Tour Overview

Discover the best of the Loire Valley with visits to the two renaissance châteaux of Villandry and L’Islette, and a winery visit in Vouvray.

Start your tour at the stunning Château de Villandry, a Renaissance jewel ranking high in French heritage. During the tour, you will time-travel from Renaissance to life in France back in the 18th century. One of the highlights of your day will be the exploration of Villandry's gorgeous formal gardens, a beautiful and delicately-manicured landscape masterpiece. The local expert will share all his knowledge of this garden à la française, and will show you hidden corners from where you will get the best views of this remarquable site: the ornamental kitchen garden, the love garden, the Maze, and the classical water garden.

After a short drive, enjoy the amazing sight unfolding in front of you and discover Château de L’Islette, a private château still inhabited by the French family who inherited this historical monument. Situated in the heart of Touraine and neighbour of Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, this Renaissance castle is built as an island on the River Indre. Once inside, be prepared for a very unusual visit, as your guide will take you to all the rooms of the house, including the most intimate ones like the parent's bedroom, the kids’ corner, the family kitchen and even the bathrooms! If you are lucky, you may even get the chance to meet the charming French hosts and chat about their daily life in a 21st century Château.

After the visit, you will head back in direction of Tours. From 1:30pm to 2:00pm, your tour guide will park in front of the Tourist Office and will give you a 30 minutes free-time. He will help you with recommendations of great French Boulangeries around.

After this restful moment you're off to Vouvray to discover this beautiful wine area full of passionate winegrowers!

Meet a genuine French winemaker in a charming family-run estate! Visit the traditional vat room (bring your coat, it is freezing in the vat room). During this visit, you will improve your winemaking knowledge and enjoy a wine tasting. The terroir of this wine region and its main grape variety of Chenin blanc allow the production of elegant white wines, dry, sweet or sparkling.

All along the afternoon, you will get to know and understand better the diversity of Loire wines. Your guide will help you learn the different steps of a wine tasting and train your nose to identify many wine aromas.

Return back to Amboise around 6:00pm and Tours around 6:30pm.