Centre-Val de Loire, châteaux beside the river and a cycle path.

What is Centre-Val de Loire?

It is the region of the middle Loire, south-west of Paris, the land of the châteaux. Here the French court spent the Renaissance and built its residences along the river and its tributaries, the Cher, the Indre and the Cosson. The landscape is gentle: a wide river with sandbanks, vineyards, hunting forests and white-stone villages. The stretch between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes has been a World Heritage Site since 2000.

For almost everyone, the trip is the Loire Valley: choosing a few châteaux, sleeping in a village on the river and getting around by car or bike.

• Chambord, the biggest, in the middle of an enclosed forest, with its double-helix staircase. It needs half a day.
• Chenonceau, built over the River Cher, with its gallery of arches over the water. Arrive first thing: it is the most visited.
• Amboise and Blois, châteaux right in the town, with an old quarter, terraces and a railway station. They are the best bases if you travel without a car.
• Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau, west of Tours, for gardens and a small château reflected in the Indre.
• Outside the valley, Chartres Cathedral, an hour from Paris by train, and Bourges, to the south, with its cathedral and its timber-framed old town.

Further west, Saumur and Angers follow the same river but are already in the neighbouring region, Pays de la Loire. If you are driving, they are easy to add.

How many châteaux and where to sleep?

Two châteaux a day at most, and preferably one big and one small. With three nights you see Chambord, Chenonceau, Amboise and a garden; with five, you add Blois, Villandry and a winery. The most convenient bases are Amboise, Blois and Tours: they have trains, restaurants and châteaux less than half an hour away. If you want calm, sleep in a village on the river or in a country guesthouse among the vineyards.

How do you get there from Spain?

By car it is about 580 km from Irún to Tours, along the toll motorways via Bordeaux and Poitiers. It is the most practical way, because the châteaux are spread across the countryside.

By train, via Paris: the TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Tours takes around an hour, and there are regional trains from Paris Austerlitz to Orléans, in a little over an hour, to Blois, in an hour and a half, and to Tours, in about two. From Barcelona, the direct TGV to Paris lets you connect on the same day.

By plane, the usual way is to fly to Paris and hire a car or carry on by train. From Nantes, with several routes from Spain, the valley is about two hours by car.

How do you get around?

By car, if you want to see several châteaux a day. Distances are short: between Blois and Chambord it is about 20 minutes, and between Amboise and Chenonceau about the same.

By bike, if you have time: La Loire à Vélo covers some 900 km of the Loire, from Cuffy, near Nevers, to the Atlantic at Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, almost always on flat paths beside the river. There is bike hire, luggage transfer between accommodations and trains equipped to carry bikes, so you can ride stages of 30 or 40 km between châteaux and come back by train.

When to go and what does it cost?

From April to June and in September and October. In spring the gardens are in flower and in autumn there is the grape harvest in the vineyards of Vouvray or Chinon. In July and August it is hot, the big châteaux have queues and accommodation in Amboise goes up in price. Winter is quiet, with shorter opening hours and some small châteaux closed, and at Christmas Chambord lights up its façade.

The valley has mid-range prices for France, cheaper than Paris. The château entrance fees weigh most: with two a day, the bill rises quickly. You save by sleeping outside Amboise in summer and by eating the lunchtime menu in the villages.