Chambord has 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces and a double-helix staircase of two intertwined flights that never meet, so two people climbing at once see each other through the openings but never cross. Leonardo da Vinci was living under François I's patronage a few kilometres away when it was designed and the attribution is argued about to this day.
It was also barely used. The court stayed at Chambord for something in the order of fifty days across François I's entire thirty-two year reign. It was built to be visited rather than lived in — a hunting lodge the size of a town, kept unfurnished between visits, with tapestries and beds arriving by cart when the king did.
That is the Loire in one building. Three hundred-odd châteaux were built along one river valley because the French court moved between them, and the reason there are so many is that nobody needed to be permanent.
The valley, from east to west
The Loire is France's longest river and the château stretch runs roughly 280 kilometres, which is more than a day's driving with stops.
Blois and Chambord, in the middle, are the grandest: Chambord, Cheverny and Blois itself, where the royal apartments show four architectural periods in one courtyard.
Amboise and Chenonceau, west of there, hold the most graceful of them. Chenonceau spans the river Cher on arches, was run by women for most of its history, and served as a hospital in the First World War and a crossing point between occupied and free France in the Second.
Tours and Villandry, further west, are the garden end — Villandry's kitchen garden is planted in geometric beds and replanted twice a year.
Saumur and Angers, west again, are the wine end: chenin blanc, cabernet franc and cellars cut into the tuffeau limestone cliffs.
The eight below run east to west.
Blois and Chambord
The grandest stretch.
Relais de Chambord occupies a position directly on the Chambord estate, the only hotel inside the park, with the château across the lawn and access to the grounds after the gates close.
Relais de Chambord
Chambord estate · 4★ · $$$
The only hotel inside the park, with the château across the lawn
Check availabilityFleur de Loire sits on the Loire at Blois in a recent conversion with a river terrace, a spa and a kitchen run by a chef who returned to his home town to open it.
Les Sources de Cheverny occupies an estate near Cheverny with a lake, a spa built around water treatments, and a woodland setting a short drive from three châteaux.
Les Sources de Cheverny
Cheverny · 5★ · $$$$
A lake and water-led spa within reach of three châteaux
Check availabilityAmboise and Chenonceau
The graceful middle.
Domaine des Hauts de Loire sits in a nineteenth-century manor at Onzain in seventy hectares of park above the river, with a starred restaurant and a pool among the trees.
Domaine des Hauts de Loire
Onzain · 5★ · $$$$
Seventy hectares of park and a starred restaurant
Château de Noizay occupies a château at Noizay with formal terraces, a small room count and vineyards below.
Le Choiseul sits in Amboise below the château with a garden, a pool and the shortest walk to Leonardo's last house at Clos Lucé.
Tours and the west
The garden and wine end.
Château d'Artigny occupies an eighteenth-century château at Montbazon above the Indre, with formal gardens, a golf course and considerable grandeur.
Château d'Artigny
Montbazon · 4★ · $$$
An eighteenth-century château with formal gardens and golf
Check availabilityDomaine de la Tortinière sits in a nineteenth-century house nearby with a park, a pool and rates well below the grander estates.
Domaine de la Tortinière
Montbazon · 4★ · $$
A nineteenth-century house in parkland at a gentler rate
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The chambres d'hôtes in the smaller châteaux across the valley are excluded, and a great many owners let two or three rooms in genuinely historic houses. They are guest houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Do fewer châteaux than you think. Three properly beats seven at a trot. Chambord for scale, Chenonceau for grace, Villandry for the gardens is a good three.
Go to Chambord at opening or in the last hour, and climb the staircase twice from opposite sides to see how it works.
See Clos Lucé at Amboise, where Leonardo spent his last three years, and the models built from his drawings in the grounds.
Cycle part of the Loire à Vélo, which runs the length of the valley on flat, well-marked paths, and is the best way to cover the gaps between châteaux.
Drink the wine: Vouvray and Savennières for chenin, Chinon and Bourgueil for cabernet franc, and visit a cellar cut into the tuffeau.
Practical notes
Paris is about ninety minutes to Tours by TGV, and the valley is two hours by road. A car is close to essential unless you are cycling.
May, June and September are ideal. Summer is busy at the big châteaux. Many properties close from November to March, and the winter light on the river is the reward for those that do not.
Buy tickets online for Chambord and Chenonceau in season.
Every hotel bookable in the Loire Valley
Questions people actually ask
Why are there so many châteaux?
The French court moved between them rather than settling, so the valley filled with houses built to be visited.
Which three should you pick?
Chambord, Chenonceau and Villandry covers scale, grace and gardens.
Can you stay at Chambord?
One hotel sits inside the estate, with the château across the lawn.
How many nights?
Four. Two bases, three châteaux and a day on a bicycle.