Day 3: Blois - Visit Cheverny Castle - Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
It's 6 in the morning when the alarm clock reminds us again that we have to continue our journey through the Loire Valley, today to visit Cheverny Castle, among others, for after working for a while when you are eight o'clock we go down to breakfast at the breakfast room of the First Inn Hotel Blois, where after charging energy, we start the third day of this route through the Loire Castles that we are so pleased .
It's a little after 8 when we leave the hotel on the way to the first stop of the day, Blois, where we have stayed tonight, but on the outskirts and where we will spend a couple of hours in the morning discovering and visiting its historic center, one of the most beautiful in the area.
The hotel is about 4 kilometers from the most central part of Blois, so it didn't take long to get there, going directly to the area next to the banks of the Loire river where we found free parking, since on Sundays it is not pay and where we leave the car to start discovering this small town that we already have a lot of charm.
What to see in Blois
Virtually shattered during World War II, Blois is nowadays practically a reconstruction of those days gone by, although we can still enjoy part of the charm of yesteryear while touring its historic center, in which the streets full of charm are its main protagonists .
Today's route in Blois will take us to know some of its most interesting points such as the views from the opposite side of the Loire River, the Château Royal de Blois, its old town with the Cathedral of St. Louis, the Maison des Acrobates and the Gardens de l'Évêché, in addition to a walk through its network of medieval streets, which delight any traveler.
Blois views
If you want to enjoy stunning views of Blois, we recommend you not to cross the Jacques Gabriel Bridge from where you have an impressive perspective of Blois, in addition to the same bridge, with the Royal Castle of Blois and the St. Louis Cathedral on the horizon .
Blois
St. Louis Cathedral
With a bell tower that stands out on the city skyline and that at night has a unique lighting, this is one of the areas of Blois that you can not miss. To get here you will have to ascend, little by little, through a network of alleys until you reach one of the symbols of the city and one of its most visited places.
Road to St. Louis Cathedral
Maison des Acrobates
This is one of the houses that are still standing since the 15th century. In it you can see the medieval wood carvings, incredibly preserved.
Maison des Acrobates
Jardins de l'Évêché
These gardens, often forgotten by travelers, are not as impressive as gardens, but as a perfect place from which to get beautiful views of Blois and its surroundings. To access the gardens you only have to enter through the door on the left hand side of the entrance of the Cathedral and you will be in one of the lungs and best viewpoints of the city.
Entrance to the Jardins de l'Évêché
Jardins de l'Évêché
Old Town of Blois
Special attention deserves the Old Town of Blois, in which the previous points are found. In addition to visiting them, we recommend that you spend some time to lose yourself aimlessly or map, for some of its streets, which form a beautiful framework, in which every corner is a surprise, increasingly charming.
Old Town of Blois
Royal Castle of Blois
Built by extolling its architecture, not as a fortress, like the Sully-sur-Loire Castle that we visited on the first day, the Château Royal de Blois is one of the places you can not miss in Blois.
The ticket price is 10 euros and the schedule is from April 9 to 18 and until 19 in July and August.
In our case, because we are going to visit many castles, we decide that we will only see it outside.
Château Royal de Blois
After this visit to Blois, where we are just over an hour, we take advantage of the return to the car to get lost again by these charming little medieval streets where we arrive when it is 10 in the morning, at which time we set course for the next point of the route through the Loire Valley that will take us to visit Cheverny Castle, one of the essential Loire Castles, and located only 17 kilometers from Blois.
Day route through the Loire Valley
Today will take us to know Blois and then visit the Cheverny Castle and the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle, where we will end the day, staying in this area of the Loire Valley.
We arrive at Cheverny Castle at 10:30 in the morning, where we left the car in parking number 2, practically 200 meters from the entrance of the castle. But before the visit, we cannot avoid getting lost in the main street of Cheverny, a very small town in which its main street reminds us a lot of The Cotswolds, the English countryside, surrounded by houses full of charm, in which we do not It would matter to spend a season.
Cheverny
Cheverny
After taking some pictures and enjoying a lovely walk, we go directly to the box office where we pay 11 euros per person, with which we can visit Cheverny Castle And its gardens.
Recommendations to visit Cheverny Castle
Known for being one of the Most visited Loire castles, is also known by Tintin lovers, since this is the castle that inspired its creator Hergé in the drawing of the Moulinsart castle.
Renaissance style has a museum, several gardens and a forest that surrounds it of 100 hectares, which is one of its great symbols. Its interior highlights the sumptuous decoration, not so present in other castles, which have made it the best furnished Loire Castle, in addition to the most elegant. That is why we recommend visiting it also inside, since it is highly recommended to spend a few hours.
Visit Cheverny Castle
- The ticket price is 11 euros per person, with which you can visit Cheverny Castle And the gardens.
