Loire Valley Castles Chenonceau Amboise & Da Vinci Small Group Trip from Paris
13 hours 30 mins (ID: 162343)
Discover the highlights of the Loire Valley Castles on a small group day tour from Paris, limited to just 7 guests. Travel by Mercedes minivan with hotel pick up, all entrance tickets and a wine tasting included.
Visit three of the region’s most iconic sites: the elegant Château de Chenonceau, famously spanning the River Cher; the Royal Château of Amboise, once home to French kings and Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb; and Clos Lucé, the final residence of Leonardo da Vinci, where he spent the last three years of his life.
Enjoy the insights of a live English-speaking guide throughout the day. Skip-the-line access is provided where available, allowing more time to explore the castles at a relaxed pace.
The experience also includes a guided Loire Valley wine tasting at a local winery and free time for lunch in the charming town of Amboise.
All entrance tickets are included, making this an easy, stress-free day trip from Paris—perfect for history lovers, first-time visitors, couples, and families seeking a truly small group experience.
07:30 Departure to Loire Valley
07:30 Meeting at Opera Garnier Steps or Pick-up from Your hotel if option booked. There are 3 hours drive (240 km) on highway by our comfortable air conditioned Mercedes minivan to our first Castle Château de Chenonceau. One stop at a rest area will be made. The Guide will give You general Information about the French history connected to the Loire Valley Castles.
11:00 - 12:30 Château de Chenonceau visit
11:00 - 12:30 Chateau de Chenonceau and its Gardens visit with Guide explaining the history of the Castle and its construction. You will get as well the brochure with explanations of each room. Chenonceau nicknamed the "ladies’ castle" is remarkable for its feminine history of famous women of France such as Catherine de Medici as well as for its stunning architecture as well as unique aches over the River Cher. The Renaissance-style Gardens of Chenonceau with their more than 130,000 flowerings plants will impress You as well.
12:30 Departure to Amboise city. It takes about 20 minutes.
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch break in Amboise city
13:00 -14:00 Lunch break in Amboise city where You'll find many restaurants and cafes. We can as well recommend You or make a table reservation at a good restaurant.
14:00 - 15:30 Château Royal d'Amboise visit
15:40 - 16:20 Wine Tasting
15:40 - 16:20 Wine Tasting of 7 wines at a local family vinery existing since many centuries. You will learn how wines have been making for centuries and have afterwords the wine tasting of local wines with explanations.
16:30 - 18:00 Da Vinci Château Clos Lucé visit
18:00 Departure to Paris. It takes about 3 hours (230 km)
21:00 Coming back to Paris
21:00 Coming back to Paris. Drop Off at Opera Garnier Steps or at Your hotel if option booked.
- Mercedes minivan max. 7 Persons, air-conditioned with adjustable seats
- Professional Driver and Guide or Guide-Driver
- Entrance tickets to Three Castles
- Winery visit with Tasting of 7 wines
- All Fees and Taxes
- Bottled water
Exclusions
- Gratuities and Souvenirs
-
Meals and Drinks
Our guide David was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful in every aspect of our trip. He was on time, adjusting the tour for our capabilities and was able to rearrange stops for sights we were most interested in seeing. Alex, our driver was accommodating and helpful for us entering and exiting the very well maintained vehicle. He also kept us well hydrated on a very hot day. A beautiful and memorable trip.
14 June 2025
Our guide and driver Cyrus G. was excellent. Very knowledgeable about the castles, drove smoothly, and very communicative about instructions. Our only complaint was that we didn’t have enough time at the Chambord castle. It is massive. We could have spent a whole day at just the castle and another exploring the grounds. I have two recommendations 1. either eat at Paul’s next to Chateau d’Amboise and go to that castle or eat at Chateau Chambord. That way you have more time to explore the last castle on your trip 2. If you are not really a wine drinker and are going to Chateau Chambord, skipping the wine tasting would give you more time at the enormous castle.
8 June 2025
What an incredible day! The ride was great with Uni and the Mercedes van. It was a very safe and comfortable ride. The real highlight was Olga! She was a terrific guide and so much fun. She is a master storyteller and truly loves sharing her knowledge and passion for the area and the chateaus. Each one is beautiful and fun to learn about in its own way. Olga helped bring the chateau’s people and the area to life! We are so grateful we met her. This tour is worth the investment and it was great to leave Paris behind for the day! We highly recommend it!
24 April 2025
This was an incredible day! Hotel pick up is such a luxury. The van was clean and quite comfortable. Our guide, Valentin, made everything easy, fun, interesting, and memorable. We adored him. The castles were one of the best things we've seen in France so far. I highly recommend this tour and this company. I will be using them again! The small group makes a huge difference and it's such an incredible value overall.
