Castles of the Loire with your own classic car or rented on site
Classic car trip can be booked at any time, depending on availability from March to October
Can be booked as a 6-day trip to the Loire only or additionally with an arrival and departure package
(In addition to this trip, 3 or 5 day trips are also available.
Alternative programs with a different focus.)
Discover the fabulous castles of the Loire... in a vintage car!!!
The route
The tour starts and ends in the same hotel near Orleans. If you arrive with a trailer, the towing vehicle and trailer can be parked at the hotel. The tour is also very suitable for older vehicles because of the short daily stages (6 days, approx. 500 km). The route takes place on scenic side routes.
The program
You can find the itinerary of the trip and the individual program points below.
There are daily opportunities to visit some of the many castles and other sights along our route. Due to the ongoing Corona restrictions, the program is still non-binding and dependent on local requirements at the time of travel.
The accommodation
We stay in castles or special hotels that have been specially selected for you.
The stages of the routes
There are many sightseeing opportunities on this trip. We therefore deliberately chose the individual stages to be very short (max 100km) so that there was enough time for them. This tour is e.g. B. also suitable for very old vehicles if you arrive with a trailer. On the first and last day we stay in the same hotel, near Orleans.
First day: Chambord and Cheverny
Our first overnight stay is near Orleans. From there we head towards Tours. On the way we pass the castles of Chambord and Cheverny and reach the hotel near Chenonceau in the evening.
Château de Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley.
Château Cheverny, built between 1620 and 1630 in the early and strict neoclassical Baroque style. The pack of around 100 hunting dogs that the lord of the castle still keeps today is famous. The tricolor dogs are a breed of English Foxhound and French Poitevin. As a tourist attraction, a spectacular feeding takes place every day outside the hunting season. Despite the general French ban on hunting, the owner of the castle still has the right to carry out par force hunts for up to 25 deer every year.
Second day: Chenonceau - Fontevraud
Château Chenonceau is a moated castle and is one of the most beautiful of its kind.
Because its history was predominantly determined by women, it bears the nickname
Castle of the Ladies (French Château des Dames) E.g.: Diane de Poitiers and her successor Catherine de Medici influenced the development of the castle.
We passed the Chateau d'Ussse to Chinon.
Château d'Ussé is one of the most famous of the French Loire castles. It is said to have inspired the French writer Charles Perrault during one of his stays to write his story La belle au bois dormant (German: The Sleeping Beauty in the Forest), the French version of Sleeping Beauty. The city of Chinon is also worth a visit, thanks to its impressive castle ruins of the same name.
In the southwest of Tourain Burge is the Chinon wine-growing region, which covers around 2,000 hectares. The wines produced here are considered true treasures by connoisseurs. The red wine from Chinon is made from Cabernet Franc, which is also called Breton here, and Cabernet Sauvignon (maximum 10%) and is usually aged in wooden barrels.
We will spend the night in Fontevraud.
Third day: Fontevraud-Rochmenier
After breakfast, visit the royal abbey of Fontevraud, famous for its architecture and the funerary monuments of the four rulers (Henry II of England, Aliénor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lionheart, Isabelle d'Angoulême). Following the Route du Vin along the Loire, we arrive at the Chateau Breze and Château de Montreuil-Bellay or we visit the Layon winery before staying overnight in a very special hotel.
The ramparts and 13 towers protect the complex of the Château de Montreuil-Bellay. They are 650 meters long and you can walk along them today, making them one of the most beautiful examples of medieval fortress construction. The city is also known for its Crémant de Loire, made from Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc.
Fourth day: Rochemenier - Azay le Rideau
We continue via Brisac and Samur on the Route du Vin. The caves in the cliffs of the Loire are worth seeing. These are still used today as wine storage or for mushroom cultivation and for residential purposes.
Via Saumur, a town worth seeing, we go to Langais, with the mighty chateau above the town.
Perhaps on the way along the Loire there will be an opportunity to visit the Vouvray winery.
Today the castle of Azay-le-Rideau, a masterpiece of the French Renaissance, is also on our way. The two-wing Renaissance building is one of the most famous castles in the Loire region.
Fifth day: Azay le Rideau - Amboise
We drive along the beautiful Loire to the Château de Villandry, where we will discover the beautiful gardens.
Château de Viallndry was completed in 1536 with a large English landscape garden and is one of the last castles built in the Renaissance style in the Loire Valley.
Château d' Amboise has been one of the most popular tourist destinations in the central Loire Valley since the 17th century. It experienced its greatest heyday in the 15th century under the French King Charles VIII.
In addition to voluntary visitors, the king's prisoners also had to stay here
Move into quarters.
Amboise is also home to the Château du Clos-Lucé.
The Château du Clos-Lucé is now home to a Leonardo da Vinci museum, in which designs and numerous models of his constructions and inventions, copies of some paintings and quotations from his notes are exhibited. It is the place of the last work and death of the artist and polymath Leonardo da Vinci.
Sixth day: Amboise - Blois
We continue past the Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire and on to Blois.
Blois was first mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the 6th century. mentioned as Blesae. Blois was the permanent residence of the French kings until 1589. Louis XII and Franz I carried out the most important state acts in the castle. In addition to the royal castle, Blois also has a very beautiful old town and on the last day you can go for a long stroll here.
We will spend the night near Tours.
