France: Wine & Châteaux of the Loire Valley

All you have to do is get to the airport. On our Air Packages, we’ll take care of the rest, handling all the logistics, so you can travel with peace of mind. Spend your first night aloft and arrive refreshed for an unforgettable trip.

Start off your first day in Paris right by having a VBT representative greet you at the airport. A complimentary car service will whisk you to your centrally located hotel. From here, you are perfectly positioned to explore this charming city at your leisure.

Enjoy an included breakfast before meeting your VBT representative in the hotel lobby at 12:15 p.m. The representative will assist with your transportation to the Relais des Trois Châteaux in Cour-Cheverny near Blois, where you meet your VBT trip leaders. The drive will take approximately 3 hours. Please have an early lunch in Paris, or pack a lunch to eat during your drive (your Paris hotel can recommend a nearby bakery or grocery store).

All guests: Cour-Cheverny is a small town situated on the southern bank of the Loire River in the heart of the Loire Valley. Surrounded by fertile farms and vineyards, it is especially known for its white and red wines and for its historic 17^th-century castle. Soon after your arrival, 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 your fellow travelers at the hotel.

Today’s Ride Choices

Afternoon 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.

Cumulative Distance Range: 13 km (8 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, cycle directly from the hotel, riding on a mix of quieter roads and bike paths to Chambord, home of the remarkable Château de Chambord. The largest castle in the Loire Valley, its 440 rooms were never intended for permanent residents. 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.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Cour-Cheverny to Chambord — 13

Afternoon Chambord to Cour-Cheverny — 16

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

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 47 km (13 – 29 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

This morning, you bike 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 fruit orchards and vegetable and flower gardens. 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 cycling 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 Lucé Manor, a short walk from the château.

Tonight, enjoy free time to take a short walk into Amboise and sample one of its wonderful restaurants, or stay put and dine on local delicacies from the hotel’s new grocery store-bistro “Les Minimes Gourmets.”

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Cour-Cheverny to Chaumont-sur-Loire — 19

Afternoon Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise — 13

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 meandering through quaint hamlets. Those wishing to continue riding in the afternoon cycle from Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise along the Loire à Vélo bike path, a cycling route along the Loire river.

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 51 km (13 – 31 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast, 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 bank. 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 with your included audio-guide headset. There’ll be time, too, to stroll its gardens and topiary maze before picnicking with your travel mates. You may shuttle back to the hotel or continue cycling, perhaps stopping en route to visit Da Vinci’s fascinating manor-house and museum of Clos Lucé or Amboise’s stunning royal castle.

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

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Amboise to Chenonceaux — 18

Afternoon Chenonceaux to Amboise — 9

What to Expect: Cycle to the town of Chenonceaux on a mix of flat to gently-rolling terrain and tour the romantic château. After lunch, return to your hotel by support vehicle. Or cycle back to Amboise via the Chenonceaux-Amboise bike route. 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 and at your expense.

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 44 km (9 – 27 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, you ride on the Loire & Terroir bicycle path, a name that reflects the special soil and local conditions that produce the region’s distinct wines on the northern banks of the Loire River. This is France’s famed Touraine AOC, the appellation beloved for its dry white wines and red wines made complex by its tannins. Viticulture has been practiced here since at least the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church maintained vineyards at local monasteries. You cycle through Vouvray, where you may choose to stop for a tasting of its smooth and wonderful renowned white wines.

Arrive in Tours, where you may visit the cathedral or stroll 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.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Amboise to Tours — 21

Afternoon Tours to Montlouis — 9

What to Expect: This morning’s ride mostly follows the Loire & Terroir 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-sur-Loire.

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 49 km (9 – 30 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

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. Later, cycle on a beautiful bike route along the Loire River and on to Azay-le-Rideau. Here you may wish to explore the delightful historic district and the 16th-century island château, with its foundations emerging directly from the Indre River. You may pause for lunch as you explore.

Continue cycling along the Indre à Vélo bike route through a region that figured prominently in works by Honoré de Balzac, the 19th-century French literary master who called Azay-le-Rideau a “diamond set in the Indre.” Your afternoon route leads you to La Vallee Troglodytique des Goupillières (the Troglodyte Valley of Goupillières). While the aristocracy lived in the Loire’s exquisite riverside 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. Learn about their lives during a guided visit to these restored dwellings, which were inhabited from the early Middle Ages up until just a century ago. Later, return to the hotel by shuttle.

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

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Villandry to Azay-le-Rideau — 16

Afternoon Azay-le-Rideau to Veigné — 17

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

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 – 52 km (15 – 32 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

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 transform a royal hunting lodge into the grand palace while landscape artist Le Notre created the gardens from swampland and Mansart masterminded the fountain hydraulics. Versailles served as France’s official royal residence from 1682 until 1790. You’ll 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 transportation 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.

