An Animal Loving Chateau in the Loire Valley

All over the grounds of the Chateau of Chenonceau there are signs that the management and staff love animals. There are horses in the carpark, donkeys in a field and a sign at the entrance telling dog owners to respect the resident ginger cat, Noisette. Dog owners are also informed that if they choose to leave their dog in their car rather than bring it in to the chateau on a lead, they risk having their car windows broken if the staff think the dog is suffering. On a more amusing note, there are speed limit signs warning drivers that hedgehogs and cats may be crossing. We think this chateau, and others, such as Cheverny, are a delight for animal loving visitors.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Tours, Gastronomic Centre of the Loire Valley

Tours is one of the officially designated Cités des gastronomie (Gastronomic Cities) in France, along with Dijon, Lyon and Paris Rungis. If you love food, Tours is a great place to come. It sits in the centre of the 'Garden of France', so called for centuries, not because the Loire Valley has beautiful ornamental gardens, but because it is full of market gardens. That's much more important from a French perspective! Tours and the surrounding area where we take visitors has many, many restaurants dedicated to serving traditional dishes made from fresh local ingredients. Our tours include lunch in one or other of these restaurants.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Vegetables at Villandry

Many of our clients want to see the famous gardens at Villandry. You don't have to be a keen gardener yourself to appreciate the full effect of the colours and patterns here, all cleverly achieved with vegetables and box hedging. We are often asked if the chateau uses their homegrown produce in their café. The answer is no, but if you would like to find out what really happens to all the vegetables and how they manage the garden, book a tour with us. The answers will surprise you.

Peppers grown in the Villandry gardens.

If you would like to see for yourself this wonderful and inspiring garden, email us or use our contact form. and we will gladly include it in your itinerary. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Where is Ludovico Sforza?

Historic sites evolve all the time as we learn more about them. This year in the small town of Loches, a place in the Loire Valley that punches above its weight historically, the focus has been on finding the grave of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and great patron of Leonardo da Vinci. Ludovico was a prisoner at Loches when he died in 1508, and there is no monument to mark his tomb. We have been following the archaeological dig closely, so when you tour with us you can be sure to get the latest and most intriguing news from the site.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Listening to the Wine Sing in the Loire Valley

Yes that's right. Singing wine is a thing. If you take a tour with us in October just after the grape harvest you might be lucky enough to be invited to listen to the new harvest fermenting in its barrels. It makes a singing noise that skilled winemakers can use to judge where the process is at.

If you would like to be privy to the secrets of a French boutique winery, email or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

How Chateaux Can Rise From the Ashes

Chateaux and other heritage sites are like phoenixes. Many will have suffered a seemingly devastating fire at some point in time. These fires are almost always tragic accidents, these days caused by something associated with renovations such as electrical faults or the presence of flammable materials like solvents. After the shock, it very quickly becomes apparent that the building can and will be reconstructed -- often better than before. In the Loire Valley these events are used to ensure early career conservators and artisans are exposed to an exceptional opportunity to further their training. At Loire Valley Time Travel we are very keen to ensure that our clients understand how important this is and that disasters like fires always have another, more positive story to be told.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Fire Risk and the Loire Chateaux

As you can imagine the devastating roof fire in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris has focused the minds of heritage professionals everywhere. At Loire Valley Time Travel we've always included information about how the chateaux are managed, not just for fire but for general wear and tear. So if you didn't realise before how fascinating and important the subject is, perhaps you do now, and we will be happy to give you an insight into the challenges of opening these great buildings to the public.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Chenonceau and the River Cher

The Chateau of Chenonceau famously sits in the river Cher, so it is a constant challenge to manage the stability of the building as the water levels rise and fall with the seasons. In years like 2016 it was flooding in June which threatened the chateau, with the highest water levels in 60 years. But in April of 2019 it was the opposite problem, with lack of rain over the winter causing record low levels.  Learn more about the dangers, the vigilance required and the traditional methods of ensuring the building is safe on a tour with us.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

How to Find a Private Guide in the Loire Valley

The best way to find a private guide or tour operator in the Loire Valley is to do an internet search with the key words 'private guide' and 'loire valley'. You will pick up a few independent guides and a number of aggregator sites with a search similar to this. The aggregators are not tour operators, they are simply providing a platform which brings information about many guides into the same space, for ease of comparison and choice, and they act like an agent booking a service. One of the most well known is Viator (part of TripAdvisor and Expedia).

Our advice is to check out the aggregator sites (ie the sites which list lots of guides and act as a central booking service) but don't necessarily book with them. They all charge a commission, so you will pay more if you book through these sorts of sites (usually about 25% more). If you see a guide you like on an aggregator, try to find their own website. That way you will be able to contact them directly. Guides and tour operators usually have Facebook pages or write personal blogs, which can give you a lot of information about the themes and geographical area they cover.

Not only will it be cheaper if you contact them directly but you will be able to engage in a real dialogue with the guide, so they know what you are really interested in and you can be sure they are someone you would like to work with to create a tour. Good guides will personalise their tours for private clients. If you are nervous about booking a stranger directly and do want to use one of the booking sites, make sure you choose one which will allow you to have a dialogue prior to booking with your guide. Also choose a booking site that will act as a mediator between you and the guide if something goes wrong. This doesn't happen very often, but when it does you don't want to be dealing with a booking site that is only interested in getting its commission.

At Loire Valley Time Travel we recommend you book us directly, or, if you prefer, book Susan W through Tours by Locals.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.