- The schedule is: every day from 9:15 to 18:30 from April to September and from October to March from 10 to 17.
- It is necessary to pay the entrance to be able to see the castle, since being in an enclosed area, it is impossible to see it outside without paying.
- In all the rooms of the Cheverny Castle it is allowed to take photographs, but without flash.
- Entrance with large backpacks is not allowed.
- At the entrance of Cheverny Castle they give you a paper guide, in which an explanation is made of each of the rooms that are visited and the ideal sense of the visit. This is one of the most complete guides we have found in the different castles we have visited.
- Time for visit Cheverny Castle It's about an hour, going quite calmly and taking pictures.
- The complete visit, interior plus gardens and greenhouse can last approximately 2: 30h.
- In addition to Cheverny Castle and the garden, with the general entrance you can visit the greenhouse and the kennel.
- In the whole garden area there are many benches where you can sit and enjoy a good time of tranquility.
Visit inside Cheverny Castle
As we mentioned earlier, the visit to Cheverny Castle It can be done following the guide you get at the entrance, next to the ticket, something highly recommended to go following the different rooms that are visited.
Cheverny Castle Dining Room
With 34 panels illustrating the novel Don Quijote, this is the first of the rooms visited in Cheverny Castle, where we can also see furniture from the s. XIX, of solid oak, among which the chairs stand out, which move thanks to some casters located under the legs, of lamb bones.
Cheverny Castle Dining Room
Honor Staircase
Luís III style, this staircase carved in stone, has several motifs and themes typical of the moment in which it was built, in addition to giving a place of honor to a prehistoric ornament of the megaceros Cervus, found in Siberia 200 years ago.
Ladder of honor
Cheverny Castle private apartments
This is the room in which mothers were allowed to present to newborns, which highlights a cradle from the time of Napoleon I, made in mahogany.
Cheverny Castle private apartments
Cheverny Castle Weapons Room
This is one of the most impressive halls of the castle in which its decoration stands out, with a painting hanging over the fireplace, by Jean Monier, in addition to a magnificent tapestry and armor that belonged to the Duke of Bordeaux.
Cheverny Castle Weapons Room
King's Room
This room is the one that was reserved for the king and illustrious guests. In it we can see a unique collection of tapestries, a canopy bed and a Enrique III style recliner.
King's room
Chapel of Cheverny Castle
With almost square dimensions, with vaults and motifs from the time of Louis XIII, this impressive oratory was completed in the nineteenth century.
Chapel of Cheverny Castle
Big room
This room of the castle is another of the most spectacular, highlighting in it a harp of the 18th century manufactured by Erad, in addition to two paintings, one by Titian and another that comes from Raphael's workshops.
Great Hall of Cheverny Castle
Cheverny Castle Library
With furniture from the First Empire, highlighting a desk with the seal of Jacob, this is one of the smallest rooms in the castle, although it has more than 2000 books with various complete collections.
Cheverny Castle Library
Outdoors - Cheverny Castle Gardens
The north facade of the Cheverny Castle, is the one we find facing the greenhouse and is built in the style of Louis XIII, with walls covered with corners of stonework.
North facade of Cheverny Castle
The south facade, the most famous of the castle and most photographed, is adorned with Roman busts, which became fashionable after the Renaissance. This one is inspired by the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, with large angle pavilions, crowned by domes.
South facade of Cheverny Castle
Cheverny Castle Greenhouse
The greenhouse was the place where orange trees were protected in winter and the place where, during the Second World War, it served as a warehouse for part of the national furniture, in addition to, according to the famous Mona Lisa.
Cheverny Castle Greenhouse
Cheverny Castle Gardens
Between the greenhouse and the castle we find a large garden of contemporary design, which was once French-style and in which today the original plans are preserved.
From here you have some unique perspectives of the castle, besides being an incredibly quiet place, perfect to spend a few minutes walking through the vegetation, enjoying the surroundings.
Cheverny Castle Gardens
It's a little after 12:30 p.m. when we just finished visit Cheverney Castle and being the time it is, we can not stop looking for somewhere to eat and more with the most recommended restaurant in the town, is La Coeur aux Crêpes, on the main street of Cheverny, where they serve one of the dishes that we like the French gastronomy the most and that we don't want to miss out on anything in the world, and more being here.
La Coeur aux Crêpes
After reviewing the letter several times, in the end we decided on salted crêpe (galette) of salmon, another cheese and honey and a caramel candy and ice cream plus soda, glass of wine and two express for 41 euros.
La Coeur aux Crêpes
The truth is that the salty ones are good, but the sweet is in vice. If you are for Cheverny, do not stop approaching and giving one of them. Highly recommended!
