Paris

Loire Valley Wine and Castles Small-Group Day Trip from Paris

Badge of ExcellenceParis, France

Small Group Loire Valley Three Top Castles Day Trip with Wine Tasting

12 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Stroll through the châteaux of Chenonceau, Chambord, and Amboise on this full-day tour from Paris to the UNESCO-listed Loire Valley. Admire Chenonceau’s amazing floral gardens, and marvel at the sheer grandeur of Chambord, the largest chateau in the valley. At Amboise, see the quarters of King Francois I and the tomb of Leonardo Da Vinci. Learn from an informative guide about each site, and fit in souvenir shopping along the way.

Small-group tour limited to eight people ensures a more memorable experience
Visit the Loire Valley, a UNESCO-listed region of central France famous for Renaissance castles and gardens
Explore the châteaux of Chenonceau, Chambord, and Amboise
Entrance fees, audio-guide, wine tasting, and round-trip included

What's Included

Small Group Tour !
Driver/guide
Entrance tickets into Chambord Castle
Entrance tickets into Chenonceau Castle
Entrance tickets into Amboise Castle
Fuel, parking fees, highway toll fees.
Transport by luxury van with air conditioning
Wine tasting of 3 different French wines or 1 very full glass of 1 French wine

Gratuities, aka Tips. French guides do appreciate them so don't be shy if you want to give one.
Food and Drinks (apart from the promised Wine tasting)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

La Flamme
6 Av. de Wagram, 75008 Paris, France
Please be there at least 15 min before the official departure time! Tours always start sharp at the appointed starting time. For this tour it is absolutely necessary that you arrive before the tour starts as there is no way of catching up with the group once the tour has started.

Start time

07:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Chateau de Chambord

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Chateau de Chenonceau

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Chateau Royal d'Amboise

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Chapel of Saint-Hubert

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Amboise

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Place Michel Debre

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Chateau De Chaumont Sur Loire (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately

Minimum age of all participant is 7 years old
It is necessary to be able to walk at a moderate pace in order to keep on schedule.
Not recommended for travelers who have trouble walking or climbing steps.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Laura_L

Phillipe was an outstanding guide! He made the drive informative and fun, and he provided wonderful information throughout the tour. The castles and gardens were beautiful! I would highly recommend this tour!

Reviews

4.5

374 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 374 reviews

A day full of Castles!

Dana_G, Apr 2024

We were met early in the morning and enjoyed a quick trip through Paris. There were just 4 in our group which was nice. We saw 3 wonderful castles, had several history lessons, and a lovely wine tasting. Our guide was wonderful. Very warm and informative. Also a great driver which is important getting in and out of Paris. It was a full day, but totally worth the trip.

Victor, our guide, was...

Sherry_K, Apr 2024

Victor, our guide, was very pleasant and knowledgeable. The castles were beautiful, at least on the exterior. And the Loire Valley very scenic. The van was VERY cramped. 8 people are too much for the space, given the long drive.

Being a small group doesn’t help this tour

Karen_K, Apr 2024

We really enjoyed the 3 castles. The only problem is that although the guide gave you some historical information before entering the castles she did not go in with you to explain or point out anything. There was not enough time to truly view any of castles the time given so some guidance would have been most helpful.

Don’t Miss the Loire Valley!

Laura_L, Apr 2024

Kings, castles and a motor trip through the Loire Valley.

SUSAN_C, Apr 2024

Augustin was a wonderful guide, excellent driver, carefully planned comments and history shared. He provided excellent contextual information, but not too much. Thoughtful and considers, interested in his patrons. I give him the highest marks, and recommandations. Thank you,

Chateaus galore!

Amery_Z, Apr 2024

My husband and I truly enjoyed our Loire valley experience. Major shout out to Augustine for being such a wonderful guide! He enthusiastically described each site with great detail and provided us with enough historical information to help us appreciate the chateaus even more. It was such a long day starting from 7am and ending at 7pm, but Augustine stayed positive and energetic the entire time. The commentary on the way between sites was perfectly timed, not too much but also kept us engaged. It was nice to have plenty of free time to check out the chateaus on our own after being given a brief overview of its history. Would not hesitate to book with this agency again when we come back to Paris!

The beautiful chateaus...

Lawrence_F, Apr 2024

The beautiful chateaus and gardens were a once in a lifetime experience. Our tour guide, Augustine, was knowledgeable and friendly. He took into account our physical needs and made sure we had enough stops and opportunities to rest, use facilities etc. On a long day like this ( 12 hours) that is a necessity.

A very worthwhile guided day trip to see Chenonceau and Chambord

Christopher_C, Apr 2024

Really enjoyed this trip. The guide for the group, Gabriel, was excellent and also was a great safe driver! He was entertaining and thoughtful. Gabriel gave us lots of useful information, but also let us have time to explore the three castles and their gardens/domains on our own. There was a little wine tasting, but I would really consider the castles as the main event here which was perfectly fine for me and what I was actually looking for. It will be a solid 12 hour day from Paris and back. Be prepared to walk a decent amount as well as climb stone stairs. Chenonceau was stunning and incredible. Chambord was very grand (make sure to take time to see the front of the castle across the river! Very few people surprisingly did this on my visit). Amboise was overshadowed by the other two in my humble opinion, but still worthwhile as the town in quaint. Very much recommended!

