France: Wine & Châteaux of the Loire Valley

Depart from home for France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary.

Upon arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area; VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. Please note: Make sure that your VBT luggage tags are attached to your bags. This helps the representative identify you.

After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. Your representative will welcome you to France and arrange for your transfer via taxi or van to your Paris hotel (approximately 60 minutes, depending on traffic). Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the CDG Airport, please call 06 72 07 59 24 or 06 15 15 15 25 from within France. Outside of France, call +33 672 07 59 24 or +33 615 15 15 25.

VBT provides you with City Information that includes recommendations for what to see and do in Paris. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the City of Light.

Hotel: Hotel Château Frontenac

Meet your VBT representative in the hotel lobby at 12:15 p.m. The representative will assist with your transfer to the Relais des Trois Chateaux in Cour-Cheverny near Blois, where you will meet your VBT trip leaders. The transfer will take approximately 3 hours. Please enjoy an early lunch in Paris, or pack a lunch to eat during your transfer (your Paris hotel can advise of a nearby bakery or grocery store).

Cour-Cheverny is a small town situated on the southern bank of the Loire River in the heart of the Loire Valley region. Surrounded by fertile farms and vineyards, it is especially known for its white and red wines. Its castle dates to the 17th century. Before you begin cycling in the Loire Valley of France, join your trip leaders for a safety and bike-fitting session, followed by a short warm-up ride in the afternoon. This evening, enjoy a welcome reception and dinner with the group at the hotel.

Hotel: Relais des Trois Châteaux
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choice:
Cumulative Distance Range: 13 km (8 miles)
Warm-up: 13 km (8 miles)

What to Expect: An easy loop takes you from the center of Cour-Cheverny to Cheverny and into the countryside past meadows, small farms, forest and petite castles, then back to your hotel.

Set off from the hotel on your bike after breakfast, riding on a mix of quieter roads and bike paths to Chambord, home of the remarkable Château de Chambord. Now the largest castle in the Loire Valley, its 440 rooms were never intended to be lived in. The castle was designed as a seasonal hunting lodge and as a venue for hosting large receptions for King Francois I. The monarch built the château from 1519-1547 while living in royal residences in Blois and Amboise. The 21-mile-long garden wall is the longest wall in France. Of particular interest are the castle’s double-helix staircases, which allow two people to travel up and down without crossing one another’s path. Step back in time during a self-guided visit here.

In the afternoon, shuttle back to your hotel or ride back along a different route. You have the rest of the day to spend as you wish, exploring the town and the 17th-century castle of Cour-Cheverny or relaxing in the hotel’s garden and grounds. Before dinner, learn about some of the wines of the area and sample some during a tasting. Dinner is included tonight at a local restaurant.

Hotel: Relais des Trois Châteaux
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 47 km (13 – 29 miles)
Morning
Cour-Cheverny to Chambord: 21 km (13 miles)

Afternoon
Chambord to Cour-Cheverny: 26 km (16 miles)

What to Expect: Ride dedicated bikes lanes and paths through gentle countryside to the Chateau de Chambord. After lunch on your own, shuttle back or ride a different loop back to your hotel.

This morning, you’ll depart from your hotel in the direction of the Loire River. Today’s journey takes you through the glorious countryside, nicknamed the “Garden of France” for its abundance of fruits and vegetables. Joining the Loire River bicycle path at Candé-sur-Beuvron, you continue on to Chaumont-sur-Loire, where you can enjoy a picnic or restaurant lunch and explore the 15th-century Château de Chaumont and its delightful gardens (entrance included).

Then, continue to the town of Amboise. The château that dominates the town was once home to Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francois I. Leonardo da Vinci came to live in Amboise in 1516 and evidence of his work remains where he resided at the Clos-Luce Manor.

Tonight, enjoy free time to take a short walk into Amboise and sample one of its wonderful restaurants.

Hotel: Le Manoir les Minimes
Meals: Breakfast

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 51 km (13 – 31 miles)
Morning
Cour-Cheverny to Chaumont-sur-Loire: 30 km (18 miles)

Afternoon
Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise: 21 km (13 miles)

What to Expect: Ride to Chaumont-sur-Loire via Montou-sur-Bièvre and Candé-sur-Beuvron along quiet country roads and a bike path, following a small river and through quaint hamlets. Those wishing to continue riding in the afternoon will cycle from Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise along the Loire à Vélo bike path, a cycling route along the Loire. More than 700,000 international cyclists ride France’s most popular cycle route annually!

After breakfast, you’ll pedal along a scenic route to the Château de Chenonceau on the Cher River, known as the most romantic of the Loire châteaux. Its history is the stuff of epic novels: King Henry II gave the château as a gift to his beautiful lover, Diane de Poitiers. She built the first gardens and added a bridge to connect the château to the Cher’s south shore. After Henry’s death, his jealous wife, Catherine de Medici, took the château from Diane and built the unique gallery that today straddles the river. It became her favorite residence, and she later hosted the marriage of her son, Francis II, to Mary Queen of Scots, here in 1560.

