Is a Day Trip to Loire Valley Worth it?
The Loire Valley, in Central France, is a wonderful area to explore. Follow the Loire River while visiting pretty medieval towns, awesome Renaissance châteaux, and tasting great food and wine.
The Loire Valley is best explored on a weekend getaway from Paris or – even better – on a Loire Valley Road Trip. But, with the Loire Valley close enough for a day trip, you really don’t want to miss out on seeing some of the most beautiful castles in the world. And the good thing is, it’s easy to do it without a car!
A day trip to the Loire Valley can also be an opportunity to discover and taste some of France’s most prestigious wines, like Pouilly-Fumé, Chinon, Sancerre, Bourgueil, Touraine, and Vouvray.
The Loire Valley is one of the most visited places in France. Here’s how to visit Loire Valley on a day trip from Paris and my top tips to make the trip smooth and memorable.
Table of Contents:
- Take a Loire Valley Tour from Paris
- Take a Loire Valley Tour from Tours
- Loire Valley Day Trip by Car
- Paris to Loire Valley by Train
- Best Castles to Visit on a Loire Valley Day Trip from Paris
- Best Towns to Visit on a Day Trip to Loire Valley
- Loire Valley’s Wine Producing Areas to Visit on a Day Trip from Paris
- Loire Valley Travel Tips
The Loire Valley is one of the most popular day trips from Paris. Click here for the list of best day trips from Paris
Take a Loire Valley Tour from Paris
Loire Valley tours from Paris are the most comfortable and effective way to visit Loire Valley for a day. Sit on the air-con van and enjoy the landscape without having to worry about directions, transfers, or train connections.
There is a good variety of Loire Valley tours of all sizes, mainly focused on the most famous Loire Valley Castles. Some of the tours only include transportation and entrance tickets, while others also include lunch and wine tastings.
Recommended Loire Valley Tours from Paris
>> This small-group tour by minibus is always top-rated and visits Château de Chenonceau, Château d’Amboise, and Château de Chambord with a wine-tasting in Amboise. You can’t do better than this on your own! – Click here to book this Loire Valley small-group tour
>> If you are more interested in wineries than castles, check out this Loire Valley wine tour from Paris with a local expert guide, which explores the wine regions of Pouilly and Sancerre with wine tastings
>> Welcome Pickups offers customized day tours from Paris to Loire Valley with their drivers. You can visit all the places from the suggested list or pick only the ones you like. During the stops, you can do whatever you want and as long as you want within the overall time limit of the trip.
Take a Loire Valley Tour from Tours
Sitting on the lower reaches of the Loire River, between Orléans and the Atlantic Ocean, Tours is the prefecture of the Indre-et-Loire department. Nicknamed “Little Paris,” Tours boasts a historical center (Vieux-Tours) listed as a UNESCO World Heritage.
The train ride from Paris to Tours (fast train) only takes 1 hour 15 minutes (vs. 2 hours 15 minutes by car or minivan) and spares you the hassle of Paris’ traffic jams to leave the city. Once in Tours, you can take a full-day guided tour or combine a half-day guided tour with some sightseeing in Tours.
Recommended Loire Valley Tours from Tours
TOUR NAME | STARTS | DURATION | CONTAINS | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9.30 a.m. | 8 hrs | Castles, Traditional Village | ||
9.00 a.m. | 9 hrs | Castles, Amboise Tour, Wine Tasting | ||
9.30 a.m. | 8.5 hrs | Castles, Wine Tasting | ||
9.00 a.m. | 8 hrs | Wine Tour | ||
9.00 a.m. /2.00 p.m. | 4 hrs | Castles | ||
9.00 a.m. | 3.5 hrs | Wine Tour | ||
Paris 7 | 2.5 hrs | History, Food |
Fast trains from Paris to Tours leave Paris Montparnasse at 6:05 a.m., and the last train from Tours to Paris leaves at 20:29 p.m.
