The Loire Valley

Hotels in Loire Valley

The Loire Valley is known as 'The Garden of France and Cradle of the French Language', The lush landscape combines with architectural and cultural heritage to make this an area of outstanding natural and cultural excellence. High on everyone's list of special attractions are the numerous chateaux along the river - around a thousand remain in the Loire Valley out of a total that was once much greater, with some 300 along the river itself. The reason for this over-abundance of great houses is simple - just about every one of the country's serious movers and shakers - from kings on down - built here over the centuries.

 

The Valley between Chalormes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and this is an ideal section for an extended cycle tour. Starting at Chalonnes and heading east, the route follows the river to Angers, Saumur, Tours, Amboise, Chaumont-sur-Loire, Blois, Beaugency, Orleans, Chãteauneuf-sur-Loire and finally Sully. The distance is around 300 km (185 mi). The riding is not too hard, and this is a splendid way to see and appreciate the best that the Loire Valley has to offer - which is very good indeed.

 

What an experience - the banks of this delightful river are ablaze with sunflowers and home to the finest examples of the castle-builder's art, from imposing medieval fortresses like Angers and Amboise to  Renaissance masterpieces like Chambord and Chenonceaux and spectacular gardens like Villandry. This is also the home of great white wines, with the vineyards of great domaines everywhere, so there will be plenty of opportunity to sample fine vintages and enjoy the distinctive local cuisine (river fish a speciality!).

Shops in most of the Loire towns rent bicycles by the day for those who prefer to explore locally rather than make the full journey.

 

HOW

By bike

WHEN TO GO

April to October

TIME IT TAKES

A week to cycle from Chalonnes to Sully, with ample sightseeing time included.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Royal Abbey at Fontevraud - resting place of the English King Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son Richard the lionheart.

Leonardo da Vinci's manor house at Clos-Luce near Amboise - now a museum dedicated to the great man and his revolutionary ideas.

The chateau at Cheverney – see stunning interiors full of original furniture, tapestries and paintings (plus a Tintin museum ... this is Captain Haddock's Castle).

A side-trip to see the extraordinary troglodyte dwellings of Les Goupillieres near Azay-Ie-Rideau on the banks of the Indre River – the caves were made by quarrying the limestone used to construct the magnificent château.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

The fairy-tale chãteau of Usse, begun in the 15th century and re-modelled in the 1600s, provided inspiration for the timeless tale of Sleeping Beauty.

 

prambanan temple

Prambanan is a stunningly beautiful building built in the 10th century during the reign of two kings, and Rakai Rakai Pikatan Balitung. Rose as high as 47 meters (5 meters higher than Borobudur temple), the foundation of this temple has fulfilled the desire to show Hindu triumph in Java. This temple is located 17 kilometers from downtown, in the middle of an area that now functions as beautiful park. There is a legend that Javanese people always tell about this temple. Once, a man named Bandung Bondowoso loved Roro Jonggrang. Because of love, Jonggrang asked Bondowoso make 1000 temples with statues in one night. The request was nearly fulfilled Jonggrang asked the villagers to pound rice and make a big fire that created an atmosphere like the morning. Bondowoso who only completed 999 statues cursed Jonggrang be a statue of 1000 because he felt cheated. Prambanan temple has three main temples in the main page,namely Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. The three temples are symbols of Trimurti in Hindu belief. All of them face east. Each main temple has accompanying temple facing to the west, namely Nandini for Shiva, Swan to Brahma, and Garuda for Vishnu. In addition, there are 2 temples wedge, 4 temples color and 4 corner temples. In both there are 224 temples. Entering the Shiva temple located in the middle and the highest building, you will find a room 4. One main room contains a statue of Shiva, while the other 3 rooms each containing a statue of Durga (Shiva's wife), Agastya (Shiva's teacher), and Ganesha (Shiva's son). Durga is touted as the statue of Roro Jonggrang described in the legend above. In the Vishnu temple is located in the north of Shiva temple, you will only see one room containing a statue of Vishnu. Brahma temple, Shiva Temple in the south, you will only find one room with a statue brahma