Nice choice of Castles - Rainy Day

jbarnes1986yahoocom, Mar 2024

Lucie was a wonderful guide. There were supposed to be 8 people on the tour but it ended up just my wife and me. The tour took us through 3 very historic Castles/Chateaus in the Loire Valley. I was impressed with these. Lucy provided a history of each location, but did so outside. We were on our own inside the castles. That was to be expected. The day was rainy and that limited our visit outside in the gardens. We could not locate Leonardo's house and the chapel that his tomb is in was under repairs. The wine tasting was a disappointment as we are used to having decent pours and knowledgeable pourers. This was machine fed and barely enough to get a taste. We did walk away with 2-3 good bottles at a very reasonable price.

Neither a Castle Tour nor a real Wine Tasting

Brent_B, Mar 2024

This is neither a castle tour now wine tasting. Our “guide”, Viktor, was late to the meeting point. The tour operator, Blue Fox, tells you to arrive 15 minutes early (6:45am) yet he was late. At each castle, instead of a tour, he dropped us off at the entrance, and we were on our own without even headsets to learn about the castles. He told us to meet him at the van at a certain time, where he was sleeping. He even waiting until we were back to go gas up at the end of the tour. The wine tasting was a joke. Instead of visiting a winery, we stopped an a corner store where the shop keeper has us “self serve” from a wine vending machine, that poured a tiny sample from four of the most disgusting wines I’ve ever tasted. Not a single person took more than one sip. What’s surprising is that this tour company also does the Burgundy Wine Tour which was excellent and we gave it 5 stars. They need to redesign this tour with a better guide, proper tours of the castles and a proper wine tasting. It’s the Loire Valley, for goodness sake—they should be able to find a real winery to visit.

Fun in the Loire Valley

Jenny_J, Mar 2024

We had a fantastic day touring the Loire Valley! Our guide was friendly and fun. The castles were so different but all stunning! We felt we had just the right amount of time in each location. We highly recommend this tour!

Loire Valley Castles trip

Alice_D, Mar 2024

Is a amazing trip. Lucy very takes care of us. And very knowledgeable about the history of the French kingdom. We are really enjoyed.

Great castles - not a tour.

Carol_B, Feb 2024

The upsides were the castles were cool. The downsides were that we were expecting guided tours and we got no guided tours of the castles - just time to see it ourselves. The driver was a nice kid - he was training a new employee so he didn’t talk to any of the group throughout the day. He drove a bit wild and my husband got nauseous on the drive. He gave us some tid-bits about the history of the castles from outside, while we were standing in the pouring rain waiting to go undercover. I mean, I wanted to see these castles and I did, but it was definitely not worth the price.

Excellent

Marina_S, Feb 2024

Great guide, comfortable van. The programme is amazing. You have enough time for everything. I would recommend this tour.

Great tour and guide!

Alexis_C, Jan 2024

This was an excellent tour, and I highly recommend it. It was a full day, but well worth it given the number of chateaus that we got to see. I loved it. Also, I highly recommend Jonathan as a tour guide. He was very kind and informative, and make the day fun, as well!

The castles were great. ...

renee_h, Jan 2024

The castles were great. Will was a good driver and very good guide. I think the tour needs to have a guide who goes into the castles with you for more history. I was very surprised that a whole day trip did NOT include lunch. For $261 dollars the tour should include lunch. We had 5 people. If there were 8 I would have been very unhappy as the van is small. As it turned out it was good with 5.

A magical day in the Loire Valley!

Cindy_D, Dec 2023

We loved every moment of our trip to the Loire Valley. Seeing the magnificent Christmas decorations added to the magic of our trip. Our guide, Brunehilde, was amazing! We loved her effervescent personality. She went above and beyond to make certain we had a day we will always remember with joy!

Castles in the valley

Amy_A, Nov 2023

Seeing three different castles and comparing and contrasting them based on history was very interesting. The “wine tasting” component could be omitted it doesn’t add anything to the trip. I would have preferred 30 more minutes to meander the village and not rush through lunch to get to the tasting. Wine was self selected via a machine like at a frozen yogurt store. Not worth it!

A good taste of the Loire Valley and chateaus, but a long tiring day with limited and rushed time for each visit

John_J, Nov 2023

This tour provides a good taste of the highlights of the Loire valley, but be warned it is a long tiring day and much of the time spent visiting feels rushed. Due to the distance from Paris, about half the day is spent riding in the van. Each of the chateau we visited was interesting, but each visit was rushed in order to keep on schedule. Our guide, HP, seemed disinterested and rushed and only shared a limited amount of history/information at each site. He mostly walked us quickly through the highlights of each chateau and then provided a short period of time to explore on our own. He admitted on several occasions that he preferred to do other tours, such as the DDay beaches and Mont St. Michele, and that this tour was not his favorite. If that is the case, it seems he should not be assigned to do the Loire valley tour. When we booked we were advised the tour would take about 13 hours, we were back to Paris in 12 hours, and that extra hour would have been appreciated during the visits and lunch. In Amboise, the guide herded us all to cafe Paul, which is an international chain bakery/restaurant, for lunch and allowed only 30 minutes. The description of the tour mentions being able to chose from the local eateries for lunch, that would have been much more pleasant than being rushed to Paul. We had no time to explore Amboise. We did enjoy the small group format in a van over a coach and we did find HP’s driving to be safe. Our tip at the end of the tour was mainly for his safe driving, not his skills as an informed tour guide. Your mileage may vary depending on the guide you get assigned.

Great day in Loire valley

Rosemary_F, Nov 2023

Olivier was a wonderful guide! Funny, interested in our questions. Beautiful castles and delicious wine.

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