Loire Valley Tour: Discover 3 Stunning Castles With Wine Tasting and Luxurious Minivan Transport
4.1
98 Ratings
Paris
Embark on a breathtaking Loire Valley tour to explore 3 magnificent castles, indulge in wine tasting, and enjoy luxurious minivan transport. Book now!
Duration: 13 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Paris - 07:30 Meeting at Opera Garnier Steps or Pick-up from Your hotel if option booked. There are 180 km to drive on highway by our comfortable air conditioned Mercedes minivan to reach the first Castle Chambord. It takes about 2,5 hours with one stop made at the rest area. The Guide will give You general Information about the French history connected to the Castles of Loire Valley.

  • Chateau de Chambord - 10:15 - 11:45 Visit of Château de Chambord. The Guide will tell You the history of the Castle and its construction.
    The Château de Chambord is one of the most popular castles because of its French Renaissance architecture. The building was constructed (1519–1547) by Francis I (Francois 1-er) and is nowadays the biggest castle with its 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces and 84 staircases. The castle is also known because of its open double-spiral staircase. The two spirals ascend the three floors without ever meeting. Leonardo da Vinci may have designed the staircase.
    11:45 Departure to the Amboise city. There is 1 hour driver (60 km)

  • Amboise - 12:45 -13:45 Lunch break in Amboise city where You’ll find many restaurants and cafes. We can as well recommend You or make a table reservation at a good restaurant.

  • Chateau Royal d’Amboise - 13:45 to 15:00 Skip-the-line access with Guide to Château Royal d’Amboise with Histopad explaining to You the history of this Castle and of each room.
    Amboise is the grand 15th-century residence of King Charles VIII and an example of the transition of Gothic to Renaissance architecture. Learn the history of the castle Amboise which is known as birth place of princes, the reign of Kings, and the death of the greatest Renaissance master, Leonardo Da Vinci! You can see his grave in the chapel.
    Departure to the Chenonceau castle which is located just 20 minutes drive.
    15:00 Departure to Wine tasting of 5 wines at a local family vinery located close to the Amboise city.

  • Chateau de Chenonceau - 16:00 to 17:30 Skip-the-line access to the Chateau de Chenonceau and its Gardens. The Guide will tell You the history of the Castle and its construction. You will get as well the brochure with explanations of each room.
    Chenonceau nicknamed the “ladies’ castle” is remarkable for its feminine history of famous women of France such as Catherine de Medici as well as for its stunning architecture as well as unique aches over the River Cher. The Renaissance-style gardens Gardens of Chenonceau with their more than 130,000 flowerings plants will impress You as well.
    Attn. In low season we depart at 5:10 pm and in high season at 5:30 due to the opening hours of the Castle.
    Departure to Paris. It takes about 3 to 3,5 hours (245 km).

  • Paris - 20:30 to 21:00 Coming back to Paris full of impressions of a full Day Trip to Loire Valley and its Castles. Drop Off at Opera Garnier steps or Your hotel if option booked.

What's Included
  • Bottled water
  • Professional Guide-Driver
  • Mercedes minivan max. 7 Persons, air-conditioned with adjustable seats
  • All fees and taxes included
  • Admission to Three Castles
  • Winery visit and wine tasting (5 wines)
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities and Souvenirs
  • Meals and Drinks
  • HistoPad in Chambord and Audioguide in Chenonceau Castle
Additional Information

Experience a superior Small-group guided tour to Chenonceau, Amboise and Chambord for groups of 4 to 7 participants. The tour, including tickets, is facilitated by a deluxe Mercedes Minivan with comfortable, adjustable seating and an optional hotel pick up facility. With an extended duration of 13 hours(more than the usual), we also arrange a visit to a local vintner’s for a wine tasting session where you can sample a minimum of 7 distinctive wines while learning about their centuries-old production process. The swift and snug minivan makes the journey more efficient by cutting down on travel time considerably. This is one among many Loire Valley Castle Experiences we offer in Small-groups and Privately at Clewel Travel.

