ROUTE THROUGH THE LOIRE CASTLES. PREPARATIONS

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Route through the Loire Castles. Preparations

After several trips to France, we still had in mind one of the areas that made us more excited about the country, but for which we expected to find the most suitable time, in addition to having enough days to travel it with some tranquility and being able to know its most emblematic and also tourist places.
After squaring the rest of the getaways we had for the hottest months of the year, we saw that we could fit the 9 days we needed for this tour at the end of August, so we didn't think about it too much and decided that this would be the year in which finally…

Route through the Loire Castles

We will make a Route through the Loire Castles.

The first of the doubts that arose was how to get to the Loire Valley. In this case, taking into account our location, in the province of Girona, the best options were to take a flight to Nantes or a flight to Paris and once there rent a car to do the Route through the Loire Castles.
The other option was to reach the Loire Valley in our car, on a route of approximately 6 hours until the first visit we wanted to do.
After several valuations, we decided that this was the best choice was this second option, to be able to go a little quieter and thus also avoid the problems that are in the month of August at the airports.

Chambord Castle

After knowing how to get to the Loire Valley, it was time to start thinking about the choice of what Castles of the Loire to visit. The choice of one or the other depends much first on your tastes and after the days you have. In the articles the 10 essential Loire Castles we have made a selection of those that we believe should not be missing on a first visit to the Loire Valley, although as we mentioned earlier, this also depends on the days available.
In our case, with 9 days, which also includes transfers we have decided to visit 14 castles, some only outside and others inside, among which are the Castle of Sully-sur-Loire, the Castle of Chambord , Cheverny Castle, Chaumont Castle, Chenonceau Castle, Amboise Castle, Villandry Castle, Azay-le-Rideau Castle, Langeais Castle, Ussé Castle, Chinon Castle, Saumur Castle, Angers Castle and Loches Castle.
and the villages of Orleans, Blois, Tours, Montrésor, one of the most beautiful villages in France and Bourges.

The duration of a Route through the Loire Castles depends largely on the number of castles you want to visit. In principle, taking into account that the most recommended are 20, of the 200 there are, we greatly reduce the number. If we also consider that you probably do not want to see them all and also want to make a visit to any of the towns in the area, the number of visits to castles could reduce it to about 10, so we consider that between 7-10 days can be the optimal duration for a route through the Loire Castles.

In our case, we have chosen to make the route in 9 days, counting that it will be 7 full days and 2 of transfers, in which we will include some extra visit, but we will not have full availability.

The first of the days, we have the firm intention of leaving soon, to reach the Castle of Sully-sur-Loire, which will be our first stop of the route through the Loire Castles, where we will also sleep.
On the second day of the route we will make several visits including Sully Castle, one of the most visited in the Loire Valley, a visit by the people of Orleans, the Chambord Castle, another of the most famous in the area To end the day in Blois, where we will stay.

Sully Castle Route through the Loire Castles

On the third day of the trip, and after visiting Blois, we will visit Cheverny Castle and Chaumon Castle, two of the castles of the Loire that we did not want to miss and that we will meet on this day, which we hope will also be a little more relaxed, allowing us to enjoy the incredible landscapes of the area.

Recommended travel cards
Remember that in order not to pay commissions and always have the current change we recommend you use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.

The fourth day of the trip through the Loire Valley we will dedicate it to know the Chaumont Castle, the Chenonceau Castle, one of the most iconic of the Route through the Loire Castles, and Amboise, to then stay in Amboise, a perfect area to make these visits.

Chenonceau Castle

Being already in the equator of the trip to the Loire Valley, we will enter the fifth day of the trip, day in which we will visit the town of Tours, the Castle of Villandry, with its impressive gardens and the Castle of Azay-le-Rideau.
On the sixth day of the trip, we will continue with the route of the Loire Castles, visiting the Castle of Azay-le-Rideau, the Castle of Langeais, the Castle d'Ussé and the Castle of Chinon.

Langeais Castle

More practical information to prepare your trip to the Loire Valley
- The 10 essential Loire Castles
- 10 essential tips for traveling to the Loire Valley

On the seventh day of the trip we will continue with the route, approaching to Saumur Castle and Angers Castle, other of the two most visited castles of the Loire Valley.
With the eighth day we will begin to enter the end of this incredible journey, visiting Angers, Loches, with its beautiful castle and Montrésor, considered one of the most beautiful villages in France.

Monster

On the last and ninth day of the trip, and before going back home, we will visit Bourges, the place where we will have stayed the previous night, and another of the villages we have read, we cannot get lost in a Route through the Loire Castles.