Famous owners of this unforgettable chateau include France’s King Charles VIII, who used it as a “pleasure castle” for his wife, Anne de Bretagne.Īnother breathtaking Loire Valley castle associated with Da Vinci is the Chateau d’Amboise, a residence for French Kings between the 15th and 19th centuries whose dramatic, medieval-style fortress adds a genuine sense of grandeur. Da Vinci’s legacy at the castle is quite marked: you can see around 40 models of his ingenious machines and other inventions in one of the rooms in another, a striking replica of the artist’s famous painting the Mona Lisa awaits, painted by Ambroise Dubois.

As a result, the fifteenth-century castle has the bearing of a stately manor. Located in the charming Loire Valley town of Amboise, the chateau bears an unusual Renaissance-era design featuring distinctive, rose-hued brick and freemasoned structure. A dramatic drawbridge, dungeon, vaults and sublime tapestries are among the many lures at this otherworldly chateau.įan of Leonardo da Vinci’s mesmerizing art and inventions? The Chateau du Clos Lucé is a remarkable castle that served as a residence for the Italian artist in the years just prior to his death in 1519. Today, the privately owned castle accepts visits– and it’s certainly worth one.

Seeking the fairy tale feeling? How about visiting the castle that inspired French writer Charles Perrault to write Sleeping Beauty? The Chateau d’Ussé is a literary castle par excellence: it was inhabited by Perrault himself, then later by fellow French author Chateaubriand. You can even stay on the property if you so choose, at one of Chambord’s three and four-star “gites” (country lodges), which afford splendid views over the castle and gardens. Never truly completed, it features dramatic details that you won’t soon forget, including purely ornamental fortified walls and moat, seemingly endless spiral staircases and lush, teeming gardens. Bringing together medieval and Renaissance-style architectural elements, Chambord is the Loire’s largest chateau.

Studded with sprawling, elegant chateaux that point to the height of French Renaissance architecture and its unusual harmony, the Loire often feels like a place more befitting of a fairy-tale than “real” life.Let us start with the Chateau de Chambord, which many consider to be the region’s finest castle. When most people hear the term “French chateau”, they either think of Versailles (see more about that by scrolling down to the Paris section) or of the mythical Loire Valley.

Medieval french castles