The best tours and excursions in the Loire Valley in Spanish
If you prefer to forget about preparations or have little time, you can book the following tours in SPANISH
- Excursion to the Loire Castles
- Normandy and Loire Valley in 3 or 4 days
- 2-day tour of the Loire Castles
It is 13:30 when we finish our stay in Cheverny returning to the car and getting on the way to the next point of the day, Chaumont Castle, 24 kilometers from Cheverny and about 30 minutes away.
It's a little after 2:30 when we arrive for visit Chaumont Castle, much longer than necessary, but we have had to stop halfway since we just got an alert of an error rate of several flights from Spain to New York, for example, for only 114 euros, which of course It could be otherwise, we want to publish in Best Flight, so before reaching the castle we have to make a technical stop where we take the laptop out of the suitcase and look for an improvised office in the middle of the route. Who said the life of the blogger was easy?
Technical stop in the Loire Valley
That is why it takes about 30 minutes longer than expected to reach the parking lot of the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle, having the great luck of finding parking right in front of the entrance in the middle of the street, so we do not even have to access the other parking area of the castle.
Recommendations to visit the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
With one of the most elegant facades of all the Loire Castles, this is another of the most visited castles and always according to our taste, the most beautiful of all.
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
- The price of the entrance of the Castle of Chaumont-sur-Loire is 18 euros and combines the entrance to the castle and the gardens.
- Castle schedules are as follows:
From January 2 to March 31: from 10 to 17
From April 1 to June 30: from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
From July 1 to August 31: from 10 to 19
From September 1 to September 30: from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
From October 1 to October 29: from 10 to 18
From October 30 to December 31: from 10 to 17
- It is necessary to pay the entrance to be able to see the castle, since being in an enclosed area, it is impossible to see it outside without paying.
- Right at the entrance there is a small building, where the lockers are located and where you can get the tickets.
- As in many of the Loire Castles, you have at your disposal a booklet in several languages, which includes explanations of the castle and the gardens.
- At the entrance there is a small security check very fast, in which both backpacks and bags pass.
- The visit to the Castle of Chaumont-sur-Loire, is fast enough since in total there are about 20 rooms, but all quite small, so the visit inside the castle should not take you more than 1 hour.
- If we count the visit to the castle and the gardens, the time spent in the visit can be approximately two and a half hours, taking it easy.
- Something that catches our attention, in all the Loire Castles we are visiting, is that in the explanations of the cartels, inside the castles, they are only considered in the German, Italian, French and English languages, shining Spanish for his absence.
Visit inside the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
After passing through a sturdy drawbridge, from where you have one of the most beautiful perspectives of the castle, you can access what, as we mentioned earlier, is one of the most elegant castles, in which its impressive cylindrical towers stand out.
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
Official apartments
Among the official rooms, several rooms stand out, such as the Ruggieri room, the Catalina de Médicis room, the Council room, the Guard room, Diana de Poitiers' room, the King's room and the spiral staircase of honor , in which we see again the Italian style, so present in many of the Loire Castles.
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle Hall
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle Room
Private apartments
In the area of the private rooms, the dining rooms, the library, the billiard room, the Great Hall and the chapel stand out.
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle Chapel
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle dining room
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle Gardens
Although they are less impressive than some others, in this case, the perspectives to the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle that are taken from several of its corners, fully justify your visit.
We recommend that according to the time you come, take advantage of visiting them if there are few people, since the roads are not very wide and if you want to have good views of the castle, it is best to visit it when there are fewer people.
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle
We do the visit to the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle in just over two hours and when they spend a few minutes at 4:30 in the afternoon, ending today's day, but not before making a stop at a cafeteria in the area, where we take the opportunity to enjoy the tranquility of the place and have a couple of soft drinks for 6 euros.
After this stop, we make our way to La Source de Bury, the hotel we will be staying at tonight which is about 10 kilometers from Chaumont.
More practical information to prepare your trip to the Loire Valley
- The 10 essential Loire Castles
- 10 essential tips for traveling to the Loire Valley
We arrive when it is 5:30 in the afternoon and as soon as we meet David, the owner of the accommodation, we realize that we have succeeded fully, although there is something that we have not taken into account and that is how such accommodation is, We should have booked several nights to enjoy the place and the wonderful environment in which it is.
The truth is that this trip to the valley of anger could be made a little smaller in days, increasing visits a little each day.
In our case we have decided to dedicate enough time to be able to make the visits with tranquility and at the same time enjoy the surroundings and the gastronomic moments that the different restaurants are not giving away.
After a while of rest, we decided to return to Chaumont for dinner, where we decided on La Chaufferie, a pizzeria where we ordered a couple of pizzas plus water and coffees for 35 euros, with which we ended this day in the Loire Valley , in which we have been fortunate to visit two of the most beautiful castles in this area of France.
Dinner at La Chaufferie
Day 4: Chaumont-sur-Loire - Visit Chenonceau Castle - Amboise - Tours
