Wine and Chateaux in the Loire Valley

If you love wine and chateaux then the Loire Valley is the perfect destination. The old limestone buildings and the neat rows of vines on the river side slopes form an irrestistable picture of France.

If you would like to spend time in the peace and tranquillity of the Loire Valley then email us or contact us using our contact form. We would love to show you our favourite places.

Learn About Wine in the Loire Valley

We like to wind up a day's touring in the Loire Valley with a winery visit. We will usually have passed several wineries in the course of the day and by the end of your tour you will likely have picked a lot of new information about vineyards and winemaking. For example, if we passed a vineyard such as the one in the photo we would talk about what the grape variety is, what the soil type is, how old the vines are, why there are so many newly planted vines amongst the old ones and how this parcel of vines is managed.

If you would like to learn a bit more about winemaking in the Loire Valley email us or contact us using our contact form.

Short Stops in the Loire Valley

When you book a tour with us we will send you an itinerary which gives you a broad outline of how your day is going to be arranged. It gives you a good idea of how long we will spend at the 'big ticket' venues, but we are often not specific about the shorter stops we might make. This is because it allows us to be flexible on the day, so we can respond to what you tell us you are interested in, or we can stop opportunistically as we pass somewhere attractive. Sometimes rather than just a 'drive by' or at the other end of the scale a full guided visit we can do something in between. For example, here Susan is giving a brief history of the chateau of Chaumont from a lookout point on the other side of the river. We take 10 minutes to do so whilst on the way to Cheverny where we will do a full visit. Two chateau for the price of one!

If you would like to see more than you expected on a day trip to the Loire Valley, email us or contact us using our contact form.

Hidden Histories

With Loire Valley Time Travel, because our tours are small and private, you get to see small intimate spaces as well as the grand famous ones. A good example of this are the mushroom growing caves we visit. The caves are a real labyrinth and can only be visited with someone very familiar with the underground galleries. The caves are really a former quarry, the source of the beautiful limestone in the nearby chateau of Chenonceau. There are lots of secret corridors, changes of level and spy holes. And some mysterious paintings on the wall of one of the underground rooms.

If you would like to see little known sites such as this which are nonetheless packed with history, email us or send us a message on our contact form and we will include the mushroom caves or another intriguing site on your itinerary.

Tulip Mania

Many of the Loire Valley chateaux have beautiful grounds and gardens. In spring several of them have magnificent displays of tulips. At Chenonceau, pictured here, the tulips are grown in the kitchen and cutting garden created by Diane de Poitiers. The flowers from here feature in the awe inspiring floral arrangements that adorn the interior of the chateau in every room.

If you love flowers and will be here in the spring, email us or send us a message on our contact form and ask us to design a tour that includes some of the wonderful gardens in the Loire Valley.