Château de Chenonceau: The Prettiest Chateau in The Loire Valley

the loire valley

The Chateau capital of France

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Château de Chenonceau

The Prettiest Chateau in the Loire Valley

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how much time do you need to see Château de Chenonceau

A full or half day visiting Château de Chenonceau

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why Château de Chenonceau is one of our favorites

Why Château de Chenonceau is one of our favorite Chateaux in all of France

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where to stay near Château de Chenonceau

A cute BNB located just 30-minutes driving from Château de Chenonceau

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can i visit Château de Chenonceau as a day trip from paris

One train connection from Paris and GetYourGuide full day tours

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Bonjour

If this is your first time on The Weithouse - welcome! My name is Taylor and I’m the girl behind the screen and camera bringing you resources to help you plan the trip of your dreams.

In January of 2022, my husband and I left our home in Atlanta, packed our bags and moved to Paris! We lived in Paris for three years and every day we woke up in disbelief that we got to call this incredible city our home

This Château de Chenonceau: the Prettiest Chateau in the Loire Valley guide will share our experience visiting the Chateau and why we think it’s one of the prettiest in the Loire Valley.

the loire valley

If you love visiting French chateaux, there’s no better place to do it than in the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is a land overflowing with chateaux, and a trip to the region is simply one of chateaux hopping and wine sipping.

The Loire Valley, similar to the South of France, is not a destination in and of itself, rather an entire region to visit. The Loire Valley sits Southwest of Paris in central France and spans 280 kilometres (170 mi) along the Loire River.

The region is not a secret destination among travelers, as it is famous for its wine productions and for its lush green land dotted with chateaux.

If you’re looking for a destination with close proximity to Paris, and love wine and/or chateaux, then the Loire Valley is a great French destination for your travels.

Château de Chenonceau

If you’re reading this post, you might already be set on a visit to the Loire Valley, or maybe you need a little more convincing. Maybe something like: the prettiest chateau in France can be found in the Loire Valley.

Bold statement, I know, but after living in France for three years, Château de Chenonceau was the most beautiful chateau we visited in all of French travels. Of course, we didn’t visit every chateau in France (as that might take a lifetime), but we have visited our fair share, and Chateau de Chenonceau landed a place at the top of our favorite chateaux list.

Château de Chenonceau was originally built in the 12th and 13th centuries, hovering over the river Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley. The château itself is nestled on a lovely grounds with more than one garden for exploring and is a lovely day to spend the afternoon immersed in French history, culture and beauty.

how much time do you need to see Château de Chenonceau

How long you spend at Château de Chenonceau completely depends on your travel itinerary and the pace you like to explore things at. In good weather, you could easily spend an entire day exploring all that Château de Chenonceau has to offer.

We personally spent a half day at Château de Chenonceau, after first exploring the town of Amboise. We had lunch and a leisurely morning in Amboise before driving to Château de Chenonceau and spending the afternoon.

a half day at Château de Chenonceau

We arrived at Château de Chenonceau after lunch on a lovely September day. We did not book our tickets in advance and bought them onsite. Even in September, the chateau’s parking lot was full, although the grounds themselves were not too crowded. I imagine in the Spring and Summer things could fill up quickly, so it might be better to visit first thing in the morning.

We started our explorations of the chateau by wandering through the ground’s flower garden, which is to the right upon entering the gates of the chateau. The flower garden is where the estate gardeners cultivate around one hundred varieties of “cutting flowers” needed for the château’s floral arrangements.

My husband, baby and I slowly meandered through the flower garden, as we love gardening ourselves, and were amazed at the variety of plants still in bloom and the abundance of all that was there to take in.

After spending a decent amount of time in the flower garden, we walked quickly through the carriage museum, which was home to a display of antique carriages from over the years which was amazing to see up close and in detail!

From there, we headed towards the chateau, as it was getting late in the afternoon and we didn’t want the chateau to close early on us. On our way to the chateau, we paused for photos of the chateau hovering over the river, and quickly walked through the gardens.

Once inside the chateau, we parked our stroller (as the chateau is not very stroller friendly) and started exploring all of the rooms, covered in opulent wallpaper and furnishings, yet full of the late September sun flooding through the windows.

The chateau has roughly three floors and a basement area to explore, and a few locations where you can step out on one of the chateau’s balconies for a photo op.

We stayed inside the chateau until it closed, soaking up as much of its history and splendor as we could, and taking as many pictures as possible. Absolutely one of the most photogenic chateaux I’ve been to in France.

Once the chateau itself closed, we spent another 45 minutes wandering through the grounds and taking sunset photos of the chateau over the river before the grounds closed as well.

In September, and at closing, we were one of the few people still remaining on the grounds and by staying until the end had so many photo opportunities void of people! And as we were exiting the grounds we were greeted with a hot air balloon over the chateau. It was absolutely magical.

Château de Chenonceau: The prettiest chateau in the lorie valley?

The title of this post, it is quite a bold statement to claim that Château de Chenonceau is the prettiest chateau in the Loire Valley. Truth be told, I can’t actually make this claim as it is the only chateau we visited in the Loire Valley. Our trip only allowed us a weekend in the Loire Valley and we had our five-month old with us, so our explorations were a little limited.

That being said, I do stand by my opinion that Château de Chenonceau is the prettiest château I visited during my three years of living in France. We visited Château de Versailles, Château de Chantilly, Château de Fontainebleau, a few other chateaux outside of Paris, a few in Provence and one in the Dordogne region of France.

Walking through the chateau and grounds of Château de Chenonceau, I kept repeating how it was easily my favorite we visited in all of France. It made our short, last minute trip to the Loire Valley from Paris well worth it and I would bring family and friends back to explore, even if just to see the chateau.

where we stayed near Château de Chenonceau

For our short weekend in The Loire Valley, we booked a stay at an adorable bed and breakfast: Edda Country House. Edda Country House is a small farmhouse property consisting of three rooms in the heart of The Loire Valley. The property is a 33-minute drive from the Château de Chenonceau and a great base for all of your Loire Valley explorations.

can i visit Château de Chenonceau as a day trip from paris?

If you’re interested in visiting Château de Chenonceau without having to plan an entire trip (or book a rental car), it is possible to visit the Chateau as a day trip from Paris.

Paris to Château de Chenonceau By Train

You can book a ticket from Paris’ Montparnasse train station to the town of Chenonceaux, France. There is one connection on the train journey in Tours (St-Pierre-des-Corps) and the entire journey takes around two hours. Just be sure that when you are booking the train tickets, you look at how long the entire journey will take and book the ticket with the shortest connection time.

Paris to Château de Chenonceau By private guided tour

If you want something a little more hands off, there are great day trip tours available by companies like GetYourGuide to visit Château de Chenonceau from Paris. The tours range from 8-13 hours and often include multiple chateau and wine tastings. You can find a handful of guided tour options here.

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Need help planning the rest of your trip?

If you’re exploring more of France, be sure to check out our Complete Guide to Paris, our Normandy Road Trip Itinerary, or read our quick guide to visiting Monet’s Home & Gardens.

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