Loire Valley Châteaux: 2026 Prices, Hours and the Tours That Go Inside

Every château in the valley sells its own ticket, at its own price, on its own hours. Weighing up loire valley châteaux tours? Start with the six below, then check whether the day you like puts you inside or leaves you at the gate.

The châteaux at a glance: 2026 prices and hours

These figures come from each château's own website, read in September 2026. Summer and winter hours are the extremes of the year; spring and autumn sit in between. Chenonceau publishes last entry rather than closing time, and its monument closes 30 minutes after that.

Children are cheaper or free almost everywhere. Chambord admits under-18s free on an individual visit, and Chenonceau, Amboise, Clos Lucé and Chinon let under-7s in free.

Château de Chambord: the €21/€31 ticket and the double staircase

Château de Chambord was built from 1519 for François I, who spent only about fifty days there in all. It was a statement of power, shown off to Emperor Charles V in 1539, rather than a home. No plan or contemporary text names its architect. The château's own historians compare the design with Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and see his influence, above all in the double-helix staircase: two ramps twist around one open core, so two people can see each other and never meet.

You get more than 60 rooms, the terraces under the roofline, and a park of about 5,440 hectares inside a wall 32 km long. For 2026, your adult ticket depends on your passport: €21 if you are a national or resident of the European Economic Area, €31 if you are not. Chambord sits 25 minutes by road from Blois, and a Rémi shuttle bus runs from Blois-Chambord station.

Château de Chenonceau: the gallery over the Cher and its timed slots

Château de Chenonceau stands across the river Cher on a row of arches, 34 km from Tours and 214 km from Paris. Two formal gardens flank it. Diane de Poitiers laid out the larger one, 12,000 square metres on the water; the smaller garden, 5,500 square metres, carries Catherine de Médicis' name. Beyond them lie a 70-hectare park and an Italian maze of 2,000 yews.

Reserve a timed slot when you buy your ticket: the château makes it mandatory. The adult price is €19 with a brochure or €24 with an audioguide. You can also hire a rowing boat on the Cher for €5 a person and look at the arches from below. Chenonceaux station is 400 m from the ticket office.

Château Royal d'Amboise and Leonardo's tomb

The royal château sits on a spur above the Loire, in the middle of Amboise. You walk up the Montée de l'Emir Abd El-Kader from Place Michel Debré. Amboise station is a 10-minute walk away, with direct trains from Tours, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Orléans and Paris Austerlitz.

Inside the walls, the Saint-Hubert chapel was built in 1493 in the flamboyant Gothic style as a private oratory for the kings. It holds the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci, who died in Amboise on 2 May 1519. The chapel reopened in spring 2024 after more than two and a half years of restoration. Your €17.30 adult ticket includes the Histopad tablet, which guides you through the chapel.

Clos Lucé: Leonardo da Vinci's last home, 1516–1519

François I invited Leonardo to France in 1516, and he spent his last years at Clos Lucé, a manor in Amboise, where he died on 2 May 1519. Today it is a museum of his life and ideas. Its park holds 20 life-size machines built from his drawings, several of which you can turn, spin or climb aboard.

Clos Lucé opens every day except 25 December and 1 January. Hours run from 10:00–18:00 in January to 09:00–20:00 in July and August, and the ticket office shuts an hour before closing. The adult price is €20, or €25 during the summer exhibition. Gardens and models get their own section on Loire Valley parks and gardens.

Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau and Chinon: west of Tours

Three châteaux sit west of Tours, and most visitors pair two of them. Villandry was built in 1532 and is known for its gardens rather than its rooms: you pay €14 for château and gardens or €8.50 for the gardens alone. Azay-le-Rideau stands on its own water on the Indre. Its price is not printed here because we have not read it on the monument's own page.

Further west, the Royal Fortress of Chinon looks over the river Vienne. Its home page tells the story of the Templars imprisoned there in 1308. You pay €12.50, or €10.50 at the reduced rate, and children under 7 go free. Arrive by bike and show a photo of yourself with it at reception, and you save a euro. The fortress opens every day except 1 January and 25 December.

Which tours get you inside, and which stay outside

Read this table before you compare prices. A fare that includes admission can look expensive next to one that does not, until you add two château tickets to the cheaper one. Where the listing is silent, budget for your own tickets and ask the operator.

Common questions about the châteaux