The Loire by bike: Orléans to Saumur
When to go
April to October is the season of La Loire à Vélo: the bike hire firms, the luggage transfers and the gardens of the châteaux are all open. May, June and September are the best months, warm but not crowded. In July and August the riverside towns are full and the rooms at their dearest, so book early. In winter much of the route is still rideable, but many hire shops close and some château gardens are bare.
The stops
Interactive map of the route on our site ›
- Orléansone night
Joan of Arc lifted the English siege of Orléans in May 1429, and the city still celebrates her every spring. In the city centre, CERCIL, the memorial to the children of the Vel d'Hiv, tells the story of the camps of Pithiviers and Beaune-la-Rolande in this region, from which Jewish families were sent to Auschwitz in 1942.
- Meung-sur-Loirestop on the way
The poet François Villon was held in the bishop's prison of the castle here in 1461, until a pardon from the new king Louis XI set him free.
- Beaugencyone night
A small town on a long medieval bridge over the Loire, under an eleventh-century keep. In 1152 a council of bishops here annulled the marriage of King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who weeks later married the future Henry II of England.
- Saint-Dyé-sur-Loirestop on the way
The old river port where the stone for Chambord was brought by boat and unloaded; from here a signed cycle path leads into the forest to the château.
- Blois2 nights
The royal château shows four centuries in one courtyard, with the open spiral staircase of the wing of François I. In 1588 King Henry III had the Duke of Guise murdered in his rooms here. In 1171 Blois was the scene of a blood libel in which more than thirty Jews were burned, and Rabbenu Tam declared the 20th of Sivan a fast day in their memory.
- Chambordstop on the way
François I began Chambord in 1519 as a hunting palace. Its double-helix staircase, where two people can climb without meeting, is often linked to Leonardo da Vinci. The park around it, closed by a wall about thirty-two kilometres long, is the largest walled park in Europe. From Blois it is about twenty kilometres each way on a signed loop.
- Chaumont-sur-Loirestop on the way
Catherine de' Medici owned this château above the river and later forced Diane de Poitiers to take it in exchange for Chenonceau. Since 1992 its park has held the International Garden Festival every year from spring to autumn.
- Amboise2 nights
Leonardo da Vinci came here at the invitation of François I and spent his last three years at the manor of Clos Lucé, where he died in 1519. He is buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the royal château above the town.
- Château de Chenonceaustop on the way
The château stands on arches across the river Cher and was shaped by women: Diane de Poitiers, then Catherine de' Medici, who built the gallery over the water. In the Second World War the demarcation line ran along the Cher, and the gallery led from occupied France to the free zone. From Amboise it is an outing of about fifteen kilometres each way.
- Toursone night
The city of Saint Martin, bishop of Tours in the fourth century, whose tomb lies under the basilica named after him. The half-timbered houses of Place Plumereau are the heart of the old town and its evenings.
- Villandrystop on the way
Finished in 1536, the last of the great Renaissance châteaux of the Loire. Its terraced gardens, with a kitchen garden laid out like an ornament, were recreated from 1906 by Joachim Carvallo.
- Langeaisone night
Louis XI built the château in the 1460s, and in 1491 Charles VIII married Anne of Brittany here, the marriage that joined Brittany to France. In its park stand the ruins of the stone keep of Fulk Nerra, from around the year 1000, among the oldest in France.
- Candes-Saint-Martinstop on the way
A village at the meeting of the Vienne and the Loire, where Saint Martin died in 397. It is one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France, and from the slope above the church you see both rivers.
- Saumurone night
A white château above the river, the home of the Cadre Noir, the riding school of the French cavalry tradition, and caves cut in the soft tuffeau stone where sparkling wine is made.
What it costs
Eighty dollars a night is the room. The bike, the luggage transfer between hotels and the château tickets are yours and are not included. Rooms at that price are easy to find in Orléans, Blois and Tours; in Beaugency, Amboise, Langeais and Saumur they are fewer, and in summer they go first. When none is free, the site offers two flats at that price instead.
What to know
Three things. One: the signs. Follow the green-and-white La Loire à Vélo signs, which are also EuroVelo 6; the outings to Chambord and Chenonceau use their own signed loops. Two: the luggage. Several firms carry bags from hotel to hotel for a fee, and most hire firms let you pick the bike up in Orléans and leave it in Saumur; check both before you book. Three: the château tickets. Chambord, Chenonceau and Villandry are busy in summer and sell timed tickets online, so buy them a day or two ahead.
Roads, tolls and rules
This route has no car. It follows La Loire à Vélo, the signposted cycle route along the Loire, mostly on quiet lanes and on paths on top of the flood dykes, with a few short stretches beside traffic. It is almost flat: the river drops gently toward the sea and the route goes downstream with it. Days are short, thirty to fifty kilometres, so there is time for the châteaux. In Orléans, Détours de Loire hires bikes and e-bikes (its Orléans shop is open from April to September) and lets you leave the bike at the end in Saumur for a return fee of about fifty euros a bike. The route is marked all the way by Loire à Vélo signs and is part of EuroVelo 6. Be honest with yourself about the rooms: in summer a room at eighty dollars in the small towns is rare, and when none is free the site offers two flats at that price instead.
Travel The Loire by bike: Orléans to Saumur
The route on our site, with a room up to $80 every night.