Loire Valley Day Trip by Car (self-guided)
This is the best and most flexible option for a Loire Valley day trip from Paris. Loire Valley by car is a good option to explore the towns or Loire Castles off the beaten path or not well connected by public transportation.
If you need to rent a car for this day trip, I recommend picking it up the day before so you can do the paperwork and car check without stress and leave Paris as early as possible the day after (ideally before rush hour). Ideally, your hotel in Paris has private parking, or there’s public parking nearby.
As with train tickets, booking early is a safe bet for finding the best car rental prices in France. As you get closer to your travel date, availability dwindles, and prices get more expensive (search for your dates and compare car rental agencies in Paris).
Driving Distances to Loire Valley from Paris
Here’s a sampling of distances from Paris to popular Loire Valley Castles using the toll roads:
- Paris to Château de Chambord: 1h 48min
- Paris to Château de Blois: 1h 45min
- Paris to Château d’Amboise: 2h 09min
- Paris to Château d’Azay-le-Rideau: 2h 39min
- Paris to Château de Villandry: 2h 30min
- Paris to Château de Chenonceau: 2h 26min
- Paris to Château de Chaumont sur Loire: 2h 04min
The Loire Valley Castles usually have their own car parks (free or metered parking) near the castle entrance. Parking is definitely more complicated in towns or small cities like Amboise or Blois.
Loire Valley Driving Itinerary Ideas
Paris > Chambord Castle > Cheverny Castle > Chenonceau Castle > Paris
Paris > Amboise (town + Amboise Castle + Clos de Lucé) > Chenonceau Castle > Paris
Paris > Blois (town + Blois Royal Castle) > Chambord Castle > Paris
Paris to Loire Valley by Train (self-guided)
If you want to travel from Paris to Loire Valley by train, your best bet is the areas around Amboise and Blois. Both places are lovely, have a château on-site, and you can combine them with a visit to Château de Chambord (Blois) and Clos de Lucé (Amboise).
Paris to Blois by Train
- Train Paris – Blois: 1,5-2h one way (direct or via Orléans)
- Visit the Royal Château of Blois
- Bus Blois – Château de Chambord: 30min one way (check out the bus schedule)
- Visit Château de Chambord
Paris to Amboise by Train
- Train Paris – Amboise: 2-2,5h (direct or via Orléans)
- Visit Château d’Amboise (16-min walk from Amboise’s train station)
- Visit Clos de Lucé (Leonardo da Vinci’s last home and burial place)
TIP: Save time and money with this bundle Château d’Amboise + Clos de Lucé!
Best Castles to Visit on a Loire Valley Day Trip from Paris
In the Loire Valley, you will find some of the most beautiful French castles to visit. Most of the Châteaux of the Loire Valley were built during the Renaissance, so they are very different from the castles near Paris like the Palace of Versailles, Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, or Château de Pierrefonds.
If you don’t know what castles to visit during your day trip to Loire Valley, this list of the best Loire Valley Castles will be helpful. For a Paris to Loire Valley day trip, I recommend choosing only 1 or 2 castles.
If you want to visit Loire Valley in one day, don’t waste your time waiting in line to buy tickets to the castles. Below I list the Loire Valley Castles you will need advance tickets for and have added links to our favorite trusty providers for your convenience.
- Château de Chambord
- Château de Blois
- Château d’Amboise
- Château du Clos de Lucé (in Amboise)
- Bundle Château d’Amboise + Clos de Lucé
- Château d’Azay-le-Rideau
- Château de Villandry
- Château de Chenonceau
- Château de Chaumont sur Loire
TIP: Save money with the combo passes Leonardo da Vinci Loire Valley Pass (Château d’Amboise + Clos de Lucé + Château de Chambord) and Loire Valley Châteaux Pass (Château de Blois + Château de Chenonceau + Château de Chambord).