Included Meals: Breakfast

After an included breakfast, travel 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 three hours before your flight time. This will allow for the short walk to the Terminal 3-Roissypole train shuttle station and the shuttle ride to your correct terminal.

After an included breakfast*, travel 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 three hours before your flight time. This will allow for the short walk to the Terminal 3-Roissypole train shuttle station and the shuttle ride to your correct terminal.

*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.

**VBT transportation times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense.

Included 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: + 33 1 532 3131 from outside of France or 01 532 3131 from within France). The representative will assist with your transportation to the Relais des Trois Châteaux in Cour-Cheverny near Blois, where you meet your VBT trip leaders. The drive will take approximately three hours. Please enjoy an early lunch in Paris, or pack a lunch to eat during your drive.

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 the Blois train station, you need to take a taxi to the first hotel at your own expense. Taxi cost is approximately 30 euros (travel time approximately 20 minutes). Please contact the first hotel to advise the staff if this is the case, so they can inform your VBT trip leaders.

Cour-Cheverny is a small town situated on the southern bank of the Loire River in the heart of the Loire Valley. Surrounded by fertile farms and vineyards, it is especially known for its white and red wines and for its historic 17th-century castle. Soon after your arrival, 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 your fellow travelers at the hotel.

Today’s Ride Choices

Afternoon Warm Up — 8

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.

Cumulative Distance Range: 13 km (8 miles)

Included Meals: Dinner

After breakfast, cycle directly from the hotel, riding on a mix of quieter roads and bike paths to Chambord, home of the remarkable Château de Chambord. The largest castle in the Loire Valley, its 440 rooms were never intended for permanent residents. 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.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Cour-Cheverny to Chambord — 13

Afternoon Chambord to Cour-Cheverny — 16

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

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 47 km (13 – 29 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

This morning, you bike 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 fruit orchards and vegetable and flower gardens. 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 cycling 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 Lucé Manor, a short walk from the château.

Tonight, enjoy free time to take a short walk into Amboise and sample one of its wonderful restaurants, or stay put and dine on local delicacies from the hotel’s new grocery store-bistro “Les Minimes Gourmets.”

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Cour-Cheverny to Chaumont-sur-Loire — 19

Afternoon Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise — 13

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 meandering through quaint hamlets. Those wishing to continue riding in the afternoon cycle from Chaumont-sur-Loire to Amboise along the Loire à Vélo bike path, a cycling route along the Loire river.

Cumulative Distance Range: 21 – 51 km (13 – 31 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast, 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 bank. 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 with your included audio-guide headset. There’ll be time, too, to stroll its gardens and topiary maze before picnicking with your travel mates. You may shuttle back to the hotel or continue cycling, perhaps stopping en route to visit Da Vinci’s fascinating manor-house and museum of Clos Lucé or Amboise’s stunning royal castle.

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

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Amboise to Chenonceaux — 18

Afternoon Chenonceaux to Amboise — 9

What to Expect: Cycle to the town of Chenonceaux on a mix of flat to gently-rolling terrain and tour the romantic château. After lunch, return to your hotel by support vehicle. Or cycle back to Amboise via the Chenonceaux-Amboise bike route. 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 and at your expense.

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 44 km (9 – 27 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, you ride on the Loire & Terroir bicycle path, a name that reflects the special soil and local conditions that produce the region’s distinct wines on the northern banks of the Loire River. This is France’s famed Touraine AOC, the appellation beloved for its dry white wines and red wines made complex by its tannins. Viticulture has been practiced here since at least the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church maintained vineyards at local monasteries. You cycle through Vouvray, where you may choose to stop for a tasting of its smooth and wonderful renowned white wines.

Arrive in Tours, where you may visit the cathedral or stroll 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.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Amboise to Tours — 21

Afternoon Tours to Montlouis — 9

What to Expect: This morning’s ride mostly follows the Loire & Terroir 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-sur-Loire.

Cumulative Distance Range: 15 – 49 km (9 – 30 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

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. Later, cycle on a beautiful bike route along the Loire River and on to Azay-le-Rideau. Here you may wish to explore the delightful historic district and the 16th-century island château, with its foundations emerging directly from the Indre River. You may pause for lunch as you explore.

Continue cycling along the Indre à Vélo bike route through a region that figured prominently in works by Honoré de Balzac, the 19th-century French literary master who called Azay-le-Rideau a “diamond set in the Indre.” Your afternoon route leads you to La Vallee Troglodytique des Goupillières (the Troglodyte Valley of Goupillières). While the aristocracy lived in the Loire’s exquisite riverside 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. Learn about their lives during a guided visit to these restored dwellings, which were inhabited from the early Middle Ages up until just a century ago. Later, return to the hotel by shuttle.

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

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Villandry to Azay-le-Rideau — 16

Afternoon Azay-le-Rideau to Veigné — 17

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

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 – 52 km (15 – 32 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

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 transportation 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.

Included Meals: Breakfast