must see thousands of visitors every day of the year. But after paying 9.5 EUR and picking up an audio guide (5 EUR), I got in and wasn’t bothered by crowds anymore from then on.

The Castle’s interior came as a big surprise to me, as I was expecting something like Fontainebleau: a richly decorated palace. Chambord however is almost barren. One enters via a small door, and comes directly face to face with the famous double helix stairway. The whole construction is made out of a light coloured sandstone, which is pretty from the outside but gives it an unfinished look at the inside. The stairway is ingenious of course, and I directly walked up all the way to the roof. There the second main feature of this castle can be found: its numerous turrets. To me this was the most marvellous part of the building.

After visiting the other floors and the chapel, I went back to the bus and to Blois. There I had over an hour before my train back to Paris would leave. So I added a quick visit to the town of Blois and its castle. I just walked around, but was able to admire at least some of the colourful decoration of Blois Castle.

More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery

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Reviews

Clyde (Malta):
This WHS is a vast valley dotted with castles, forts, chateauxs, cathedrals, vineyards and good food. Perhaps the most visited is Chambord with the double helix stairway. I visited Amboise, Blois, Chenonceau, Azay le rideau, villandry, chaumont sur Loire. The entrance fees are quite expensive but I would suggest visiting different chateaux and not only Chambord, not only to avoid the crowds but also to better grasp the cultural value of this WHS.
Date posted: May 2013
John Booth (New Zealand):
Over the couse of three days I managed to visit 11 if the sites using a combination of trains and buses:
Chambord - (bus #18 from Blois) a huge but elegant structure set in spacious grounds. The frescoed ceilings were admirable as was the double circular staircase. But most interesting were the multitude of chimneys, turrets, dormers and other rooftop embellishments.
Cheverney - (bus #18 from Blois) smaller but equally elegant and a more colourful interior. Some nicely landscaped gardens too.
Blois - (train from Tours) interesting sculptures but not much else
Chinon - (train from Tours) more of a castle than a stately home. Took the lift from the town centre to the upper town and walked around the ramparts to reach the entrance. Great views of the Loire.
Azay Le Rideau - (train from Tours) a spartan interior but some interesting paintings and tapestries. Located on an island.
Saumur - (train from Tours, then bus #32 from the town centre up to the chateau) a castle built for defensive purposes.
Langeais - (train from Tours) a moat, drawbridge and keep, but very little else.
Orleans - a huge bronze statue of Joan of Arc
Chaumont - (train to Onzain, then walk across the bridge) an austere looking stately home.
Amboise - burial place of Leonardo da Vinci in the St Hubert chapel.
Tours - a small chateau by the river. Also interesting was the Museum of Compagnonnage (tradesmen and artisans) in St Julien's cloister
Date posted: May 2010
Philip T.K. (Canada):
The best way to explore the "Val de Loire" is by private car and that's exactly what we did. Renting one from Paris, we spent a day and half exploring the valley. The road signs in France were excellent and it was much less of a hassle than we expected.

On the first afternoon, we visited Chambord which turned out to be my favorite chateau in the region. Surrounded by forest, it evokes images from childhood fairy tales. It is simply beautiful. From the top of the chateau, you can really see how isolated the place is. After it closed in the evening, my brother and I spent an hour rowing around the castle (highly recommended, it costed $11 for two) which really enhanced the experience. Any visit to the Loire without Chambord would be a shame. That being said, there are many other places worth visiting in this WHS.

After staying in Tours for the night, we visited the ruined castle at Chinon and Fontevraud Abbey, which contains several royals tombs such as Henry II of England and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine among several others, for the morning. In the afternoon, we visited Amboise and Blois. Frederik Dawson has done a great job of describing the former so I don't think I need to go any further on that. Blois, on the other hand, is a nice chateau from the outside but I wouldn't recommend visiting the interior. Most of it is 19th century restoration and I was slightly disappointed with my visit especially considering that it was our last one before heading back to the French capital.

The Loire Valley is a French treasure not to be missed. I visited many other places in this WHS-rich country and it still remains one of my favourite places in France.
Date posted: July 2008
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I Saw 2 Chateaus: Cheverny and Chambord. Chambord is the better of the two, it is incredible. the roof is amazing. there is a double winding staircase. Cheverny is smaller and simpler, it's orangery is where the french hid the Mona Lisa during world war 1.
 
Frederik Dawson (Netherlands):
Watching the film Da Vinci’s Code made my Asian friends came to Europe to see all places, which related to Leonardo’s life. After their Leonardian pilgrimage in Italy, they came to Holland for tulip fields and invited me to join their trip to France’s famous Loire Valley. An offer I hardly refused as I wanted to see another world heritage site.

As the trip was mainly about Da Vinci, our destination was Amboise, the last home of this influential man. Amboise is a very beautiful town on the banks of the Loire with many pretty houses decorated with many flowers. The view from the north bank toward the south side is unbelievable as the beautifully chateau d’ Amboise perched on the hill above the whole town like a fairly tale. The exterior of the chateau is really nice and the interior also lovely with acceptable amount of furniture and interesting history. It is important to note that Chateau d’ Amboise is the first renaissance style chateau in France, so this place is quite important for architectural history. The Chateau also has lovely French style garden and nice chapel. This chapel was the main reason for this trip as the remains of Da Vinci were supposed to be here. The tomb of Da Vinci is just a plain white marble on the floor of the Chapel with some inscription, but for the fans’ emotion (my friends) this place was quite overwhelming.

Not only the chateau that has link with Da Vinci, the manor name Le Clos Lucé near Amboise town centre was his home until his last day. This manor has nice museum and large park with many reconstructed Da Vinci’s inventions. My friends and I played all these replicas with great fun and we were amazed by the genius of Da Vinci. As my friends are great fans of this man, their enthusiasm to explain everything made this trip became really fun and opened my eye on this region. I really want to come back again to this great place in the near future.
Date posted: September 2006
Klaus Freisinger (Austria):
There are, as far as I can see, four cultural landscapes in Europe featuring river valleys, and I´d say the most famous is the Loire Valley (the others are the Rhine Valley in Germany, the Danube Valley in Austria, and the Douro Valley in Portugal). An incredible mixture of history, architecture, and culture, it is worth visiting for any number of reasons, but the chateaux certainly beat all the others. They are all masterpieces of Renaissance (and partly Baroque) architecture, especially the famous castles of Chenonceaux and Chambord (the most beautiful of them, with the famous double staircase by da Vinci). Together with great historic cities such as Angers, Tours, Blois, and especially Orléans, the Loire Valley captures the essence of French history and culture and is definitely worth a visit (more visits really).
Date posted: June 2005
Jose Gomes (Portugal):
I'm used to visit several UNESCO's World Heritage Sites by car (from Portugal). To visit a so large area a car or moto is really necessary. Then, you would be able to enjoy so wonderful castles transformed in so nice palaces. This Valley is one of the most interesting sites in France.
Date posted: June 2005
Graeme (UK):
In 1999, rented a car with friends and toured around the Loire Valley as a day trip from Paris. Visited the main attractions (Chambord and Chenonceau) along with some lesser known chateaux. The views, both architectural and pastoral, were wonderful, but I think the highlight of the trip was enjoying several bottles of the local Sancerre wine over a lengthy lunch. Was certainly a worthwhile excursion.
 


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