Loire Valley (or Val de Loire) is a French region that's about 250 km South from Paris. It basically goes from the city of Angers to the city of Orléans, and a big portion of this region is part of UNESCO World Heritage. It is renowned for its magnificent Renaissance Castles and its wines.

I've had the opportunity to visit the valley on multiple occasions now. The first time was back in 2006, when I was just a young and naive teenager. I visited Chambord Castle with my whole family. Then I went back in 2012 and visited the city of Tours for a few days. That's when I took advantage of a beautiful summer day to go explore Chenonceau Castle, one of the few castles built on a river. More recently in 2017, my parents came to France for holidays and rented a charming house in Loire Valley for two weeks. I visited them for a weekend and we explored Azay-le-Rideau and Ussé Castles.

During Middle Age, most of French monarchs used to live in the Loire Valley region (not Paris) due to its strategic positioning for commerce. Indeed, Loire River cuts France in half from West to East, which was helpful not only to control commerce, but to defend the territory. Many fortified castles were built back then. The Renaissance style only appeared during the 15th century, and was inspired from Italian Renaissance.

Today you can visit so many castles and gardens, and learn everything about their history. I've visited four, but there's over a hundred of them.

A few tips

• Make a list of the castles you want to visit, and plan your trip accordingly. Loire Valley is a vast region, and wanting to see everything at once is probably not a good idea. Try to group castles that are geographically close to each other.

• Always ask for a special discount pass when you visit a castle. The entry price is anywhere between 5 and 20 euros usually, but you'll save money with a pass (e.g. Pass'Châteaux which gives special discounts for the main castles, or Pass' à l'Ouest for castles located in the Western Loire Region.

• Don't do too much during the same day. You'll want to take your time and enjoy the view. Each castle takes between 1 and 2 hours to visit (if you take the audio guide). Try to mix castles, gardens, outdoor activities and / or wine visits.

• Check opening hours! In France, museums, castles, and a bunch of other places tend to be closed on certain days of the week (typically on Sundays, Mondays, or Tuesdays), or during certain seasons. Always check prior to your visit to avoid any bad surprise.

• Try to avoid peek season (July-August), as there will be way too many people.

Now a few photos that hopefully will make you want to visit this beautiful region! Thanks to my dad for the Chambord and Chenonceau pictures, mine were either lost, or bad quality.

Château de Chambord

Château de Chenonceau

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau

Château d'Ussé

*Note: this castle inspired Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty fairy tale!