Enjoy ample time to tour the château (audio-guide included) and its gardens and topiary maze before picnicking with your travel mates. Take the van shuttle back to the hotel, or continue cycling, perhaps stopping to visit Clos Lucé (Da Vinci’s manor-house and museum) or Amboise’s royal castle en route.

This evening, continue exploring Amboise, and enjoy dinner on your own.

Hotel: Le Manoir les Minimes
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 44 km (9 – 27 miles)
Morning
Amboise to Chenonceaux: 29 km (18 miles)

Afternoon
Chenonceaux to Amboise: 15 km (9 miles)

What to Expect: Cycle to the town of Chenonceaux and tour the romantic château. Return to hotel by support vehicle or, after lunch, cycle back to Amboise. Before reaching the hotel, you can stop and visit Clos Lucé (Da Vinci’s manor house and museum) and/or Amboise royal castle. Both visits are optional.

After breakfast, you’ll ride the “Loire & Soils” bicycle path on the northern banks of the Loire River, famous for its prolific wine production. Viticulture has been practiced here since at least the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church maintained vineyards at local monasteries. You’ll cycle through Vouvray, where you can stop for a wine tasting if you wish. Arrive in Tours, where you might visit the cathedral or discover its pedestrian streets and the famous Place Plumereau in the heart of the medieval city. Enjoy lunch on your own here, then continue along La Loire à Velo bike path into Montlouis sur Loire. There will be free time to explore this pretty small town before continuing to your hotel for the next two nights, Château de la Bourdaisière. The château is famous for its tomato and dahlia collection, so make sure you explore its magnificent gardens. You may also take advantage of its lovely outdoor swimming pool.

If weather permits this evening, your small group will have dinner in the dahlia garden. Otherwise, you’ll enjoy the ambiance of one of the lounges inside the château.

Hotel: Château de la Bourdaisière
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 49 km (9 – 30 miles)
Morning
Amboise to Tours: 34 km (21 miles)

Afternoon
Tours to Montlouis: 15 km (9 miles)

What to Expect: This morning’s ride mostly follows the “Loire & Soils” route through varied landscapes and villages. If you wish to continue cycling after lunch on your own, follow La Loire à Vélo bike route to Montlouis.

After breakfast, shuttle to the Château de Villandry; its geometric, terraced gardens are unlike any other in France. The last of the large châteaux built during the Renaissance on the banks of the Loire, it was completed around 1536. You’ll then cycle on a beautiful bike route along the Loire River and on to Azay-le-Rideau. Here you may wish to explore the delightful old area and16th-century island château and have lunch.

A short distance further, you come across La Vallee Troglodytique des Goupillières (the Troglodyte Valley of Goupillières). While the aristocracy lived in the Loire’s exquisite river-side castles, a large number of peasants and the working population of the region lived in cave-type dwellings dug out of the region’s tufa limestone from the early Middle Ages to a century ago. Learn about their lives during a guided visit to these restored dwellings. From here, you return to the hotel by shuttle.

Your route takes you along the Indre River, a region that figured prominently in works by Honoré de Balzac, the 19th-century French literary master. The French author referred to Azay-le-Rideau as “a faceted diamond set in the Indre.”

Enjoy a final festive dinner together at the hotel, where you can share your stories of cycling the Loire Valley France with your travelers and trip leaders.

Hotel: Château de la Bourdaisière
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 – 52 km (15 – 32 miles)
Morning
Montlouis to Azay-le-Rideau: 25 km (15 miles)
Azay-le-Rideau to Montlouis: 27 km (17 miles)

What to Expect: Enjoy a beautiful ride along the river to Azay-le-Rideau this morning. Continue cycling along the Indre à vélo bike route after lunch, if you wish, pausing for your included tour of the Troglodyte Valley of Goupillières.

After breakfast, depart for Paris, stopping en route to explore one of the most visited monuments in France, the Palace of Versailles. Wanting to maintain control over the nobility, Louis XIV had Versailles constructed as his primary residence and as the main seat of the French government. Louis Le Vau was commissioned to renovate and extend an old hunting lodge, landscape artist Le Notre created the gardens from swampland, and Mansart masterminded the hydraulic display of the fountains. This grand palace served as France’s official royal residence from 1682 until 1790.

Once you arrive at the palace, you will tour the vast estate by audio guide, with visits to the state apartments of the king and queen, the Galerie des Glaces (the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I) and the gardens.

Later, rejoin the shuttle to our final hotel, located near Charles de Gaulle Airport.

