In 2000, UNESCO chose to make the Val de Loire a major area of the world's heritage by inscribing it as cultural landscapes alongside the world's largest sites.
About 250 kilometers is indeed a unique set, a harmonious blend of natural resources and human intervention. Tourism in Touraine (Indre-et-Loire, 37) is of course the great Loire châteaux and their beautiful gardens : Amboise, Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau, Chinon, Langeais and Villandry. Nature areas preserved, wild islands, a special light.
In a few clichés, we invite you to enter this exceptional picture !
Local specialties
The mild climate and the fertility of the soil have made Touraine a generous land, supplying fruits and vegetables in abundance, but also rare products such as black truffle, saffron and delicate wines. A delight ! The market stands offer a wide range of fruit and vegetable products : apples, pears, melons, salads, asparagus (of which Touraine is the second French producer) ...
On the cheese side, the Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, easily identifiable with its straw that crosses it, is the local star of a resolutely goat plateau. A museum is even dedicated to him in his cradle city: the footbridges.
We also appreciate the local sausages : the rillettes of Tours (Protected Designation of Origin, please), rillons and sausages with the rope are succulents. The Loire and the fish ponds provide eel, pike perch, perch or shad.
The pears typed, of which the village of Rivarennes is the high place, constitute a surprising specialty. Finally, on the slopes, arpents of vines are the delight of lovers of good wine : vouvray, chinon, bourgueil, montlouis-sur-loire ... in total, more than a dozen AOC are to be discovered.
To walk along this tourist route, it is to review a dozen wines of AOC, that they are :
Rouges : chinon, bourgueil, saint-nicolas-de-bourgueil, touraine-amboise, touraine-chenonceaux ...
White : vouvray, montlouis-sur-loire, touraine sauvignon ...
Rosés : noble-played touraine, touraine-azay-le-rideau ...
Major events and venues
MAIN EVENTS :
Gardens in the Loire Valley (all year round, from March) : As part of the Val de Loire's inscription as a world heritage site for cultural landscapes, the gardens will offer a wide range of activities, Year : Villandry, Chenonceau, Château Gaillard, Le Rivau, Valmer, La Bourdaisière, the garden village of Chédigny ... welcome to the garden of France !
At the assault (November, ROYAL FOREST OF CHINON) : What better than a medieval fortress to discover the techniques of siege, and in particular the revolution of the artillery at the end of the Middle Ages ?
Vitiloire (May - TOURS) : 150 winemakers leave their estates to animate the great wine festival of the Loire Valley, under the vault of the trees of the boulevard Heurteloup and the garden of the Prefecture.
The festival of roses (May - CHEDIGNY) : The association "Roses de Chédigny" proposes the Festival of Roses: two days of strolling in a garden village. Rosiers, professional nurserymen, but also exhibitions, musicians and street painters, craftsmen.
The illusions of the cathedral (from July to October - TOURS) : The 1,700th anniversary of Saint Martin of Tours was well worth a cathedral. On the program each evening: frescoes, animated images and a whole procession of optical illusions projected on the reliefs.
Festival "Terres du son" (July - MONTS) : It is the planet of the current music. The talent is expressed there, that the renown of the artists is national, international, regional or in the future.
The forest of books (August - CHANCEAUX-PRES-LOCHES) : The forest of books brings together many writers and celebrities who have signed their books. Free and open to all, this woodstock of literature takes place under the centenary trees of the forest village of Chanceaux-près-Loches.
Vineyards, Wines and Randos in the Loire Valley (September - In Touraine and throughout the Loire Valley) : With family or friends, fifteen tasty strolls take you to the heart of the Val de Loire vineyard.
Tomato and Flavors Festival (September - MONTLOUIS-SUR-LOIRE) : You will have the opportunity to meet local producers of fruit and vegetables, to participate in culinary workshops and of course to taste the tomato in all its forms and In all its colors.
Jazz Festival in Touraine (September - MONTLOUIS-SUR-LOIRE) : "Jazz in Touraine, the Festival that extends the summer". The Festival is: 9 evenings in, 50 free outdoor concerts.
Christmas in the land of castles (December and January - Several Castles) : Of course, the architecture of the Loire castles is already magnificent. Add some sumptuous decorations, adapted visits and a magic of Christmas, and you get an appointment appreciated by both families and lovers who have kept their childlike soul !
PLACES TO VISIT :
In the country of the châteaux : In less than 100 km, the Touraine concentrates some of the biggest castles of the Loire Valley. Amboise, Azay-le-Rideau Chenonceau, Villandry, Clos Lucé, Chinon, Langeais, Loches ... names that satisfy the History of France and tell us about the kings of France and Leonardo da Vinci, Of the sumptuous Renaissance. But beyond these big names, there are nearly fifty castles that you can discover.
The Loire, beautiful and free : Between light and shadow, its islands and its strikes - symbols of its freedom - play our senses to reinvent each day a new beauty. From a canoe, on the "Loire à Vélo" or on the bridge of one of these traditional boats that dress it with their white sails, it is a wind of freedom that seizes us. It is not the migratory birds or the beavers that will contradict him, they who have chosen the arms of the river as a refuge.
Vineyards & gastronomy : The Touraine is located in the heart of a vast vineyard. The local wine list includes a dozen AOC, reds (chinon, bourgueil ...) to whites (vouvray, montlouis-sur-loire ...), from sparkling to sweets. Wine Route and "Caves Touristiques" certified areas are good ways to get to know them better. Touraine is also the "garden of France" where fruits and vegetables of all kinds are grown, including saffron, truffles, rillettes and goat cheeses.
Visits of cities : Whether they are waiting for you for a market, a coffee break or a guided tour, the cities of Touraine will open their arms to you! There are of course Tours, the student, whose historical quarters and the place "Plum", contain treasures. Restaurants, cafes, boutiques, city parks, exhibitions ... the capital of Touraine is worth the detour ! Do not miss Amboise, whose exceptional Renaissance heritage makes it the most Italian of the tourangelles. Stroll through the pedestrian streets of Chinon and Loches, "cities of art and history", to discover preserved medieval city centers at the foot of their fortresses.
Gardens : It is at the Renaissance that the tradition of gardens in the Loire Valley was born. After a visit to the prestigious Domaine de Villandry, one of the most famous gardens in the world, discover the romanticism of La Chatonnière, the creativity of the Rivau, the elegance of the parks of Amboise and Chenonceau, the 600 tomatoes of the Bourdaisière or the roses of Saint Cosme. The 270,000 ha of the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park, or the vast forests of Amboise, Langeais and Chinon, which are so popular with the kings of France for their hunting, are also green and full of oxygen.