Best Towns to Visit on a Day Trip to Loire Valley from Paris
BEAUGENCY
Beaugency is a small town in the Loiret department along the Loire River. It has a pretty medieval center and some interesting sites, such as the old bridge over the Loire River or the 15th-century Château de Dunois.
BLOIS
Situated on the edge of the Loire River in the Loir-et-Cher department, Blois was once home to the French Kings. Visit the Royal Château of Blois – a must in the Loire Valley – and explore the Old Town, with beautiful medieval architecture and interesting sights.
AMBOISE
Amboise is a pretty small town in the Indre-et-Loire department. It is best known for the Royal Château d’Amboise, home to King Charles VIII, and for the Clos de Lucé, the residence where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life. If you want to visit both sites, buy this convenient bundle Château d’Amboise + Clos de Lucé and save money.
Wine Producing Areas to Visit on a Day Trip from Paris
The Loire Valley is not only about Renaissance châteaux or medieval towns. A day trip to the Loire Valley can also be an opportunity to discover and taste some of France’s most prestigious wines.
The Val de Loire Wine Region stands all along the longest river in France, crossing the Centre to the Atlantic Ocean and offering all styles of wines of great diversity. The Val de Loire Wine Region is divided into four main areas. Going down the river, you will find, from east to west, the following wine production areas: Centre-Loire, Touraine, Anjou-Saumur, and Pays Nantais. Centre-Loire and Touraine are the closest wine production areas to Paris.
Centre-Loire corresponds to the vineyards around the towns of Sancerre, Pouilly-sur-Loire, and Menetou-Salon. It only produces dry wines from Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir grape varieties.
Touraine corresponds to the vineyards around Tours. The area is divided into two parts: the east of Tours produces white wines mainly from the Chenin grape variety, while the west of Tours produces mainly reds from the Cabernet Franc grape variety.
If you are based in the French capital and looking to experience the wine culture of France, consider this Loire Valley wine tour from Paris, or just visit one of the many wineries in Loire Valley yourself on a self-guided wine tour by car.
Best Wineries to Visit in the Loire Valley
All these Loire Valley wineries offer top-rated tours and tastings in French and English. A visit to these wineries is also a great opportunity to buy excellent wines directly from the producers. You must book your visit online in advance.
- Domaine Thierry Cosme – Vouvray
- Domaine Les Pièrres d’Aurèle – Touraine
- Domaine Cahterine et Michel Langlois – Pouilly Fumé
- Domaine Jean-Marc et Mathieu Crochet – Sancerre
Check out this map of the Loire Valley with the best wineries to visit pinpointed.
Loire Valley Travel Tips
BEST TIME TO VISIT THE LOIRE VALLEY
The Loire Valley during the shoulder seasons (spring or fall) is ideal because there are fewer tourists, and the gardens are especially beautiful with the first blooms or under the fall colors.
In the summer, the best Loire Valley Castles see the crowds (skip-the-line tickets are highly recommended), and you may enjoy the visits less. However, summer is also the season of many beautiful festivals in the Loire Valley. Some of the Loire Castles also host music festivals, garden festivals, or sound and light night festivals.
Winter is the less interesting season to visit Loire Valley, and some of the lesser-known Loire Castles may be closed to the public. However, in wintertime, skip-the-line tickets are not necessary, and you can enjoy the best Loire Valley Castles without the crowds.
LESS IS MORE
Choose only 1-2 castles to visit for your Loire Valley day trip from Paris. Consider an average of 1-2 hours of visit per castle, but some of them have such beautiful grounds that you could easily spend the full day there!
For the perfect day trip to Loire Valley from Paris, try combining small towns, Loire Valley Castles, and food and wine tasting. Guided day tours are usually good at this.
TRAVEL LIGHT, WITH GOOD WALKING SHOES
Bring good walking shoes, you are going to walk a lot! And don’t forget your refillable bottle of water to keep you hydrated.
A camera is a must. Some châteaux, like Château de Chambord, don’t allow tripods. You are warned!