This evening is free. You may wish to dine at your hotel and enjoy its leisure facilities.

Hotel: Hotel Pullman Paris Roissy CDG Airport
Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast*, transfer by shuttle train to your departure terminal within Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. The CDGVal Shuttle Train is a complimentary train connecting all terminals and train and bus stations at Charles de Gaulle Airport, running every four minutes (daily between 4:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m.). The hotel reception can provide exact instructions to your terminal, but please plan to leave the hotel about 3 hours before your flight time for the short walk to the Terminal 3-Roissypole train shuttle station and the shuttle ride to your correct terminal.

*Please note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the front desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

Meals: Breakfast

Meet your VBT representative at 12:15 p.m. in the lobby of the Hotel Château Frontenac (54 Rue Pierre Charron 75008, Paris; Tel: 011 33 1 532 3131 from outside of France or 01 532 3131 from within France). The representative will assist with your transfer to the Relais des Trois Chateaux in Cour-Cheverny near Blois, where you will meet your VBT trip leaders. The transfer will take approximately three hours. Please enjoy an early lunch in Paris, or pack a lunch to eat during your transfer.

If you arrive at the Hotel Château Frontenac later than 12:15 p.m., you must make arrangements to travel to Blois independently and arrive by 3:30 p.m. It is possible to take a train at your own expense from Paris Austerlitz station to Blois. From here, you will need to take a taxi at your own expense. Taxi cost is approximately 30 euros (travel time approximately 20 minutes) to the first hotel. Please contact the first hotel to advise the staff if this is the case, so they can inform your VBT trip leaders.

Hotel: Relais des Trois Châteaux
Meals: Dinner

Today’s Ride Choice:
Cumulative Distance Range: 13 km (8 miles)
Warm-up: 13 km (8 miles)

What to Expect: An easy loop takes you from the center of Cour-Cheverny to Cheverny and into the countryside past meadows, small farms, forest and petite castles, then back to your hotel.

Set off from the hotel on your bike after breakfast, riding on a mix of quieter roads and bike paths to Chambord, home of the remarkable Château de Chambord. Now the largest castle in the Loire Valley, its 440 rooms were never intended to be lived in. The castle was designed as a seasonal hunting lodge and as a venue for hosting large receptions for King Francois I. The monarch built the château from 1519-1547 while living in royal residences in Blois and Amboise. The 21-mile-long garden wall is the longest wall in France. Of particular interest are the castle’s double-helix staircases, which allow two people to travel up and down without crossing one another’s path. Step back in time during a self-guided visit here.

In the afternoon, shuttle back to your hotel or ride back along a different route. You have the rest of the day to spend as you wish, exploring the town and the 17th-century castle of Cour-Cheverny or relaxing in the hotel’s garden and grounds. Before dinner, learn about some of the wines of the area and sample some during a tasting. Dinner is included tonight at a local restaurant.

Hotel: Relais des Trois Châteaux
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 47 km (13 – 29 miles)
Morning
Cour-Cheverny to Chambord: 21 km (13 miles)

Afternoon
Chambord to Cour-Cheverny: 26 km (16 miles)

What to Expect: Ride dedicated bikes lanes and paths through gentle countryside to the Chateau de Chambord. After lunch on your own, shuttle back or ride a different loop back to your hotel.

This morning, you’ll depart from your hotel in the direction of the Loire River. Today’s journey takes you through the glorious countryside, nicknamed the “Garden of France” for its abundance of fruits and vegetables. Joining the Loire River bicycle path at Candé-sur-Beuvron, you continue on to Chaumont-sur-Loire, where you can enjoy a picnic or restaurant lunch and explore the 15th-century Château de Chaumont and its delightful gardens (entrance included).

Then, continue to the town of Amboise. The château that dominates the town was once home to Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francois I. Leonardo da Vinci came to live in Amboise in 1516 and evidence of his work remains where he resided at the Clos-Luce Manor.

Tonight, enjoy free time to take a short walk into Amboise and sample one of its wonderful restaurants.

Hotel: Le Manoir les Minimes
Meals: Breakfast

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 51 km (13 – 31 miles)
Morning
Cour-Cheverny to Chaumont-sur-Loire: 30 km (18 miles)

Afternoon
Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise: 21 km (13 miles)

What to Expect: Ride to Chaumont-sur-Loire via Montou-sur-Bièvre and Candé-sur-Beuvron along quiet country roads and a bike path, following a small river and through quaint hamlets. Those wishing to continue riding in the afternoon will cycle from Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise along the Loire à Vélo bike path, a cycling route along the Loire. More than 700,000 international cyclists ride France’s most popular cycle route annually!

