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Châteaux of the Loire - The Renaissance in France
5
days
from
US$2,800
Book today with a deposit from
US$420
6th - 10th September 2026, 19th - 23rd September 2027
Tour highlights
- The châteaux of the Loire represent the first great flowering of the Italian Renaissance outside Italy – and its most distinctive expression, where Italianate motifs were grafted onto Flamboyant Gothic forms to produce an architecture that is unmistakably French.
- A carefully edited itinerary – only the finest of the Loire’s châteaux, including Chenonceau, Chambord, Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry – with sumptuous interiors and some fine recreations of original Renaissance gardens.
- In 2027 we stay at the Château de Pray, a four-star hotel in a converted Loire château with an excellent restaurant – the experience of the region extends well beyond the itinerary.
- Led by Dr Sarah Pearson, architectural historian whose research specialises in the Italian Renaissance – the very tradition the Loire châteaux so distinctively absorbed and transformed.
Towards the end of the 15th century and during the first half of the 16th, a remarkable building boom transformed the Loire valley. The region was exceptional in a country still dominated by over-mighty monarchs and riven by factionalism: a territory submissive to royal writ, prosperous from highly productive agricultural land and river-borne trade, and rich in excellent hunting. Members of the royal family, their mistresses and loyal followers erected palaces, hunting lodges and country retreats across this favoured landscape. These beautiful buildings have become emblematic in popular culture as the image of the fairytale palace. More importantly, they were seminal in architectural history.
The sudden and wholehearted admiration for all things Italian documented by the Loire châteaux was stimulated, ironically, by French invasions of Italy – which began under Charles VIII in 1494 and ended under François I thirty years later. What followed was not a wholesale importation of the principles of Brunelleschi and Bramante but something more original: Italianate motifs grafted onto essentially Flamboyant Gothic forms. Round-headed arches, classical pilasters and ancient Roman candelabra decoration blend with cylindrical towers, conical spires, high-pitched roofs and elaborate dormers to produce an architecture that is Italianate in inspiration but unmistakably French in character – and highly influential in consequence.
Most of the châteaux are well furnished and richly decorated – contrary to the widespread myth that French châteaux are empty – and several have gardens among which are extraordinarily fine recreations of original Renaissance designs. This itinerary offers a carefully edited selection of the finest, timed to avoid the worst of the crowds, and based throughout at a four-star château hotel on the Loire.
Itinerary
Travel by Eurostar at c. 10.30am from London St Pancras to Paris. Drive to the hotel in Tours where all four nights are spent.
Lapped by the River Indre, Azay-le-Rideau is a jewel of the French Renaissance, replete with angle turrets, elaborate gables, classicising pilasters and evocative interiors. With its formidable defensive towers Langeais, reconstructed from the 1470s, is scarcely affected by Renaissance taste and has a good collection of mediaeval furniture and tapestries. Villandry is an excellent 1530s château with three arcaded wings but its chief glories are the tiers of formal gardens, recreated in the 20th century according to 16th-century designs and principles. We visit in the late afternoon, when the crowds have subsided, and return to the hotel at c. 7.00pm.
The three wings of the castle at Blois were built in the latest fashion respectively for Louis XII from 1498, François I from 1515 and, the brother of Louis XIII (by Mansart) from 1635. There is free time for lunch in the delightful town of Blois with its gardens and churches. Continue south by coach to Chenonceau. Of surpassing beauty and surmounting a bridge across the River Cher, the Château of Chenonceau (‘des Dames’) is deservedly one of France’s most treasured sights. Transformation of the castle began in 1515 and continued intermittently for much of the 16th cent. Stylistically it leads from an embellished castle keep to the supremely successful Mannerism of the long galleries across the river.
Beauregard has a unique 17th-century gallery lined with 327 portraits of historical figures. The creation of François I and the most ambitious of the Loire châteaux, Chambord startles by its vast size. Outstanding are the double helix stairway and the fantastical roofscape of cones, wedges, elaborate gables and chimney stacks.
