Places to visit in Centre-Val de Loire, France
13 places to visit in Centre-Val de Loire, France, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Bourges Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, Château de Chambord and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Centre-Val de Loire volume.
3 UNESCO World Heritage sites · 4 Famous places to visit · 6 Hidden gems
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Centre-Val de Loire (3)
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Bourges Cathedral
A cathedral dedicated to Saint Stephen, built from 1195 to 1230 over an earlier Romanesque church. It has no transepts, so its vast double-aisled interior runs unbroken from end to end, lit by some of the finest medieval stained glass in France.
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Chartres Cathedral
A Gothic cathedral about 80 kilometres southwest of Paris, mostly built between 1194 and 1220 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It keeps most of its original medieval stained glass, famous for its deep blue, and a labyrinth laid into the floor of the nave.
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Château de Chambord
The largest château of the Loire Valley, commissioned by Francis I and built between 1519 and 1547. Its roofline bristles with towers and chimneys, and at its heart is a double spiral staircase often linked to Leonardo da Vinci.
Famous places to visit in Centre-Val de Loire (4)
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Château d'Amboise
A royal château on a ridge above the Loire, taken by the crown in the 15th century and rebuilt as a favoured residence of the kings. Leonardo da Vinci is buried in its small Gothic Chapel of Saint-Hubert.
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Château de Chaumont
A castle above the Loire, founded in the 10th century by Odo I, Count of Blois, and rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise in the 15th. Its grounds host an international garden festival each year, with new show gardens from designers around the world.
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Château de Chenonceau
A château that spans the river Cher on a row of arches, one of the best known in the Loire Valley. Shaped over the centuries by a line of women, among them Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de' Medici, its long gallery crosses the water.
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Château du Clos Lucé
A manor in Amboise built in 1471, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life. It stands 500 metres from the royal château, and its park displays models of his inventions.
Hidden gems in Centre-Val de Loire (6)
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Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Built between 1518 and 1527, one of the foremost examples of early French Renaissance architecture. It stands on an island in the Indre, and its pale walls are mirrored in the still water around it.
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Château d'Ussé
A castle at the edge of the Chinon forest overlooking the Indre valley, first fortified in the 11th century and later rebuilt in stone. With its white towers and turrets, it is said to have inspired Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty.
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Château de Cheverny
One of the châteaux of the Loire Valley, a house of pale stone with an elegant classical façade. Hergé drew on it for Marlinspike Hall, the home of Captain Haddock in the Tintin comics.
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Château de Villandry
A grand Renaissance country house in the Loire Valley, best known for its gardens. Laid out in geometric beds, they include an ornamental kitchen garden where vegetables are planted in patterns of colour.
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Royal Château of Blois
A château in the centre of Blois, home to the Counts of Blois and to several kings of France. Its wings show different eras of French building, and the open spiral staircase of the Francis I wing is a showpiece of the Renaissance.
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ZooParc de Beauval
One of the largest animal collections in Europe, with more than 35,000 animals on 40 hectares in the Loire Valley. Created in 1980 by Françoise Delord and still run by her family, it is known for its giant pandas.
Collecting in Centre-Val de Loire
What are the best places to visit in Centre-Val de Loire?
LOQAH lists 13 places in Centre-Val de Loire. The best known include Bourges Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, Château de Chambord, Château d'Amboise and Château de Chaumont. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Centre-Val de Loire?
13, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Centre-Val de Loire?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Centre-Val de Loire before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Centre-Val de Loire and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in France
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LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.