After breakfast, you’ll pedal along a scenic route to the Château de Chenonceau on the Cher River, known as the most romantic of the Loire châteaux. Its history is the stuff of epic novels: King Henry II gave the château as a gift to his beautiful lover, Diane de Poitiers. She built the first gardens and added a bridge to connect the château to the Cher’s south shore. After Henry’s death, his jealous wife, Catherine de Medici, took the château from Diane and built the unique gallery that today straddles the river. It became her favorite residence, and she later hosted the marriage of her son, Francis II, to Mary Queen of Scots, here in 1560.

Enjoy ample time to tour the château (audio-guide included) and its gardens and topiary maze before picnicking with your travel mates. Take the van shuttle back to the hotel, or continue cycling, perhaps stopping to visit Clos Lucé (Da Vinci’s manor-house and museum) or Amboise’s royal castle en route.

This evening, continue exploring Amboise, and enjoy dinner on your own.

Hotel: Le Manoir les Minimes
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 44 km (9 – 27 miles)
Morning
Amboise to Chenonceaux: 29 km (18 miles)

Afternoon
Chenonceaux to Amboise: 15 km (9 miles)

What to Expect: Cycle to the town of Chenonceaux and tour the romantic château. Return to hotel by support vehicle or, after lunch, cycle back to Amboise. Before reaching the hotel, you can stop and visit Clos Lucé (Da Vinci’s manor house and museum) and/or Amboise royal castle. Both visits are optional.

After breakfast, you’ll ride the “Loire & Soils” bicycle path on the northern banks of the Loire River, famous for its prolific wine production. Viticulture has been practiced here since at least the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church maintained vineyards at local monasteries. You’ll cycle through Vouvray, where you can stop for a wine tasting if you wish. Arrive in Tours, where you might visit the cathedral or discover its pedestrian streets and the famous Place Plumereau in the heart of the medieval city. Enjoy lunch on your own here, then continue along La Loire à Velo bike path into Montlouis sur Loire. There will be free time to explore this pretty small town before continuing to your hotel for the next two nights, Château de la Bourdaisière. The château is famous for its tomato and dahlia collection, so make sure you explore its magnificent gardens. You may also take advantage of its lovely outdoor swimming pool.

If weather permits this evening, your small group will have dinner in the dahlia garden. Otherwise, you’ll enjoy the ambiance of one of the lounges inside the château.

Hotel: Château de la Bourdaisière
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 49 km (9 – 30 miles)
Morning
Amboise to Tours: 34 km (21 miles)

Afternoon
Tours to Montlouis: 15 km (9 miles)

What to Expect: This morning’s ride mostly follows the “Loire & Soils” route through varied landscapes and villages. If you wish to continue cycling after lunch on your own, follow La Loire à Vélo bike route to Montlouis.

After breakfast, shuttle to the Château de Villandry; its geometric, terraced gardens are unlike any other in France. The last of the large châteaux built during the Renaissance on the banks of the Loire, it was completed around 1536. You’ll then cycle on a beautiful bike route along the Loire River and on to Azay-le-Rideau. Here you may wish to explore the delightful old area and16th-century island château and have lunch.

A short distance further, you come across La Vallee Troglodytique des Goupillières (the Troglodyte Valley of Goupillières). While the aristocracy lived in the Loire’s exquisite river-side castles, a large number of peasants and the working population of the region lived in cave-type dwellings dug out of the region’s tufa limestone from the early Middle Ages to a century ago. Learn about their lives during a guided visit to these restored dwellings. From here, you return to the hotel by shuttle.

Your route takes you along the Indre River, a region that figured prominently in works by Honoré de Balzac, the 19th-century French literary master. The French author referred to Azay-le-Rideau as “a faceted diamond set in the Indre.”

Enjoy a final festive dinner together at the hotel, where you can share your stories of cycling the Loire Valley France with your travelers and trip leaders.

Hotel: Château de la Bourdaisière
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 – 52 km (15 – 32 miles)
Morning
Montlouis to Azay-le-Rideau: 25 km (15 miles)
Azay-le-Rideau to Montlouis: 27 km (17 miles)

What to Expect: Enjoy a beautiful ride along the river to Azay-le-Rideau this morning. Continue cycling along the Indre à vélo bike route after lunch, if you wish, pausing for your included tour of the Troglodyte Valley of Goupillières.

The tour ends at our hotel after breakfast this morning. You may make your arrangements to leave the hotel at any time that is convenient. Checkout time is 11:00 a.m. Trains depart from Tours or Saint-Pierre-des-Corps railway stations to Paris and to Charles de Gaulle Airport. You are responsible for all transfer arrangements. A taxi from the hotel to Tours or Saint-Pierre-des-Corps railway station takes 15-20 minutes and costs approximately 45 euros (3-passenger maximum). We recommend you ask your VBT Trip Leaders or the hotel to help make the reservation at least a day in advance.

Meals: Breakfast