Chateau de Chenonceau, Centre-Val de Loire, France

5Tina257 5:00 PM Jul 2, 2022

It's worth a trip outside of Paris
We hired a guide and a car to take a trip out of Paris, where we were based, to see some of the countryside and the various chateaux in the Loire Valley and it was well worth it. The villages are charming and the history of the women who built, embellished, protected, restored and saved Chenonceau in particular is very interesting. The gardens are beautiful but the artwork inside includes Rubens, Tintoretto, Corregio, Veronese, Van Dyck and many, many others, - masterpieces by some of the greatest European painters of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries that reflect both the history of the château and the leading role played by women in this history. Stop at Chambord first and then in the medieval village of Amboise for lunch and to see Da Vinci's final resting place on your way to Chenonceau. You can do it on a day trip out of Paris but you will have to commit at least 12 hours unless you stay somewhere overnight.

4instantaneous 5:00 PM Aug 29, 2022

Stunning castle in beautiful gardens.
We visited the castle in August '22 and also ate in the partially self serve restaurant on site. There were long queues for the ladies' toilets - as usual, so go earlier than you need to lol! The castle has plentiful parking and they allow dogs in the gardens and also, if you have a dog you can carry, they can be held whilst you are inside the Castle. We used the automated machines on arrival to get tickets as it is quicker than queuing inside. We had a student with us and got a discount on his ticket - for reference he wasn't asked to prove his student status. We looked at most of the gardens which are extensive but probably could have spent longer there if we had wanted to. The restaurant had a 10-15 queue but it is worth the wait and even though we have a complex mix of diets we all managed to eat, and fairly well too. It was naturally cheaper to get the huge bottle of water as the small ones were very expensive. They had a variety of salads, breads, chips, cakes, soup, veg and a few special dishes of the day. It wasn't overly expensive. Would definitely recommend a visit especially if you have younger children and want to wear them out.