Built in the 1630s, Cheverny is as elegant and restrained as Baroque can get and is unmistakably French with its chiselled façade and dramatic roofline, and sumptuously decorated and furnished interiors. Drive to Paris and then continue by Eurostar to London St Pancras, arriving c. 6.30pm.
Travel by Eurostar at c. 10.30am from London St Pancras to Paris. Drive to the hotel in Tours where all four nights are spent.
Lapped by the River Indre, Azay-le-Rideau is a jewel of the French Renaissance, replete with angle turrets, elaborate gables, classicising pilasters and evocative interiors. With its formidable defensive towers Langeais, reconstructed from the 1470s, is scarcely affected by Renaissance taste and has a good collection of mediaeval furniture and tapestries. Villandry is an excellent 1530s château with three arcaded wings but its chief glories are the tiers of formal gardens, recreated in the 20th century according to 16th-century designs and principles. We visit in the late afternoon, when the crowds have subsided, and return to the hotel at c. 7.00pm.
The three wings of the castle at Blois were built in the latest fashion respectively for Louis XII from 1498, François I from 1515 and, the brother of Louis XIII (by Mansart) from 1635. There is free time for lunch in the delightful town of Blois with its gardens and churches. Continue south by coach to Chenonceau. Of surpassing beauty and surmounting a bridge across the River Cher, the Château of Chenonceau (‘des Dames’) is deservedly one of France’s most treasured sights. Transformation of the castle began in 1515 and continued intermittently for much of the 16th cent. Stylistically it leads from an embellished castle keep to the supremely successful Mannerism of the long galleries across the river.
Beauregard has a unique 17th-century gallery lined with 327 portraits of historical figures. The creation of François I and the most ambitious of the Loire châteaux, Chambord startles by its vast size. Outstanding are the double helix stairway and the fantastical roofscape of cones, wedges, elaborate gables and chimney stacks.
Built in the 1630s, Cheverny is as elegant and restrained as Baroque can get and is unmistakably French with its chiselled façade and dramatic roofline, and sumptuously decorated and furnished interiors. Drive to Paris and then continue by Eurostar to London St Pancras, arriving c. 6.30pm.
Expert speaker
Dr Sarah Pearson
Architectural historian and writer specialising in Italy. Her MA focused on the architecture of Andrea Palladio and her PhD investigated convent building in Northern Italy with particular reference to the Duchy of Urbino and the Sienese architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Other interests include Renaissance art and English Brutalist architecture. She has taught at the Universities of Reading and East Anglia, and currently lectures at Madingley Hall at the University of Cambridge.
More tours led by Dr Sarah Pearson
Practicalities
For 2026: Two sharing US$3060 or US$2,800 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: US$3,400 or US$3,140 without Eurostar.
For 2027: Two sharing US$3,820 or US$3,540 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: US$4,470 or US$4,190 without Eurostar.
Travel by private coach throughout; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 3 dinners with wine, water and coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager.
In 2026: Chateau Belmont, Tours: 4-star hotel part-dating to the 17th century and part modern construction (where our rooms are located). Situated a 15-minute drive or a 30-minute walk from the historic centre of Tours.
In 2027: Château de Pray, Chargé: 4-star hotel in a converted château on the river Loire with an excellent restaurant. Single rooms are doubles for sole use.
Although a short tour there is quite a lot of standing around and walking. You need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train. Average distance by coach per day: 87 miles (most driving is on days 1 & 5).
Between 10 and 24 participants.
Before booking, please refer to Travel.State.Gov to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting. As a British company we follow the advice of the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
Piero della Francesca, 11–17 September 2026
Gastronomic Emilia Romagna, 11–17 September 2026.
Dates & prices
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2026
Date
Speaker
Price
Date:
6th - 10th September 2026
Speaker:
Dr Sarah Pearson
Price:
from US$2,800
(Based on two sharing)
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2027
Date
Speaker
Price
Date:
19th - 23rd September 2027
Speaker:
Dr Sarah Pearson
Price:
from US$3,540
(Based on two sharing)Testimonials
“I especially appreciate the value MRT provides to solo travellers.
”
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