The Loire Valley is located about 200km South from Paris and is often called the Cradle of the French or the Garden of France due to its many orchards and vineyards. Nowadays it is primarily known for the high number of castles, some of which are just exquisite. During this trip we will see many of them and visit five exceptional ones: Blois, Cheverny, Chenonceau, Amboise, and Chambord.
Day 1 – Brussels to Blois
On the first day we will travel from Brussels to Blois in the heart of the Loire valley. The city was founded in the middle for the first millennium and has since then had a rich history that includes illustrious names such as Joan of Arc and Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin. It was also a place where nobility like Louis XII and King Henry III and IV spent time. Blois is our base for this trip as it is the perfect place to quickly reach all castles while being in the middle of a lively and beautiful historic town.
After checking in to our hotel we will explore this beautiful small city on our own. You can walk along the Seine, visit the House of Magic and explore this lovely town. As a group we will visit Blois Castle in the late afternoon. At night you can optionally join the group to Blois Castle for a spectacular and mesmerising light show.
[map id=”17″]
Day 2 – Scenic Castles Trip
For the second day of our trip we have mapped out a nice route that will take us along quite a few castles. We start of course in Blois, from where we will travel East towards Château Cheverny.
Cheverny is especially known for its beautiful interiors. Originally the domaine belonged to Henri Hurault, the count of Cheverny. He was working for Louis XIII as a lieutenant-general and military treasurer. Despite the “completeness” of this beautiful building, it is not certain if any of it was actually part of the original castle. The castle is still in private hands by the Marquis de Vibraye, a descendant of Hurault. A nice detail is that Cheverny was a model for a castle that was used in one of the Tintin stories: the Château de Moulinsart” (Marlinspike Hall). Another totally awesome and super fun part of our visit concerns the feeding of the hunting dogs (hounds). Have a look at the above video.
The second castle we visit is the beautiful Château Chenonceau that is one of the most well-known and most visited castles. And not without a reason. This 500-year castle spans the Cher river like a bridge and that fact alone makes over 1 million people decide to visit it every year. We will have lunch in the Orangerie of the castle. This lunch was very highly rated by our 2016 participants.
Our last stop of the day is actually on the Loire river again, at the Château Royal Amboise that looks out over the Loire river. Our tour guide will tell us everything about this beautiful castle. The place is extra special as one of history’s greatest genius Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last years of his life in Amboise. He is actually buried in the chapel right next to the castle.
Our guided day tour lasts until about 18h00 after which you can still visit the Leonardo Da Vinci home and museum and enjoy a dinner in Amboise. What a perfect way to end the day! Oh wait, of course we can still go out for a glass of wine on a nice square in Blois! Lets make it a great holiday.
Day 3 – Chambord Castle and return trip
We will end our castles tour with a BIG BANG. The royal Château de Chambord is by far the most impressive castle of the Loire region and definitely competes for that price on a global level too. With its distinctive French Renaissance architecture it blends medieval architecture with renaissance structures. It was originally built by King Francis I as a hunting lodge and it is believed that even Leonardo da Vinci was involved. Needless to say that we will again have a guide who shows us around the main parts of the castle. You will have ample of time afterwards to explore the castle on your own or to take a walk around.
Our Hotel
For this trip we will be staying in the Mercure Blois Centre, a great 4-star hotel at just a few minutes walking from the city centre of Blois. It has 8.2 rating on Booking.com & it can call itself the #2 hotel in Blois on Tripadvisor. It has spacious clean and quiet rooms with comfortable beds. Breakfast is not yet included because we know that many people don’t eat breakfast, but if you would like to enjoy a sumptuous buffet breakfast you can add it for €16 per day during your checkout (€32 in total).
You can choose between single, double or twin rooms. There is a €125 supplement for single rooms. Double rooms have one large bed and one very comfortable sofa bed. These rooms will be used also for two friends / colleagues sharing a room, as well as for single travellers who would like to share a room and to avoid the single supplement. Upon reservation you can indicate in what room type you would like to stay. If you do not have a room partner and you don’t want to pay the single supplement Expat Club offers you the possibility to share the room with someone else in the same position. Expat Club does not assign you to a room partner, but we leave it up to the participants to choose him/her during the first day (male/male and female/female of course). During checkout you can indicate what room you would like to stay in.
