With an urge to slip into France’s gentle countryside, yet remain close enough to Paris to feel its pulse, we set our sights on the Loire Valley. A ribbon of calm just beyond the capital’s reach. The journey began in the simplest, most effortless way: a direct train from Paris-Montparnasse, gliding south in barely an hour, exchanging the city’s rhythm for soft horizons and river-light. In Tours (pronounced:Toor), the gateway to this storied valley, we picked up a small car at the railway station – our humble carriage for the days ahead. Eager to set off and wander the landscapes where the Loire quietly guards its châteaux, each one waiting like a whispered secret along the water’s edge.
With this plan in mind, we chose unfamiliar Tours as our base. The city turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Although modest compared to France’s giant universities, the Université de Tours, with its roughly 30,000 students, lends the city a distinctly youthful rhythm. We immediately felt the academic presence not in sprawling campuses but in the atmosphere: lively cafés spilling onto medieval streets, bookshops and brasseries buzzing well into the evening, and a gentle cosmopolitan mix of students from across France and abroad. It softens Tours’ historic elegance, adding a sense of movement and modern life woven through Renaissance façades and quiet riverbanks. The result is a city both cultured and relaxed, where university life subtly shapes the mood without ever overwhelming it.
Choosing which Loire Valley châteaux to visit is both a delightful and challenging dilemma, one that quickly becomes overwhelming. 300 châteaux in total and about 100 are open to the public for a visit. Each with its own story carved in stone, we found ourselves wondering how to experience the valley in a way that felt genuine and not rushed. Two châteaux per day felt right: enough to absorb the magic without drowning in it. With our colorful orange rented car and a sense of adventure, each morning we crafted a route that would reveal the valley’s essence through four iconic landmarks.
Closest to Tours the regal Château d’Amboise is perched high above the Loire like a guardian of the river it has watched for centuries. Once a favored royal residence, its terraces open onto views so vast and serene they feel almost cinematic. Walking its ramparts, the wind brushing the river below, we understood why the French kings chose this rather small place not just for power, but for inspiration. Even Leonardo da Vinci, whose resting place lies within the castle grounds, seemed to have left a trace of curiosity in the air.
Château d’Amboise, where France’s Loire frames its castles (photo by Motti Verses)
The Château d’Amboise’s chapel for Leonardo da Vinci’s resting place (photo by Motti Verses)
From royal heights we moved to Château de Chambord, the valley’s most extravagant masterpiece. A must see in every travel book. Nothing prepared us for its scale: a fantastical creation of spiraling towers and a double-helix staircase attributed to da Vinci himself. I can loudly say that Chambord is not a château to “visit”. It is one to marvel at, to feel small before, to wander through as if inside a dream where architecture becomes theatre. Its vast grounds stretch endlessly, a reminder that the French Renaissance once had both imagination and land to match.
Château de Chambord, the valley’s most extravagant masterpiece (photo by Motti Verses)
Chambord’s roof is a striking maze of towers, chimneys and sculpted silhouettes (photo by Motti Verses)
Chaumont-sur-Loire, is a castle with a different charm. Lighter, more whimsical, perched above the river with poet’s grace. I couldn’t help thinking how it fits the mood of the fairy-tale “Rapunzel”. The towers here practically beg for a ribbon of hair to fall from them. We were intrigued to experience a venue famous today for its international garden festival. It blends history with creativity, tradition with play. The château’s intimate rooms whisper stories, but it is the surrounding landscape that invites slow wandering. Art installations hide between the ancient rooms and the trees and flowers softening the stone walls. Les Pierres et le Printemps (“The Stones and the Spring”) by Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger is an immersive installation set inside the former church. That is the most striking. A poetic forest of tangled branches rises inside the chateau chapel like a dream-born pavilion, where nature seems to reclaim the sacred stone in quiet, intentional wildness.
The immersive installation Les Pierres et le Printemps – “The Stones and the Spring” at Chaumont at-sur-Loire (photo by Motti Verses)
Modern video art installations at the roof top floor of Chaumont-sur-Loire (photo by Motti Verses)
For my money the enchanting Château de Chenonceau, the “Ladies’ Castle,” stretching elegantly across the Cher River was the highlight. Few places capture the romance of the Loire like this château reflected in the water beneath its arches. If Chaumont calls for “Rapunzel”, this wonder recalls the elegance of Swan Lake, a place where ballerinas-princesses might appear at dawn. Built, expanded, and protected by the remarkable women who shaped its past, Chenonceau carries a rare tenderness. Walking through its galleries suspended over the water feels like crossing time itself. Each window framing river light as if the château were floating.
Chenonceau, the “Ladies’ Castle,” is stretching elegantly across the Cher River (photo by Motti Verses)
Chenonceau’s gardens unfold in perfect symmetry, framing the château with serene, timeless beauty (photo by Motti Verses)
By choosing just a handful of châteaux, we discovered that the Loire is not about quantity but resonance. Each castle revealed a different facet of the valley’s soul: royal ambition, architectural genius, artistic creativity, and feminine grace. Beyond the castles, we wanted to reveal other treasures of the valley: its vineyards. The wineries here unfold like a quiet ribbon along the riverbanks, where centuries-old estates craft wines with the same patience and precision that shaped the valley’s architecture. There are over over 4,000 wineries operating across the Loire Valley, stretching along roughly 1,000 km of the river, producing some of France’s best wines. Tasting, enjoying and buying wine bottles to take home is a joy not to be missed. This region is especially celebrated for its white wines – fresh, mineral, and expressive of the land itself. Each tasting feels like entering a centuries-long conversation between soil and the winemaker, a gentle reminder that the Loire’s beauty is not only seen, but savored. At the center of it all stands Tours, the cultural and historical gateway to the valley, framing the wine experience with both heritage and heart.
In contrast to the region’s deep heritage and layers of royal grandeur, we chose something far simpler for our stay in Tours: the relatively new Garden Inn, a Hilton branded hotel. Both modest and modern. Its central location, private underground garage, functional- minimalist décor and straightforward furnishings created an atmosphere of unfussy comfort. Practical, calm, and refreshingly unpretentious after long days of castle wandering. With clean lines, quiet rooms, and a focus on convenience rather than luxury, it became our counterbalance to the opulence outside its doors, grounding our Loire adventure with ease and simplicity.
There are over 4,000 wineries operating across the Loire Valley (photo by Motti Verses)
Place Plumereau, Tours’ iconic old-town square (photo by Motti Verses)
Tours’ Garden Inn: functional- minimalist décor with an atmosphere of unfussy comfort (photo by Motti Verses)
Unlike Paris, the Loire is a remedy to slow with us, its waters moving in a soft, steady rhythm as if offering a quiet farewell. Returning the car was smooth and we hopped onto the train, and watched the countryside slip by like turning pages of an old, beloved book. We definitely understood why travelers keep coming back to this valley: because here, France speaks softly, yet leaves a song that lingers long after we’ve gone.
The author is a seasoned hotel expert, traveler, writer, and videographer, and formerly served as Head of Public Relations for Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Israel. Today, as a travel writer and hospitality trends analyst, his insights and experiences are regularly featured in leading Israeli media outlets.