We had the best time on our days exploring the Loire Valley. We stayed in the city of Tours - which was a great base for the trip. The adorable city had lots of shops and restaurants filled the town and everything was quite walkable. Best of all, we stayed across from their incredible food hall filled with fresh pastries, fruits, meats, and all sorts of other French treats.
Things to Do
Over our four days in the Loire Valley, these were our major chateaus - every one of them was magnificent and unique in its own way and I would highly recommend all of them. Note that for all except Amboise, you'll need to rent a car to be able to reach them from tours:
Chateau Villandry. This chateau had some of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen! Gorgeous, manicured flower gardens, a hedge maze, and a pond filled with swans. Highly recommend getting above the gardens - either at the top of the chateau or on a terrace to be able to appreciate the gorgeous gardens.
Chateau Chambord, The biggest, most elegant chateau - the architecture of this stunning palace was incredible. This chateau includes a kids play area inside and many rooms to roam through - the central staircase is a masterpiece
Chateau Amboise. Set in a perfect medieval town, we visited on a perfect blue sky day. Truly a magnificent property - it has gorgeous gardens and beautiful views of the Loire from every terrace
Chateau Chenonceux. This is an incredible work of architectural genius- a chateau that spans the entire Loire River width with two stories raised high above the river filled with a dance hall and portrait gallery. Even a visit in the pour rain was a delight and you could cross the river through the house to get photos of the magnificent chateau from both sides of the river. At one point there was a Medici who helped build the vision so it's reminscent of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence
Meals
All of our best meals in the region were leisurely lunches after mornings at the chateaus - the evenings were more casual, meals in the city of Tours - this schedule worked well for the littles and allowed us to try some really unique country restaurants
Chateau Chenonceaux - Orangerie. The restaurant was on the grounds of the chateau - the food and the ambiance were magnficant. We had a gorgeous pre-fixed menu with wines from the grounds; they also had a gogeous kids menu. We were able to get in without reservations, but I would recommend them (we went on the early side)
L'Etape Gourmet [Near Chateau Villandry]. This is a gorgeous gourmet farm restaurant with a small menu, beautiful farm-based terrace, and delightful service. The food was beautiful - we enjoyed a three course tasting menu with a beautiful scallop salad, pork, and gorgeous dessert - but it also has a small farm yard on the grounds. The girls enjoyed seeing the sheep, goat, and chicken friends on the property.
Le Parvis [Near Chateau Amboise]. Tucked around the corner from the Chateau in a cozy restaurant - this restaurant has a woodfired grill filled with beautiful meats. Both Prasad and I enjoyed lovely skewered beef with great char and flavor; the girls enjoyed hamburgers of their own. This was really a treat and one of my favorite meals of the trip - I would recommend reservations
Standout Restaurants