COMMENTS & SPECIAL TERMS
- The trip will be carried out by Lauwers Reizen, one of our trusted coach partners.
- This trip is carefully planned. Still, all timings are indicative and may change if required by circumstances.
- The trip is sold as a package. You cannot go with your own transportation or arrange your own accommodation.
- You are personally responsible for getting a good travel insurance that covers you for any unforeseen emergency and medical expenses during the trip.
- The regular cancellation period of 2 weeks is not valid for this specific trip. Instead the cancellation period for a refund is 6 weeks in advance of departure. In line with the terms & conditions this period notice will over-rule those terms & conditions, while the other rules of cancellation will remain valid, such as cancellation fees. If you need to cancel within 6 weeks of departure you should have your own cancellation insurance. The other cancellation terms remain valid, such as the administrative and cancellation fees.
- You are personally responsible for using the hotel room in an appropriate way. Any missing or broken items will be billed after the trip.
- Expat Club cannot be held liable for long delays that influence the program (e.g. missed guided tours), neither can Expat Club be held liable for weather-related cancellations or any other unforeseen events that influence the course of the trip, including, but not limited to technical problems with the coach, traffic jams or strikes.
- Expat Club cannot be held liable for personal injuries during the trip, such as, but not limited to, the guided tours. Joining this trip is at your own risk.
- If you do not find a room mate on your own, we will assign one to you. If you decide to take a single room during the trip, then you will have to pay for it yourself in full (since we need two single rooms then).
- If you book a double / twin room and your travel partner cancels, you will have to pay the single room supplement.
- Expat Club may “upgrade” or “downgrade” you to another hotel if your choice is unavailable. In case of a downgrade we will contact you for a partial refund.
The Loire Valley is located about 200km South from Paris and is often called the Cradle of the French or the Garden of France due to its many orchards and vineyards. Nowadays it is primarily known for the high number of castles, some of which are just exquisite. During this trip we will see many of them and visit five exceptional ones: Blois, Cheverny, Chenonceau, Amboise, and Chambord.
Day 1 – Brussels to Blois
On the first day we will travel from Brussels to Blois in the heart of the Loire valley. The city was founded in the middle for the first millennium and has since then had a rich history that includes illustrious names such as Joan of Arc and Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin. It was also a place where nobility like Louis XII and King Henry III and IV spent time. Blois is our base for this trip as it is the perfect place to quickly reach all castles while being in the middle of a lively and beautiful historic town.
After checking in to our hotel we will explore this beautiful small city on our own. You can walk along the Seine, visit the House of Magic and explore this lovely town. As a group we will visit Blois Castle in the late afternoon. At night you can optionally join the group to Blois Castle for a spectacular and mesmerising light show.
[map id=”17″]
Day 2 – Scenic Castles Trip
For the second day of our trip we have mapped out a nice route that will take us along quite a few castles. We start of course in Blois, from where we will travel East towards Château Cheverny.
Cheverny is especially known for its beautiful interiors. Originally the domaine belonged to Henri Hurault, the count of Cheverny. He was working for Louis XIII as a lieutenant-general and military treasurer. Despite the “completeness” of this beautiful building, it is not certain if any of it was actually part of the original castle. The castle is still in private hands by the Marquis de Vibraye, a descendant of Hurault. A nice detail is that Cheverny was a model for a castle that was used in one of the Tintin stories: the Château de Moulinsart” (Marlinspike Hall). Another totally awesome and super fun part of our visit concerns the feeding of the hunting dogs (hounds). Have a look at the above video.
The second castle we visit is the beautiful Château Chenonceau that is one of the most well-known and most visited castles. And not without a reason. This 500-year castle spans the Cher river like a bridge and that fact alone makes over 1 million people decide to visit it every year. We will have lunch in the Orangerie of the castle. This lunch was very highly rated by our 2016 participants.