20 April 2025
Our guide Olga made the long day very enjoyable and entertaining. She is incredibly knowledgeable, not just on the history of the region and Chateaus visited, but on where to eat, and where to get the best photos! Well worth it, cannot recommend highly enough
2 April 2025
Olga was a fantastic guide. She was knowledgeable and helpful throughout the day. We enjoyed each of the chateau’s and found the tour to be helpful guidance to truly appreciate all of the history. Our favorite stop was Chenonceau, then Chambord was a close second. The size of the tour was perfect, there were only three of us which made it very easy to stay on track and hear all of the interesting stories. You cannot beat the ease of hotel pick-up and drop off after a long day. Although there was a lot of walking, there was also a good amount of down time between stops to rest your legs. Also, there were phone chargers in the car, you just need to bring a power cord which is recommended as you’ll be taking lots of photos along the way! Would highly recommend to anyone, it was worth every penny and you will not be disappointed.
1 April 2025
I loved the guide. He was very informative and his enthusiasm and love for French history and the subject were evident. They enhanced the tour. The transportation to and from was very comfortable and so convenient as they picked us up outside our hotel! I loved this tour!
26 March 2025
The gardens of the Da Vinci Castle were beautiful. It was interesting that we were able to climb the spiral staircase of the Chambord Castle without meeting two other groups. The restaurant that our guide recommended in Amboise was delicious. It was nice to be able to drive around the narrow streets of the town of Amboise. The Chenonceau Castle was beautiful. The winery offered lots of tastings and the prices were reasonable. The guide and the driver were wonderful.
7 January 2025
We toured 3 castles and had a wonderful experience. I don’t know how we could have done more in one day. Our guide Olga was knowledgeable and friendly, able to paint a backdrop for who lived in these magnificent Castles. This was a trip to the past that was truly an enhancing experience.
26 September 2024
The trip was amazing. However, I would drop the first castle on the list entirely. While the outside is beautiful the inside is underwhelming and not what I expected to see. Lunch time definitely needs to be longer so you can explore the beautiful town a little. 1 hr was all the time we were given for lunch and in a French restaurant that’s super tight. The other two stops were breath taking and all I envisioned for castles in France. The wine tasting was very cool but super rushed. The staff were very friendly and I bought some bottles - prices were incredible! But again if you drop the first stop out of this trip you would have more time to enjoy the town at lunch and the wine tasting.
25 June 2024
We really loved this tour, showed some glorious highlights and the castles were
exceptional. Plenty of time to eat lunch too, which is always appreciated.
16 August 2024
Our small group tour of the Loire Valley, with visits to Chambord, Chenonceau and DaVinci castles, lunch in Amboise and a visit to a winery was beyond amazing! Our tour guide, Ilia, and his driver made the perfect duo for a worry-free and enjoyable ride through the Loire Valley. This tour is a MUST do, for all travelers to Paris.
Ilia, our guide, was very knowledgeable and informative, and ready to answer any and all questions we had. Of special note, one member of our party required extra assistance and use of a wheelchair. Ilia went above and beyond and pushed the wheelchair on all types of terrain, to ensure our comfort and enjoyment throughout the trip, We were so grateful for his genuine kindness and his enthusiasm when speaking about the history surrounding the region.
As a side note, we had left some items in the Mercedes van, and Ilia went out of his way to return them to our hotel the following day.
Ilia and his driver were first-class and we HIGHLY recommend this experience.
29 June 2024
Olga was our tour guide and she was fantastic. Kept us on schedule and filled us with details of the scenery and history of the castles. Ivan, our driver, provided a safe journey. I would recommend the Chambord, Chenonceau, and Da Vinci Castle tour to anyone who wants to see castles in Loire Valley without the hassle of doing it yourself. It is a full day!
26 May 2024
We had an excellent day trip to Loire. Valley with Olga our guide Extremely informative, interesting and attentive guide and driver. Recommend to all. Would use them again 100%.
26 May 2024
Perfect day! This tour was fabulous! Valerie was our tour guide and Roman was our driver. They were both excellent and made sure our day went smoothly. Valerie gave us great historic insight on each place we visited and Roman made sure we stayed on track time wise to get to 3 beautiful estates. I would highly recommend as we could not have gotten as thorough of a tour on our own. A beautiful way to spend the day!
20 September 2023
- Lovely and interesting castles
- more history from the tour guide would be helpful
- the hotel selections you pick up from needs to be reviewed. The address of the pick up location was not the hotel indicated. Luckily we made a “dry run” the evening prior to the tour and discovered this. We contacted the tour operator and they picked us up at our hotel. If we had not verified the day prior to the trip we would have gone to the address indicated on our ticket and missed the tour.
4 August 2022