If the Loire leg of Jet Set made you want to see the valley’s chateaux in person, this bookable four-night itinerary is your way in. You start in Orleans, spend two nights in Amboise, where Gill based herself, and finish in Angers, with a chateau waiting on the road between each stop. The link below opens the full trip, where you can change, edit, or lengthen any part of it.

Chambord on the Way

Your first night is at Empreinte Hotel in Orleans, and the road to Amboise comes with a detour worth making. Chateau de Chambord is the waypoint, and your entrance ticket includes its French formal gardens. The roofline is crowded with towers and lantern turrets, so the building reads like a skyline, and the gardens give you a long, orderly view back toward it. Give it a morning, then carry on to the river.

Amboise, Where the Renaissance Settled

Amboise is the heart of the trip. The town was once a residence of the French royal family, and it is the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. You stay two nights at Au Charme Rabelaisien, so the old streets and the riverfront are yours to wander in the evening. Chateau d’Amboise stands above the Loire, and your ticket comes with an audio guide for a two-hour visit, so you can move through the rooms at your own pace and hear the history as you go. Add Clos Luce, the manor where Leonardo spent his last years, and you see where the artist lived and where the kings lived in the same small town.

Azay-le-Rideau and Angers

Leaving Amboise, you stop at Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau for a 90-minute visit. The chateau stands in a moat, and its reflection doubles the view, so bring a camera. That is time enough to wander the rooms and circle the water without rushing.

From there, the road continues to Angers and your last night at Continental Hotel. A rental car picked up at Orleans Railway Station and returned at Angers Railway Station carries you the whole way, so the Loire River stays beside you and you can stop whenever the view calls for it.

Add a Loire Wine Tasting

Gill’s time in Amboise included a wine tasting tour of the Loire Valley, and you can add the same to your own days. A tasting is an easy way to follow a morning among chateaux with an afternoon in the vineyards, and it turns a sightseeing trip into a full taste of the region.

Open the trip below to see the full itinerary, then adjust the stops and extras to fit the way you want to travel.