If you are looking for somewhere to explore that is pretty and serene in the Loire Valley, then look no further. We came upon Chenonceaux by chance whilst looking for somewhere to stay for a few days enroute to our next destination. It is a small village with a few shops and restaurants, directly next to Chisseaux village, and lies on the River Cher between Bourges and Tours. It has a few restaurants, a nice bakery and a few independent shops, and is a good central point for train travel to the larger towns in the region.
It also has excellent cycling links, being on the cycle route that runs along the Cher to Tours, only 20 miles from Chenonceaux. Mostly though, people come here for a day trip to visit the crowning glory that is the Chateau de Chenonceau. However, we realised that there was so much more on offer by staying a few days on a great campsite on the riverside, with a view of the chateau from the bridge and hot air balloons as a bonus!
Chateau de Chenonceau
We could see the beautiful chateau from the Pont de Chisseaux bridge at the end of our campsite, and a 20-minute walk took us to the gate via the village of Chenonceaux. Now I’m not one for history normally, but this is a chateau not to be missed.
From 1914 to 1918 it became a military hospital treating over 2,000 wounded soldiers in 120 beds during the Great War, all of this paid for by the owner at the time, Gaston Menier. It is the only French chateau to span a river built on arches and is one of the best known of the Loire Valley, founded in 1513. It is an architectural masterpiece, originally the property of the Crown and then a royal residence. It was gifted to many women over its 500 years who renovated and protected it; this is where it gets its other name of ‘Chateau des Dames’ from.
There are 20 ornate rooms open to the public and we paid for the tour of the chateau as well as gardens. It took around 2 hours inside following the guided route, this is not mobility friendly in parts with a lot of steps to the various floors. Tickets cost approximately £20 which I felt was excellent value for a full day out.
From the interior we moved into the gardens, these are named and were designed by the female owners of the past. We were there in May, so all the spring flowers were in full bloom. The gardens were magnificent, and we spent a good couple of hours wandering among them. We tackled the hedge maze too; hubby cheated because he was taller than the hedge at 6’1”, so I was left chasing him as I feared getting lost!
We had lunch at The Orangerie Restaurant on site, it was self-service cafeteria style but that didn’t take away anything from the quality of food being served which was excellent, as is the norm in France; no cheap burgers here, and it was very reasonably priced. You can take your own picnic and drinks in if you prefer, there was a very nice picnic area with lots of tables and grass to spread a blanket.
You may have realised from previous blogs that my dearly beloved hubby is a dab hand at short-cuts (there is a hint of sarcasm here)! As we’d already spent around 5 hours on our feet and it was a baking hot day, I readily agreed to this ‘short-cut’ he found via google maps that would lead us through the grounds of the chateau under the shade of the forest and back to our campsite; I should know better!
Rest assured there are no short-cuts back to the village, an hour into our return that was to be only 20 minutes, we were back at the chateau trudging down the long path to the entry/exit gates having reached the boundary of the forest only to find it had a slimy green stagnant water moat stopping our ‘short-cut’ path. All in all, a fabulous day out worth the entrance fee despite the detour around the forest, which was actually a lovely walk of the grounds so may be worth considering on a cooler day.
Montrichard-val-de-Cher
The next day we donned our cycle helmets and headed out of the campsite over the bridge on to the cycle path on the opposite side of the river, towards Montrichard-val-de-Cher. We were thwarted by a huge downpour enroute and took shelter in the entrance to a church with fellow cyclists. We cut our losses after half an hour of waiting for it to stop and headed back to camp like drowned rats, within 10 minutes the sun was shining again.
Day 3, take two, and we arrived in Montrichard after a lovely flat bike ride along the river cycle path, approximately 6 miles each way. It is a nice small town, with a few restaurants and there was a market on in the square up the hill. On the opposite side of the river is a park with a man-made sandy beach leading into the river for swimming and canoe launching.
We stopped off for lunch at Creperie du Don Jon, slightly bizarre set up as we chose an outside table overlooking the river, but the actual restaurant and food came from round the corner on the high street, it kept the waiters on their toes! I highly recommend it; the food was delicious. I had a seafood galette followed by a crepe which came with flumps and kids’ squishy sweets on the top; a first for me in France!
There was also a random accordion player walking the streets who stopped to play a few tunes (not very in tune I must say) to the diners before he was swiftly moved on by the waiter when he started asking for donations. With our bellies full, we headed back on the cycle path to camp. I, for one, was grateful it was a flat easy ride.
Other Things to Do
On the opposite riverbank to our campsite there was a boat trip company offering rides up to the chateau and back. They also hired canoes and you could canoe right up and through the arches of the chateau and beyond, we didn’t do it on this occasion, but it looked fun. The French are known for their unique road signs and this place was no exception, have you ever seen a 'beware of canoeists crossing'? It made us smile.
The piste-de-resistance are the balloon trips over the chateau. We sat on camp a couple of evenings watching over 20 hot air balloons sail over our heads at sunset, my favourite was a ladybird printed one. It was an amazing sight, alas my scaredy cat height fear won over my desire to get in a wicker basket, so I watched them from the safety of my camping chair!
For a small village, Chenonceaux has an excellent rail link to the bigger towns of the Loire Valley. We ran out of days but will return to use it as a base to travel into Tours and Amboise, where yet another beautiful chateau resides.
Where to Stay
We stayed at Camping Le Moulin Fort, a 3-star campsite on the bank of the River Cher. I’m not sure why it is only 3-star as it is far superior to many 4- and 5-star sites we’ve stayed on, but the French system is very complicated, so we don’t tend to judge on that basis.
The facilities were in two blocks with standard cubicles and hot showers, super clean all the time. It has a small pool, daily fresh bread delivered and a small restaurant/bar. However, what stood out for me was the immaculately groomed huge pitches and shrubbery; yes that 15x15 metre pitch was all ours! I have never seen such a neatly, well presented site in my touring years. It cost us equivalent of £14 per night with electric, most definitely the bargain of our trip and worth every penny!
If you just want to visit the chateau and have an overnight stay there is a Camping Car-Park aire outside the gates alongside the train station, usual facilities for 25 motorhomes. Day parking for motorhomes/campers is available in a designated area within the chateau gates next to the coach park if you don’t want to stay overnight.
Summary
For a chance location whilst passing through the Loire Valley, it turned out to be a cracking place to visit and one of our highlights of our 4-week trip. We spent 4 days but could have stayed much longer, so will definitely return on another trip to visit the bits we didn’t get around to. I highly recommend Chateau de Chenonceau for a full day’s visit, even if you’re normally a history avoider like me, I thoroughly enjoyed it; and everything else about the stay!
Enough waffle for this week, I hope this helps some fellow campers on future trips. If you have been to the area, please drop me a comment on the blog letting me know what you thought of it.
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Happy Travels
Thankyou, great summary and information; exactly what I am hoping for when we visit same campsite in June 2024
Great information and beautiful photos.