From Paris: Loire Valley Castles Day Trip With Wine Tasting

About This Experience

This is the Loire day trip most people from Paris actually take: two châteaux, a town in the middle for lunch, and a coach that does the 200 kilometres each way so you do not have to think about trains. It is also the cheapest way to get inside both Chambord and Chenonceau on the same day with the tickets already bought.

The morning goes to Chambord. The coach leaves the Catacombs meeting point early, runs about two and three quarter hours down the A10, and your tour leader tells the château's story on the way rather than inside it — once you are through the door you have 75 minutes to yourself. That is enough for the double-helix staircase, the roof terrace and the François I apartments if you keep moving, and not enough to read every panel.

Blois comes next, and it is the part travellers either love or misread. You get two hours of free time around the Place Louis XII — cafés, a covered market, the château on the hill if you want to pay for it separately — and lunch is on you. Nothing is included, which is why this tour undercuts the lunch-inclusive ones by well over a hundred dollars.

The afternoon is Chenonceau, and the wine tasting happens before you go in, in the château's vaulted cellar. Then two hours inside and in the gardens: the gallery over the Cher, the Tudor-scale kitchens, the two rival gardens laid out by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de' Medici. The coach gets back to Paris around three hours later, which makes this a thirteen-hour day from meeting point to drop-off.

Highlights

• Discover 2 fairytale Loire Valley castles in one day
• Explore the iconic Renaissance castle of Chambord
• Visit the elegant riverside Château de Chenonceau
• Enjoy a complimentary tasting of local Loire Valley wines
• Relax with free time in the charming town of Blois

What's Included

• ✓ Round-trip transport from Paris by air-conditioned coach
• ✓ An English-speaking tour leader for the whole day
• ✓ Skip-the-line entry to Château de Chambord (75 minutes inside)
• ✓ Skip-the-line entry to Château de Chenonceau (2 hours inside and in the gardens)
• ✓ A complimentary Loire Valley wine tasting in Chenonceau's vaulted cellar
• ✓ Two hours of free time in Blois around the Place Louis XII

Not Included

• Lunch, and any other food or drink
• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Guided tours inside the châteaux — the visits are at your own pace
• Entry to the Château Royal de Blois, if you want to see it in your free time
• Tips for the tour leader and driver

What to Bring

• Passport or ID card

Good to Know & Caveats

• Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
• Clients travelling with young children who cannot be safely secured with a standard seat belt must bring an appropriate child restraint system. Please note that our coaches do not have ISOFIX anchor points, and 3 point seat belts are only available on a limited number of seats. By booking this tour, parents or guardians accept responsibility for ensuring their children are properly restrained
• Tips for guides providing excellent service are appreciated but never obligatory

Meeting Point

Meet your guide at the entrance to the Catacombes de Paris, Place Denfert-Rochereau (Metro lines 4 and 6, exit Sortie 1). The guide holds a City Wonders sign. There is no hotel pickup on this tour.