Location
Opéra
Place de l'Opéra
Opera Garnier Steps for those who have got no Pick up
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.1
(98 Ratings)
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A4876uxjamesg
May 31, 2024
If you love History and Castles, this is your trip! - Amazing history and castles. Guide was amazing. Very knowledgeable about Paris, France and castles. Our plane was delayed and our guide worked with us to be able to see some of the castles after getting a very late start. We can’t wait to come back and see even more castles on the 2 day castle tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cynthia_h
May 17, 2024
Beautiful trip - The three chateaux were very interesting, especially the third one. Our guide, Valentin, was very informative and enjoyable.
Review provided by Viator
Marybeth_p
May 2, 2024
Great tour to Castles! - Olga was great! We really had a great experience even with the rain all day. Loved the three castles all were different but learned a lot about each castle and the history of them. . Driver was great!
Review provided by Viator
Gail_f
Apr 29, 2024
A Perfect Day! - We had the most extraordinary journey! It was more than just going to visit beautiful castles and driving through incredible countryside with brilliant green grasses and wildflowers everywhere. Our guide was generous and informative and a pleasure to be with! The end of our day was a double rainbow...sort of summed it up!
Review provided by Viator
Laura_p
Nov 21, 2023
Best Day Ever! - I love history, I have read a lot about French History and about its kings. This tour did not disappoint! Olga and Roman were amazing guides. The castles we visited were beyond beautiful, Olga was so knowledgeable about them all. Lunch was perfect. The wine tasting was the best way to end the tour! I would do this tour again tomorrow!
Review provided by Viator
Maryangela_b
May 1, 2024
Remarkable chateau - The 3 castles were each remarkable in their own way. Our guide was lovely but very soft spoken so we had a hard time hearing her! Wine tasting was not offered on our tour!
Review provided by Viator
Angie_g
Mar 26, 2024
Four stars because of the tour itself, but pickup gets a zero - The chateaus and wine tasting were fantastic. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided loads of commentary and information. However there was over an hour late start because he could NOT read the address of the hotel for pickup and would NOT listen to the name given him or read it on the chat despite three confirmations. Then since no number was provided to call him I had to track him down via Viator. After being more than an hour late he wanted to cancel our tour (the highlight of our Paris trip) because I was “upset”. I would highly Recommended this tour, this guide just needs someone else driving that pays attention to details like location.
Review provided by Viator
Karen_n
Jun 2, 2024
Did not get our money’s worth on this tour - We have been on many viator tours and have had great success. I do not like to write a bad review and have never had to but for the price we paid I felt like I needed to say something. The driver was great and the chateaus were great but our guide spoke very little English, (we paid for an English guide) did not give accurate information sometimes and when we picked him up in the morning he said hello and then fell asleep. Never said a word the entire trip which is 2-3 hours. We would have been better off to just pay for a driver. Did not get our money’s worth on this tour. We went on several other viator tours the same week with great success!
Review provided by Viator
Adam_d
May 7, 2024
They canceled us at 10pm the night before - We booked this trip weeks before we flew to Paris. At 10pm the night before we were to go on this trip at 730am the next day, they canceled us. They told us since only 2 of us booked, they couldn't only take us. They should have never confirmed our trip and took our money, if they never had enough people to move forward with it. While a refund is in progress we were incredibly disappointed in how this was handled. They should make note that this is a trip that can cancel anytime, if not enough people join.
Review provided by Viator
786deannew
Apr 22, 2024
BEWARE OF CYRUS - Our family of four took a trip of a lifetime to Paris in March 2024 for 10 days. Our youngest daughter had dreamed of seeing the castles in the Loire valley so was obviously on our must do list. We booked a full day (13 hour) live guided small group in a minivan for our family. We decided as it was a once in a lifetime tour we would splurge (over $400.00 per person). The evening before the tour we got an email from our guide Cyrus saying he would pick us up at our Air B&B between 7:40 and 7:50 AM. We had previously provided our Air B&B address. We were waiting outside our apartment at 7:35 and after waiting for 25 minutes I called the number listed in the website. Cyrus answered and let me know that the other two people on our same trip had not arrived and he had been waiting for them for 20 minutes. He said he was now ON HIS WAY and would be “5 minutes”. After waiting for another 15 minutes I called two more times before he answered. He just kept saying “it’s not possible, it’s not possible” before he hung up. Our family walked to a main intersection of our street out of desperation and saw a guy frantically walking around looking at the buildings for an address. I asked if he was Cyrus and he said yes said our address was “non existent”. My husband asked him if he used google maps and we pointed to the address on the side of the building our Air B&B was on. Cyrus rudely stated he’s “not a taxi driver”. I can guarantee our address existed as we had to use it for Uber while in Paris with no issues. Regardless, we followed Cyrus to his van parked several blocks away. He was flustered and stressed the entire walk. I asked him if the other people he had previously referred to had not shown up, he said they had. We got in the van and nobody else was there. I asked if we could sit closer to the front because my girls get motion sickness he gruffly said “no, we have others getting in” We did one stop at the Intercontinental hotel (where nobody got in) then made our way to the Hilton where we picked up our other two guests. When they got into the vehicle you could see by their demeanour they were very unhappy. Finally an hour and a half late we made our way towards the Loire Valley. The day was already going to be a long day and then knowing we were starting late was not a nice way to begin the day. We had our first rest stop to use the bathroom and we had a chance to speak to the two guests that were picked up after us. They said they had been waiting for Cyrus for over an hour. They tried to cancel the trip but were not allowed. When they contacted the company to let them know they were still waiting for their ride to arrive the dispatcher stated that Cyrus told them he had picked everyone up already and were on their way. Complete lie. First we visited Château de Chambord. Cyrus was frustrated when we weren’t “keeping up”. We were three steps behind and had just got off a long van ride. It was a totally unnecessary and rude comment. The chateau was beautiful and we enjoyed it. We then drove to the town of Ambrois for lunch. We arrived at Ambroise at 2:00 and had only 30 minutes to order and eat lunch. Ambroise is a cute town and it would have been nice to have had a little time to look around. Next was Château d’Ambroise then Chenonceau. Both beautiful castles. Last stop was finally wine tasting 6:30-7:00 at Guillaume and Mathieu PLOU. Very nice winery with very personable staff. We finally made our way back to Paris and arrived by 9:30. At drop off Cyrus loosely “apologized” for the start to the day but took no responsibility for lying with no admission that he left his house late or whatever the issue was. We are very understanding people and if he had been honest and said he had a problem we would have been much more forgiving. Instead he chose to lie and make a very awkward situation where it did not need to be. We did not find Cyrus to be very personable. It’s so unfortunate as your guide can make or break a tour. I would like to advise anyone doing a tour with Cyrus from Clewel Travel that he is unreliable and not knowledgeable. Overall we were disappointed and feel like this had a negative impact on our trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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2 Adult
June 2024
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