Our last stop of the day is actually on the Loire river again, at the Château Royal Amboise that looks out over the Loire river. Our tour guide will tell us everything about this beautiful castle. The place is extra special as one of history’s greatest genius Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last years of his life in Amboise. He is actually buried in the chapel right next to the castle.
Our guided day tour lasts until about 18h00 after which you can still visit the Leonardo Da Vinci home and museum and enjoy a dinner in Amboise. What a perfect way to end the day! Oh wait, of course we can still go out for a glass of wine on a nice square in Blois! Lets make it a great holiday.
Day 3 – Chambord Castle and return trip
We will end our castles tour with a BIG BANG. The royal Château de Chambord is by far the most impressive castle of the Loire region and definitely competes for that price on a global level too. With its distinctive French Renaissance architecture it blends medieval architecture with renaissance structures. It was originally built by King Francis I as a hunting lodge and it is believed that even Leonardo da Vinci was involved. Needless to say that we will again have a guide who shows us around the main parts of the castle. You will have ample of time afterwards to explore the castle on your own or to take a walk around.
Our Hotel
For this trip we will be staying in the Mercure Blois Centre, a great 4-star hotel at just a few minutes walking from the city centre of Blois. It has 8.2 rating on Booking.com & it can call itself the #2 hotel in Blois on Tripadvisor. It has spacious clean and quiet rooms with comfortable beds. Breakfast is not yet included because we know that many people don’t eat breakfast, but if you would like to enjoy a sumptuous buffet breakfast you can add it for €16 per day during your checkout (€32 in total).
You can choose between single, double or twin rooms. There is a €125 supplement for single rooms. Double rooms have one large bed and one very comfortable sofa bed. These rooms will be used also for two friends / colleagues sharing a room, as well as for single travellers who would like to share a room and to avoid the single supplement. Upon reservation you can indicate in what room type you would like to stay. If you do not have a room partner and you don’t want to pay the single supplement Expat Club offers you the possibility to share the room with someone else in the same position. Expat Club does not assign you to a room partner, but we leave it up to the participants to choose him/her during the first day (male/male and female/female of course). During checkout you can indicate what room you would like to stay in.
COMMENTS & SPECIAL TERMS
- The trip will be carried out by Lauwers Reizen, one of our trusted coach partners.
- This trip is carefully planned. Still, all timings are indicative and may change if required by circumstances.
- The trip is sold as a package. You cannot go with your own transportation or arrange your own accommodation.
- You are personally responsible for getting a good travel insurance that covers you for any unforeseen emergency and medical expenses during the trip.
- The regular cancellation period of 2 weeks is not valid for this specific trip. Instead the cancellation period for a refund is 6 weeks in advance of departure. In line with the terms & conditions this period notice will over-rule those terms & conditions, while the other rules of cancellation will remain valid, such as cancellation fees. If you need to cancel within 6 weeks of departure you should have your own cancellation insurance. The other cancellation terms remain valid, such as the administrative and cancellation fees.
- You are personally responsible for using the hotel room in an appropriate way. Any missing or broken items will be billed after the trip.
- Expat Club cannot be held liable for long delays that influence the program (e.g. missed guided tours), neither can Expat Club be held liable for weather-related cancellations or any other unforeseen events that influence the course of the trip, including, but not limited to technical problems with the coach, traffic jams or strikes.
- Expat Club cannot be held liable for personal injuries during the trip, such as, but not limited to, the guided tours. Joining this trip is at your own risk.
- If you do not find a room mate on your own, we will assign one to you. If you decide to take a single room during the trip, then you will have to pay for it yourself in full (since we need two single rooms then).
- If you book a double / twin room and your travel partner cancels, you will have to pay the single room supplement.
- Expat Club may “upgrade” or “downgrade” you to another hotel if your choice is unavailable. In case of a downgrade we will contact you for a partial refund.
